CHARLESTON, Ill. • Cahokia and Belleville West did the unthinkable Saturday afternoon at the Illinois Class 2A and 3A boys state track meet at O'Brien Stadium at Eastern Illinois University.
The Comanches overwhelmingly won Class 2A with 62 points. Chatham Glenwood was second with 44 points and Glenbard South third with 40.
West finished second in the 1,600-meter relay to pull into a tie for third in Class 3A with Harvey Thornton. Defending champ Lake Park won the 3A title with 74 points, and York was second with 43. West and Harvey Thornton finished with 39 points.
"Now that we've won I feel better," said Cahokia triple jumper Vernon Carter, who claimed top honors Saturday with a 47-foot, ½-inch leap achieved in the preliminaries on Friday. "We did it, and I brought points for our team. We had to score points everywhere with all the guys we had in the finals. We came to win, and that's what we did."
The Comanches closed their title run – it was Cahokia's first title since 2007 – with a standout effort by the 1,600-meter relay team of LaDerrick Ward, Kenny Ball, Darren Payton and Marlin Brady. The Cahokia quartet shattered the state final record, winning in 3 minutes, 18.20 seconds. The old mark was 3:20.51 set in 2009 by Hillcrest.
"I just told the kids last night in a meeting just do what you've been doing all year long," said Cahokia coach Leroy Millsap. "Run the times and do the jumps you've been doing all year long and we'll be fine. This is a points race. This is a points game. It's about points, points, points. Your personal stuff doesn't mean anything."
Meanwhile, after finishing fourth last season with 30 points, West was able to pull into a tie for third on Saturday thanks to a bold move by coach Patton Seagraves when he put senior Divonte Ridley as the leadoff runner for the 800 relay team.
That group, which may not have even qualified for the finals, was third on Saturday. Ridley also ran the leadoff leg on the winning 400 relay team in addition to chipping in in his main events, 110 high hurdles (fourth) and 300 intermediate hurdles (fifth). Although the Maroons won only one event (the 400 relay) Saturday, they raced to a second-place finish in the the 1,600 relay, nearly upsetting the top team in the state, Plainfield South. Plainfield finished South finished in 3:16.95 with West on its heels in 3:17.05.
"I'm happy because, what I came out here for, it paid off," said Ridley, wiping away tears. "It was about the team. That's why I ran the four by two. I am happy for the team and happy for everybody."
"For Ridley to run the eight races he ran this weekend ... every single point we got today was unbelievable," Seagraves said. "We needed every single one of the them."
Waterloo sophomore discus thrower Brendan Duncan had his state record throw of 170-9 on Friday stand up Saturday in Class 2A, and Lebanon's Andrew Ellison ended his high school career with a Class 1A discus title after a throw of 186-9 on Thursday in a cold rain and wind.
"I don't know how I didn't improve (today)," said Ellison. "The pressure got to me, and I was little too excited. I was biting at that record (his best was throw was a state mark of 194-8 set at the St. Clair County Meet in April). I was rushing myself, and I got ahead of my throw."
Duncan said his state record throw "felt right."
"It just felt like it was the best I could have done" he said. "I really didn't think it would happen here."
Wesclin senior and Illinois State recruit Nate Schreiber capped his career with a victory in the 200 meters (22.00) when he outleaned Jonathan Hutchison of Peoria Christian (22.02).
"Oh God. I've been working so hard and it paid off," Schreiber said between tears. "For four years I've been after this. Chasing this. I finally got it. It's not my best time, but I don't even care. I don't care. I won."
