Who's going to state? Rockford-area throwers lead the way in boys track and field
Some of the top area throwers stepped up and strutted their stuff at sectionals early in the week, advancing to the Illinois High School Association state finals and setting the stage for a big finish to the boys track and field season.
Harlem's Riley Lundgren, who headed into the postseason with the third-best discus throw in all of Class 3A this season and the 18th-best shot put of the year, continued on his torrid pace Wednesday during the 3A Huntley Sectional. He advanced to state in both the discus and the shot put, showing the rest the way.
His junior teammate KeShawn Harrington-McKinney rose to the occasion as well, tossing in a 54-6 to advance to state in the shot put as well. And Hononegah's Jacob Klink advanced out of the same sectional in the shot put by soaring past the state standard, while Rochelle's Zach Sanford, who has overcome a lot over the past year, put it all behind him as he qualified out of the 2A Rochelle Sectional in the shot put on Wednesday.
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Along with the rest of the standouts from the area who finished either first or second in their events, or eclipsed the state standards, they will now get set for the boys state track and field meet in Charleston from May 26-28.
One of those, Sanford, tore the ACL in his knee one year and one week ago from the day he advanced to state.
"It was such a weight off my shoulders to get through to state," said Sanford, who placed fifth at sectionals on Wednesday, but his throw of 48 feet, 5 1/2 inches was just good enough to get him down to state on distance. "After all that, a year and a week later I'm back here qualifying for state in the shot put. ... And there's a lot more room in the tank for state now, too."
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The throwers weren't alone, and led by sophomore Nico Bertolino, Belvidere North advanced out of the 3A Huntley Sectional in seven individual events and a relay on Wednesday as well. For Freeport, it was just hurdler Bayley Pierce who made it out of the 2A Rochelle Sectional, but he made it in both of his events.
"It feels incredible. Now I can go home and sleep," said Pierce, who took second in both the 110-highs and the 300-intermediates. "I was dying, but I knew I had to fight through it, I knew I had to battle through it all and go get it."
A large group of locals advanced out of the 1A Oregon Sectional, and they will all get set to take part in the state meet next weekend.
Here is a look at all the state qualifiers from the area:
Class 3A
Huntley Sectional
Individual qualifiers: Belvidere North sophomore Nico Bertolino won the 100-meter dash in 10.96 and his senior teammate Tristen Powers took second in 11.07; Bertolino took second in the 200 dash in 22.43; Guilford senior Mike Smith Jr. won the 200 dash in 22.40; Belvidere North sophomore Braeden Brown took second in the 400 run in 52.00; Hononegah senior Philip Winkelman took second in the 800 run in 1:59.66; Belvidere North senior Caden McNulty won the 1600 run in 4:27.64 and Guilford sophomore Brandon Lawson got second in the 1600 run in 4:29.44;
Relay qualifiers: East's 4x100 relay got first in 42.79; Belvidere North's 4x100 relay got second in 42.92; East's 4x200 relay got second in 1:30.97; East's 4x400 relay got first in 3:26.80.
Field event qualifiers: Harlem junior KeShawn Harrington-McKinney got third in shot put but advanced on distance with a 54-6; Harlem senior Riley Lundgren got fourth in shot put but advanced on distance with a 54-1; Hononegah junior Jacob Klink got fifth in shot put but advanced on distance with a 54-0; Lundgren won the discus in 171-6; East sophomore Javius Catlin won the long jump in 22-7; Belvidere North Powers got second in the long jump in 21-5; Jefferson sophomore Chauncey Jackson won the triple jump in 43-0.
Class 2A
Belvidere Sectional
State qualifiers: Boylan sophomore Rasheed Johnson won the 100 dash in 10.94; Boylan senior Alex Valerio tied for second in the 3200 run in 10:38.91; Boylan's 4x800 relay team placed second in 8:32.63.
Rochelle Sectional
State qualifiers: Freeport senior Bayley Pierce second in the 110 high hurdles in 15.83; Pierce second in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 40.92; Rochelle senior Zach Sanford took fifth in shot put but advanced to state on distance with a 48-5.
CLASS 1A
Oregon Sectional
State qualifiers: Dakota senior Camden Foesch took first in the 100 dash in 11.02; Le-Win senior Marey Roby took second in the 100 dash in 11.23; and Winnebago sophomore Supreme Muhammad took third but advanced on time in the 100 dash with a 11.37; Foesch took first in the 200 dash in 22.80; Dakota junior Adrian Arellano took second in the 200 dash in 23.26; Rockford Christian junior Bjorn Carlson took first in the 400 run; Rockford Christian sophomore Weston Forward took second in the 1600 run in 4:42.93; Forward took first in the 3200 run in 9:54.81; Lutheran freshman Kyle Gnewuch took second in the 3200 run in 10:43.47; Forreston senior Matthew Beltran took first in the 110 hurdles in 16.12; Oregon senior Kenrick Oriyavong took second in the 110 hurdles in 17.54; Winnebago junior Nathan Lyons took first in the 300 hurdles in 43.35; Oriyavong took second in the 300 hurdles in 44.08; Le-Win won the 4x100 relay in 43.60; Winnebago took second in the 4x100 relay in 43.71; Dakota took third in the 4x100 relay, but advanced on time with a 44.26; Rockford Christian took fourth in the 4x100 relay but advanced on time with a 44.31; Winnebago won the 4x200 relay in 1:29.25; Le-Win took second in 4x200 relay in 1:31.07; Dakota took third in the 4x200 relay but advanced on time with a 1:31.84; Byron took fourth in the 4x200 relay but advanced on time with a 1:32.78; Rockford Christian took fifth in the 4x200 relay but advanced on time with a 1:33.19; Winnebago won the 4x400 relay in 3:26.61; Rockford Christian took second in the 4x400 relay in 3:27.32; Le-Win took third in the 4x400 relay but advanced on time with a 3:30.45; Byron took fourth in the 4x400 relay but advanced on time with a 3:30.53; Rockford Christian won the 4x800 relay in 8:21.83; Pecatonica/Durand senior Grant Milbrath won the shot put in 49-5; Le-Win sophomore Gage Dunker took second in the shot put in 48-9; Oregon senior Daniel Dominguez got third in shot put but advanced on distance with a 48-5; Forreston junior Johnny Kobler took fourth in the shot put but advanced on distance with a 48-3; Milbrath won the discus in 151-9; Winnebago senior Jakob DiPiazza took second in the discus in 149-1; Dominguez took third in discus but advanced on distance with a 148-7; Le-Win senior Ross Stabenow took fourth in the discus but advanced on distance with a 146-3; Rockford Christian junior Camden Rosche took fifth in discus but advanced on distance with a 144-3; Pec/Durand senior Jake Anderson took sixth in discus but advanced on distance with a 145-9; Forreston senior Matthew Beltran won high jump at 6-3; North Boone junior Amro Shammakh took second in the high jump with a make at 6-1; Byron senior Evan Potter took third but advanced on height with a make at 6-1; Winnebago junior Brady Schaller won the pole vault at 12-6; Byron senior Owen Griffith took second in the pole vault at 12-6; Winnebago senior Michael Cunningham won the long jump in 20-7; Shammakh took second in the long jump in 20-2; Rockford Christian senior Adam Santana won the triple jump in 43-8; Pec/Durand sophomore Max Milbrath took second in the triple jump in 42-5; Lutheran sophomore Vontez Dent took third in the triple jump but advanced on distance with a 41-7.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA track & field: Rockford area athletes who qualified for boys state
