ALAH wins both boys and girls track invites at home
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By Mike Monahan
ARTHUR – The Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond girls’ track team had little trouble in winning the ALAH Invite Saturday, scoring 31.5 points more than second place Sullivan as the Knights totalled 156 points.
On the boys side it all came down to the final event of the day, one where temperatures eventually rose into the 60’s, the 4×400. ALAH needed to win and Tuscola finished third and that is exactly what happened as the Knights celebrated a 134 ½ to 134 victory for the sweep.
The big story outside of ALAH winning both was in the boys 4×800 was the fact that the Cumberland team of Cameron Roedl, Coldy Roedl, Kaleb Bierman and Aydan Oakley not only won the race, but broke the oldest record in the 53 years of the meet. They ran an 8:22.90, breaking the 1981 record set by Oakland at 8:31.30. The Pirates also won the event by 13.67 seconds over second place Neoga.
Other records broken in the boys division was the 200-meter dash as Tuscola’s Kamden Flenner ran a 21.64 eclipsing the previous mark of 2011 set by Tuscola’s Alex Kemp in 22.64. Tuscola’s 4×100 and 4×200 also set meet records with times of 43.11 and 1:30.36 respectively. The 4×100 and 4×200 teams consisted of Bradley Washington, Sawyer Beachy, Calvin Cook and Flenner. The previous records were Sullivan in 43.86 in 2024 in the 4×100 and Tuscola’s 4×200 team of 2012 had the record at 1:32.71.
Two records were broken on the girls side in the 4×100 and 1,600. Sullivan broke the 4×100 record by running a 51.28. The ALAH team of last year had the record in 52.31,while Marshall’s Molly Farrell ran a 5:05.68 to break the previous record by Tuscola’s Kate Foltz last year in a time of 5:09.27.
Boys
“Coach (Ryan) Hornaday (Tuscola boys coach) and I talked to each other throughout the day and we were just throwing haymakers left and right. We picked up points in the 400 and they picked up big points in the 200,” said ALAH boys coach Mitch Wilson. “It was just kind of back and forth all day. We talked in practice that we knew it was going to come down to the 4×400.”
Before that exciting event the Knights Easton Frederick won the 400 with a time of 51.36 and just behind him was teammate Cruz Hale, who ran a 52.58. The only other winner for ALAH was in the triple jump when Daylon Dogget went 41-1.
“I try to get out as strong as I can without wearing myself out,” said Frederick. “I have been studying a ton on how to run a 400. I just try not to kill myself while trying to get the best start so I can float down the backstretch. It worked out great. Cruz Hale is great. Not only good for our team, but good for competition. We pushed each other the whole race.”
Tuscola’s Blake McLeese, a senior, beat ALAH’s Beau Green, a freshman by 6.34 seconds, winning with a time of 9:52.07. McLeese was seeded second.
“I tried not to lose to the guy who was projected to win (Green). “I knew it was going to be close. I figured if I made a move I might be able to hold them off the whole entire race. It pushed me a lot. He was good competition. It wasn’t an easy race by any means.”
The 4×400 team for the Knights consisted of Payton Warrior, Tristan Keagle, Ismael Corona and Hale,
“When we got 18 points in the 400 we thought winning it was doable,” said Hale. “We saw that if we got first and Tuscola got third or lower we would actually come home with a win. Green ran an awesome 1,600 (second in 4:40.12) and that put us ahead by a little bit. Then came Tuscola in the 200. Before I got the handoff I took a good look at the Tuscola runners back. I thought in my head that is what I am going to look at and I don’t want to look at it for too long. When I got the handoff (from Corona) he had about a 10-15 meter lead on me. All I thought about was getting to his back. I got to his back a lot faster than I thought I would. I thought’ you know what I feel great so I am going to pass him now. So, I came around the last 200 and I thought I should start to kick it and I did not stop. I went all the way to the finish line. I was happy to see all my teammates there with arms open.”
Flenner who set the school record in the 200. He was also in the 4×100 and said the handoff was great to him.
“We have been in the lab,” said Flenner. “We got our handoffs down. We came and executed, which was exactly what we wanted to do. In the 4×200 we had a good lead. Down the stretch it was hard because no one was near me. I just knew I had to keep pushing because any millisecond is big. “
Their time was 3.26 seconds faster than their previous best.
“We were big Villa Grove fans in the 4×400 and we were thankful that they could squeak by them (VG ran a 3:34.61 and Tuscola was third in 3:36.09),” said Wilson. ““I am just so happy and proud of our seniors (ALAH seniors were recognized before the meet). We have eight seniors who have put in a lot of time in this program. I just met with those guys and I told them, “the best is yet to come, but I am proud of the way they performed today. I always say you will have your best year ever if your seniors have their best year ever. Our seniors are rock’in it right now. Hats off to Tuscola and coach Hornaday.”
Hornaday is looking forward to facing ALAH again in the Tuscola invite.
“To break our own meet record in the 4×200 that we won 14 years ago was great,” said Hornaday. “That group (2012) was actually the state record holder until last year when Morrison broke it. To kind of see the parallel between the 2012 group and this group is neat to watch and see how it unfolded. Flenner is putting up some pretty staggering numbers right now. He is second in the 200 in all classes. Our field guys got us off to a great start in Trey Waldrop and Bryaden Weaver,who were both near the top in both the shot put and discus. Beau Whitson, a freshman, and Weaver were both near the top of the heap today too. Riley McCall, a junior, is a kid that is really coming into his own this year. I can’t trumpet him enough. We had two of the top hurdlers in 1A last year so no one really knew about Riley because he has had to sit behind those guys the last couple of years. Now it is his turn. There is not a more pleasant kid. A good, good kid and it is really nice to see him be successful.”
Girls
“The 100 was big,” said ALAH girls coach Ryan Jefferson. “In the 100 and 200 it is so hard to guess where the girls are going to end up. Bad block starts messes up everything. I was kind of banking on her (Bella Romine) scoring, but her going out and winning it was a big momentum shift. Macelyn Boddy, who was not in the fast heat, but I told her you can run with these girls and maybe you can beat someone in the fast heat and she did that; ending up fifth (13.89). That was a huge momentum swing because that was 14 points, we were not necessarily banking on.”
Sophomore Bella Romine won the 100 in 13.38 seconds just .19 behind her career-best and her best this season.
“I have been working on my start quite a bit,” said Romine. “Back at the beginning of the season it was kind of rocky. He (coach Jefferson) has been really working it with me at practice. I thought it (the start) was a lot better than what I had been doing.”
Romine was ranked fifth.
“I was in lane two and I had a few Sullivan girls ahead of me,” said Romine. “I really focused on that. When I crossed the finish line it was great. I have been putting a lot of work into this.”
Romine was also second in the triple jump at 33-10 and second in the 200 (27.94) and third in the 400 (1:03.89).
“I felt good coming out of the field events,” said Jefferson. “I knew our throws would be really good (18 points total) and we have a high jumper this year (Zoey Mendoza). Our horizontal jump we met and exceeded our expectations (27 points, including a win in the long jump by Leighton Poulos as she went 16-6 ½). That gave us a good cushion and we had to see how we would do in the running events.”
ALAH scored at least one point (top eight) in all but the 100 hurdles.
In the 4×200 which consisted of Grace Romine, Keely Simpson, Pulous and Summer Melton they crossed the finish line in first with a time of 1:50.42, just .31 ahead of second place Sullivan.
“This relay team we had not run with these four,” said anchor Summer Melton. “We replaced a girl. We ran a really good time and it worked out really well for us. Sullivan was leading when we came around the curve and so I took off and got the win. I could see her out of the corner of my eye and was thinking you have got to get this. We are too close to give up and let her pass me.”
Jeffeson said, It was pretty sweet to win it and it was great for us to double up with the boys also winning it. It is really cool. The seniors, both boys and girls, are really a special class. It was senior recognition and I think we have 20 together. We showed team depth. You mix kids up and try and maximize the points and you try and pull some from their normal relays to stay in regular events. It showed the depth that the other kids can step up and you don’t lose out on a point.”
Boys 53rd Arthur Invite (now ALAH Invite)
Boys team results: 1. Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 134.5; 2. Tuscola 134; 3. Cumberland 92; 4. Sullivan 77; 5. Villa Grove 40.5; 6. Neoga 37; 7. Casey-Westfield 30.5; 8. Arcola 21; 9. Sangamon Valley 20.5 10. Tie, Blue Ridge, Cerro Gordo/Bement 16; 12. Meridian 14. 13. Heritage 10; 14. Tie, Mt. Pulaski, Warrensburg-Latham 6; 16. Argenta-Oreana 5; 17. Marshall 3
Top 8 individuals and relays placed
First place, ALAH, Arcola, Villa Grove, Tuscola placers
100: 1. Kamden Flenner, Tuscola, 10.88; 3. Brody Phillips, Arcola, 11.58; 4. Easton Frederick, ALAH, 11.80; 6. Payton Warrior, ALAH 11.90
200: 1. Flenner, Tuscola, 21.64*; 3. Frederick, ALAH, 23.36; 4. Bradlee Washington, Tuscola, 23.79; 5. Dylan Doggett, ALAH 23.91; 8. Jaden Reynolds, Villa Grove, 24.53
400: 1. Frederick, ALAH, 51.36; 2. Cruz Hale, ALAH, 52.28; 3. Roberts-McGeehon, Arcola, 53.14;
800: 1. Will Fuson, CGB, 2:04.47; 6. James Jonas, Tuscola, 2:08.29
1,600: 1. Jonathan Iacobazzi, Sullivan, 4:32.63; 2. Beau Green, ALAH, 4:40.12; 5. Blake McLeese,Tuscola, 4:43.39
3,200: 1. Blake McLeese, Tuscola, 9:52.07; 2. Green, ALAH, 9:58.41; 5. Ky Gardner, Tuscola, 10:29.00; 7. Colton Snyder, ALAH, 10:38.86
100 hurdles: 1. Riley McCall, Tuscola, 17.14; 2. Brennan Hutson, ALAH, 18.29; 3. Jase Kingery, ALAH, 18.51; 6. Chase Shipman, Tuscola, 19.40
300 hurdles: 1. Nolan Shadwick, Villa Grove, 42.91; 2. Trey Stode, ALAH, 43.80; 3. McCall, Tuscola, 45.95; 4. Kingery, ALAH, 44.58
4×100: 1. Tuscola (Bradlee Washington, Sawyer Beachy, Calvin Cook, Flenner) 43.11*; 2. ALAH (Warrior, Hale, Frederick, Doggett) 43.60; 5. Arcola (Ronnie Vega, Roberts-McGeehon, Canton Wesch, Phillips) 45.52
4×200: 1. Tuscola (Washington, Beachy, Cook, Flenner) 1:30.36*; 2. ALAH (Justin Schrock, Cooper Shoemaker, Warrior, Doggett) 1:34.01; 4. Villa Grove (Shadwick, Dowler, Swigert, Cravens) 1:4.78
4×400: 1. ALAH (Warrior, Tristan Keagle, Ismael Corona, Hale) 3:32.70; 2. Villa Grove (Shadwick, Dowler, Swigert, Cravens) 3:34.61; 3. Tuscola (Beachy, Dylan Graves, Cook, Lawson Kurtz) 3:36.09
4×800: 1. Cumberland (Cameron Roedl, Colby Roedl, Kaleb Bierman, Aydan Oakley) 8:22.90*; 3. Tuscola (Boyd Brewer, Jonas, Michael Picazo, Mitchell Atwater) 8: 46.17; 5. ALAH (Green, Snyder, David Briseno, Keagle) 8:50.52;
Shot put: 1. Brayden Weaver, Tuscola, 51-10 ½; 2. Trey Waldrop, Tuscola, 50-8 ¾;; 7. Peyton Ellis, Villa Grove, 40-3 1/4
Discus: 1. Waldrop, Tuscola, 133-5; 4. Beau Whitson, Tuscola, 128-6; 7. John Morrow, Villa Grove 115-1
High jump: 1. Brayden Ray, Neoga, 5-9 ¾; 3. Shoemaker, ALAH, 5-7 3/4; 5. Dowler, Villa Grove, 5-7 ¾; 7. Strode, ALAH, 5-7 3/4
Long jump: 1. Chase Ellis, Blue Ridge, 21-1 1/4; 3. Cravens, Villa Grove, 20-8 ½; 4. Roberts-McGeehon, Arcola, 20-7 ¼; 5. Strode, ALAH 19-2 1/2; 8. Famous Davison, ALAH, 18-3 3/4
Triple jump: 1. Doggett, ALAH, 41-1; 6. Carson Kappes, Villa Grove, 37-2 ¼; 8. Keagle, ALAH, 35-8 ¾
*-set meet record
Girls results: 1. ALAH 156; 2. Sullivan 124.5; 3. Marshall 62; 4. Sangamon Valley 47.5; 5. Tie, Casey-Westfield, Tuscola 39; 7. CGB 34; 8. Warrensburg-Latham 30; 9. Villa Grove 26. 10. Argenta-Oreana 22. 11. Cumberland 21; 12. Arcola 16. 13. Mt. Pulaski 14. 14. Tri-County 10; 15. Meridian 8, 16. Heritage 5, 17. Neoga 3
Top 8 individuals and relays placed
First place and ALAH, Arcola, Villa Grove, Tuscola placers
100: Bella Romine, ALAH, 13.38; 5. Macelyn Boddy, ALAH 13.89; 8. Baylee Martin, Villa Grove, 14.11
200: Tenley Campbell, Sullivan, 27.54; 2. Bella Romine, ALAH, 27.94; 3. Evalice Callison, Villa Grove, 28.10; 4. Grace Romine, ALAH, 28.55; 5. Ava Kleiss, Tuscola, 28.95
400: 1. Emelyn Roberts, Argenta-Oreana, 1:01.50; 3. Bella Romine, ALAH, 1:03.89; 6. Ruby Burton, ALAH, 1:04.96
800: 1. Burton, ALAH, 2:30.35; 3. Sophia Johnson, ALAH, 2:35.79
1,600: 1. Molly Ferrell, Marshall, 5;05.68*; 5. Kimberly Krustsinger, ALAH, 5:41.89
3,200: 1. Kendal Fleck, Sangamon Valley, 11:31.33; 4. Krustinger, ALAH, 12:18.16; 6 Embrey Reardon, ALAH, 13:06.44
100 hurdles: 1. Addie Patterson, Sullivan, 16.22
300 hurdles: 1. Patterson, Sullivan, 50.13; 3. Emmalee Reel, ALAH, 52.22; 5. Rylie Ward, ALAH, 52.71; 7. Gwen Boyd, Tuscola, 59.32
4×100: 1. Sullivan (Cambell, Patterson, Avery Renfro, Mya Dyer) 51.28*; 2. ALAH (Grace Romine, Boddy, Bella Romine, Summer Melton) 52.24; 4. Arcola (Olivia Gisinger, Scarlett Montano, Anahi Cooper, Ema Simpson) 54.04; 5. Tuscola (Phoebe Wilkins, Montserrat Xolo, Tessa Nener, Makayla Sexson) 54.97
4×200: 1. ALAH (Grace Romine, Keely Simpson, Leighton Poulos, Melton) 1:50.42; 3. Arcola (Gisinger, Montano, Cooper, Simpson) 1;54.95; 4. Tuscola (Sexson, Davis, Kleiss, Kali Gilpin) 1:56.64
4×400: 1. Marshall (Marlee Heighton, Aubrey Shafer, Farrell, Madeline Fox 4:16.68; 2. ALAH (Reel, Norma Mendoza, Lily Vanda, Burton) 4;23.30; 4. Arcola (Gisinger, Aubreilla Moreno, Montano, Simpson) 4:29.12; 8. Tuscola (Sexon, Hayden Smith, Ainsley Rennert, Xolo) 4:50.35
4×800: 1. ALAH (Gwendolyn Herring, Vanda, Johnson, Burton) 10:54.40; 5. Tuscola (Celeste Rebollo, Bella Dueker, Rory Hackett, Hanna Carswell 12:42.28
Shot put: 1. Emma Wightsil, Warrensburg-Latham 38-9 1/2; 5. Rylie Ward, ALAH, 31-0 1/2; 6. Alex Clark, ALAH, 30-5 ½; 8. Anna-Marie Grant, Tuscola, 29-1
Discus; 1. Wightsil, W-L, 129-9; 3. Alex Clark, ALAH, 99-0; 4. Ward, ALAH, 94-11; 5. Ryan Lillard, Villa Grove, 92-9; 6. Grant, Tuscola, 92-8
High jump: 1. Evalice Callison, Villa Grove, 5-3 3/4; 5. Gilpin, Tuscola, 4-9 ¾; 8. Zoey Mendoza, ALAH, 4-7 3/4
Long jump: 1. Poulos, ALAH, 16-6 1/2; 3. Kleiss, Tuscola, 16-4 /12; 5. Baylee Martin, Villa Grove 15-9 ¾; 6. Melton, ALAH, 15-3 1/2
Triple jump: 1. Devon Richarson, Sullivan, 33-11 1/2; 2. Bella Romine, ALAH, 33-10; 3. Melton, ALAH, 33-6; 4. Kleiss, Tuscola, 32-9 ¾
*-set meet record