By Fred Kroner
In the IESA girls’ seventh-grade sectional on Saturday (May 8) at Tuscola, Villa Grove totaled 44 points and collected a fourth-place finish.
The meet champion was St. Anthony (118 points), followed by Tuscola (67 points) and Bridgeport Red Hill (65 points).
The Blue Devils’ Hayden Thomas registered first-, second- and fifth-place finishes.
Thomas was the winner in the long jump (15 feet). She was second in the 200 meters (29.38 seconds) and fifth in the 100 meters (14.30 seconds).
The other Villa Grove points came in the shot put and the discus.
Ryan Lillard was the sectional runner-up in the shot (24 feet, 2 inches), followed by Piper Kiser (23 feet, 3 ½ inches) in third place.
In the discus, Kiser was third (69 feet, 11 inches) and Lillard was fourth (67 feet, 7 inches).
In the IESA Class 2A eighth-grade girls’ sectional meet, Carly Eads was the champion in the discus.
Her winning toss was 71 feet, 4 inches.
Eads added a seventh-place finish in the shot put (23 feet, 8 ½ inches). Teammate Madison Hinds was eighth (22 feet, 11 ½ inches).
Villa Grove’s other points came from its fifth-place 400-meter relay foursome of Piper Kiser, Eva Piercy, Scarlett Howard and Hayden Thomas. Their combined time was 1:02.56.
Tuscola won the eighth-grade team title with 142 points. Runner-up Effingham St. Anthony had 113 points. Villa Grove placed eighth with 12 points.
