IHSA Class A boys' state track preview
With an entire spring of competition behind them, athletes from Bureau Valley, Hall, LaMoille/Amboy and Princeton will be making the trek to Charleston for the boys’ 1A State Track Meet this Thursday, looking to put the finishing touches on the season with a good performance at the state meet. Here is a look at area competitors by school.
Bureau Valley
The Storm will send a pair of athletes in the field events — Adam Sanden in the triple jump and Austin Peterson in the high jump. Sanden, a junior, enters as the top seed in Class 1A after setting a new school record of 45-0 1/2 at the Erie sectional.
"He's really starting to put everything together and jump really well," said BV coach Nick Hartz. "Last Monday, he jumped, I think, 14 inches farther than his previous best jump, so he's starting to peak at the right time, which is what you want, especially this time of the year."
Peterson punched his ticket to Charleston with a second-place finish at sectionals, where he matched his season best with a top jump of 6-1.
"He's been jumping well all year long," said Hartz. "He's a kid that if he gets a couple good jumps could easily go 6-3, maybe 6-4 and make the finals."
Hall
The Red Devils boast the largest contingent of state-bound athletes in the area with six athletes qualifying for the state meet. Pole vaulter James Thompson, who qualified for the state meet last year, is the highest seeded Red Devil, entering as the No. 12 seed after clearing a season best 13-6 at the Erie sectional.
“He made it last year and wanted to get back and medal this year, and he has the potential to do it. I’m excited for him. He’s worked hard at it, and it's his last year, last chance,” said Hall coach Rob Malerk, adding that Thompson is looking to break the 14-foot mark in order to beat the Hall school record held by Thompson’s older brother.
Another Hall senior, Austin Pozzi will compete in the 300 hurdles, where he enters ranked 13th in Class 1A, after finishing second (40.6) at sectionals.
A pair of sophomore will look to gain valuable post season experience. Distance standout Scott Janusick will run in both the 1600 and 3200, where he has posted best times of 4:36.9 and 10:04.3 respectively. Classmate Anthony Urbanski will run the 800 after finishing second at sectional with a time of 2:02.2.
Malerk said the experience should prove to be valuable for his underclassman.
“It's great just to get the idea of what it’s like down there to push them even harder the next two years.”
Also representing the Red Devils will be the 1600 relay squad of Urbanski, T.J. Mosbach, Wade Herrmann and Pozzi.
Princeton
The Tigers have been strong in the weight events all spring and will send a trio of weightmen to the state tournament — Ethan Kloster and Evan Hale in the shot put, and Jake Holland in the discus.
Hale and Kloster, both seniors, went 1-2 at the Erie Sectional in the shot put with throws of 46-4, and 45-3 respectively.
"With Ethan and Evan, it's really great that they have the opportunity to go down to state," said PHS coach Dan Foes. "I think that with them two this year, they're always improving throughout the season, and I'm optimistic that they have their best throws left in them. Hopefully we'll see that down at state."
Holland, a sophomore, advanced to the state meet with a second-place finish at sectionals in the discus (135-8).
"He had a real nice throw last week at fresh-soph conference of 149-9. If he can go down there (Charleston), and duplicate that, I think he will be in the running for making the finals and possibly a medal," Foes said.
Amboy/LaMoille
The Clippers co-op will have a pair of representatives at the state meet. LaMoille Senior Matt Monroe will compete in the discus, where he enters ranked 12 in Class 1A after a third-place finish at the Lena sectional with a qualifying toss of 148-6.
Amboy's Jake Lytle will run in the 400, after posting a qualifying time of 50.8 at the Lena Sectional.
