Oakwood junior high track takes second at Class 3A IESA sectional meet

By Fred Kroner

Oakwood’s eighth-grade boys’ track and field team scored in 11 of 14 events on Saturday (May 15) and captured second place in the Class 3A IESA sectional meet at Watseka.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda’s meet champions collected 145 points. Oakwood was next with 61 points. Third-place Watseka had 52 points.

Oakwood’s Saul Carrillo was the meet winner in the 400 meters, covering the distance in 57.91 seconds. His time was .89 ahead of the runner-up.

In the same race, teammate Jakob Rupp was eighth (1:05.07).

The 400 was one of five events where two Oakwood athletes secured top 10 finishes.

Connor Smith ended third in the 100 meters (12.58 seconds) and teammate Carrillo was fifth (12.81).

In the 200 meters, Smith was fourth (26.60), just ahead of fifth-place Connor Moss, from Oakwood, (26.86).

The Knights had double placers in two field events.

Bryson Marcinko was the runner-up in the shot put (38 feet 4, ¾ inches) and Kamden Acord was sixth (32 feet, 5 ½ inches).

In the long jump, Moss was fourth (15 feet, 4 inches) and Rupp was seventh (14 feet, 4 inches).

Acord added a third place finish in the discus (106 feet, 5 inches) and Rupp was third in the high jump (4 feet, 11 inches).

Thomas Wells was a two-event finisher. He was seventh in the 1,600 meters (5:57.96) and eighth in the 110-meter hurdles (21.03 seconds).

Two of the Knights’ relays secured top four placements.

The 400-meter unit of Carrillo, Moss, Smith and Samuel Woodard was second in 50.29 seconds.

The 1,600-meter foursome of Carrillo, Rupp, Smith and Wells ended fourth in 4:27.83.

In the boys’ seventh-grade IESA sectional meet at Watseka, Oakwood ended in eighth place with 21 points.

Herscher Limestone was the winner with 87 points. Hoopeston Area and Watseka were next with 61 points.

One Oakwood athlete was a sectional titlist in an individual race.

Trevor McCall posted a win by 1.23 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, racing to a first-place finish of 19.05 seconds.

Teammate Jack Ajster was a placer in three events and joined McCall and two others on the fourth-place 400-meter relay.

The relay consisted of Ajster, Sailer Harrison, McCall and Alex Wells. Their combined time was 1:01.78.

Ajster placed fifth in the high jump (3 feet, 10 inches), seventh in the long jump (13 feet, 3 inches) and tied for seventh in the 100 meters (14.38 seconds).

Harrison contributed a fourth-place effort in the long jump (14 feet, 5 inches) and a sixth-place performance in the 400 meters (1:13.11).