Boys Track and Field: Dixon, Riverdale, Rock Falls lead way at 11-team Rock Falls Invite

ROCK FALLS – On a slightly chilly, rainy Friday night at Hinders Field, the Rockets hosted the Rock Falls Invite.

Dealing with weather delays and light rain at the start of their meet, the 11 teams waited patiently for their chance to compete before battling through less-than-ideal conditions.

Dixon came up big in several events, capturing the team title with a score of 117, while Riverdale took second, tallying 87.33. Host Rock Falls also fared well, garnering a third-place finish with a score of 76.

Newman was fourth (61), Forreston-Polo finished fifth (53), Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio-AFC took sixth (43.33), Milledgeville-Eastland was seventh (33), Hall placed eighth (30.33), Fulton finished ninth (25), St. Bede took 10th (19) and Bureau Valley was 11th (12).

[ Photos from the Rock Falls Invite ]

Matthew Marcum was the star of the meet for the Rockets, running the 300-meter hurdles and 400 dash back-to-back, winning both with times of 43.42 and 49.92, respectively. The 400 dash time set a meet record. He also won the 110 hurdles, clocking a time of 15.44 seconds.

“I was happy,” Marcum said, reflecting on his overall performance. “The 110s were OK, my block starts weren’t the best, but my 300 hurdles and 400 I think went really well.”

“[Running the 400 and 300 hurdles back-to-back] definitely was not easy, but I think doing cross country in the fall helped with the endurance piece of it, so it’s manageable.”

Marcum said he was glad for the opportunity to compete in both the 400 dash and 300 hurdles on Friday, as that is not often the case.

“I like the challenge. It’s my two favorite events,” he said. “Usually, I can’t do them back-to-back because the smaller meets, there’s not enough time in between, but I knew this was a bigger meet, so I had more time.”

Other top performers for Rock Falls were Booker Cross, who took second in the 100 dash with a time of 11.65 seconds; and Kohle Bradley, who was the runner-up in pole vault, clearing 11 feet.

The Dukes had a few standouts as well. Alec Fulton tied Forreston-Polo’s Matthew Beltran for first in the high jump, leaping 5 feet, 11 inches, and also placed on top of the podium in triple jump, leaping 12.42 meters.

Jacob Gusse finished first in long jump with a jump of 6.11 meters, and was the runner-up in both the 200 dash (23.43 seconds) and 400 dash (51.19 seconds).

Dre Jackson won the shot put, pacing all competitors with a throw of 14.68 meters, and also led the way in the discus, recording a toss of 139 feet, 3 inches.

“I did pretty good at discus. I only powered through,” Jackson said. “I was worried, it was a little slick, I didn’t want to twist anything. I had a really good day for only power throwing. I always go out there and chase my personal best. I’ll chase anybody who might beat me’s best [throw]. It’s really gotta be a competition every day. You just gotta push yourself, and that’s how you get to winning.”

Jackson said he was happy for the chance to compete at another larger meet.

“We’ve had a couple [bigger meets] at Rochelle and Oregon, that was a little big, but this was the biggest, for sure,” he said. “I was definitely a little frustrated when we were leaving on the bus and it was just downpouring, but it cleared up a lot. I’m always happy to compete. I’m always happy to give it my all, and see other people give their all, and see who deserves to win.”

Brock Loftus picked up a pair of wins for the Amboy co-op in the 1600 (4:45.65) and the 3200 (10:05.72).

“The two-mile, I was really happy with it. I was by myself for that, so it was good work. I ran about 10:05, I think it was, so it was a good time, being by myself,” Loftus said. “And then the mile was 4:45, and I got out a little bit slower in that, and then tried to use it kind of like a workout and really closing that. And for the 4x400, gosh, I didn’t have much left, but I kicked really hard and got a couple people. So I was really happy with it. It was a good day.”

Forreston-Polo took first in the 4x100 relay, as Michael Taylor, Avery Grenoble, Brock Soltow and McKeon Crase completed the race in 45.59 seconds. Crase also placed second in the long jump, leaping 6.05 meters.

Milledgeville-Eastland came out on top in the 4x200 relay, as Kolton Wilk, Gage Wilk, Bryce Aude and Kacen Johnson combined for a time of 1:37.46.

Newman ended the boys events with a win in the 4x400 relay, as Jacob Donald, Wyatt Widolff, Thomas Powers and Lucas Simpson clocked a time of 3:38.62. The same relay team took second in the 4x800, logging a time of 8:31.06.

“I feel really good about it. The rain, starting the day off, it gets a little gloomy in the mood, but I think we’re happy,” Powers said. “We’re always happy. We’re a happy team, and we know we’re gonna do good when we come to these things. That’s what we did. We came to win, and we won.”