SJO boys’ track and field places fourth at Unity Invite
By Fred Kroner
The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ track and field team placed in a tie for fourth on Friday (April 21) in the 18-school Tolono Unity Invitational.
Meet champion Unity amassed 99 ½ points. SJ-O totaled 43 points.
Three Spartans were the runner-up in their events.
Taking second were Carson Maroon (2:03.72 in the 800 meter), Brock Trimble (148 feet, 4 inches in the discus) and Charlie Schmitz (11 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault).
SJ-O’s 1,600-meter relay crossed in third place. The grouping of Logan Smith, Spencer Wilson, Colin Wayland and Maroon was timed in 3:33.30.
High-jumper Garret Siems was fourth (5 feet, 7 inches) as was 300-meter hurdler Smith (personal-best 42.41 seconds). Smith finished one spot ahead of teammate Kyler Swanson, who was fifth in a personal-best 45.24 seconds.
Swanson notched a sixth in the 110-meter high hurdles (personal-best 17.94 seconds). Aden Armstrong took sixth in the pole vault (7-6).
Also running sixth was the Spartans’ 400-meter relay foursome of Tyler Burch, Wayland, Smith and Corbin Wells. Their time was 44.73 seconds.
Wayland ended seventh in the high jump (5-7).
Four SJ-O athletes wound up in eighth place individually: Jackson Ennis (117 feet, 10 inches in the discus), Jack Fisher (11:01.15 in the 3,200 meters), Tim Blackburn-Kelley (18 feet, 3 inches in the long jump) and Wyatt Wertz (18.68 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles).
Blackburn-Kelley ended ninth in the triple jump (personal-best 36 feet, 11 inches) and Holden Jones was ninth in the 1,600 meters (4:58.68).
Burch was 10th in the 100 meters (11.58 seconds).
—
Tim Blackburn-Kelley was a double winner on Saturday (April 22) in the Monticello Freshman-Sophomore Invitational.
Some events were freshmen-only. Others were sophomores-only and some were for a combined freshman-sophomore mixture.
Blackburn-Kelley was dominant in winning the 100 meters (12.35 seconds) and the 200 meters (25.57 seconds). Both were freshmen-only races.
Will Franklin was victorious in the freshmen discus (92 feet).
Other top freshmen-only finishers were Blackburn-Kelley (third in the triple jump at 35-5 ¼), Vance McComas (third in the shot put at 29-9 ¼), Brennon Oleynichak (third in the discus at 80-3), Quinn Stahl (third in the 400 meters in 1:07.83), Oleynichak (fourth in the shot put at 29-6 ¾) and Landon Smith (fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles in 21.80 seconds) and Colton Overstreet (sixth in the triple jump at 33-9 ¼).
In sophomore-only competition, Carson Sarnecki was the runner-up in the discus (111-11) and added a sixth-place finish in the shot put (31-0 ½).
Grant Smith ended fifth in the 400 meters (1:05.44) and teammate Joe Griebat was sixth in the 800 meters (2:21.70).
Four SJ-O athletes and two relays fared well in freshmen-sophomore events.
Blackburn-Kelley placed second in the long jump (18-3 ¼). Overstreet was second in the 300-meter hurdles (51.05). Stahl was fifth in the pole vault (7-0 ¼). Landon Smith wound up fourth in the 300-meter hurdles (52.45).
The Spartans entered two relays that ended third in freshmen-sophomore races.
The 400-meter relay featured Turner, Grant Smith, Overstreet and Landon Smith. Their combined time was 50.10 seconds.
The 1,600-meter relay foursome of Griebat, Landon Smith, Grant Smith and Stahl were timed in 4:18.23.
SJ-O will return to action on Tuesday (April 25) at the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Invitational.
There were also limited junior varsity events at Unity.
Unity collected 22 points to win the JV segment. SJ-O tied for second with 20 points.
Two Spartan JV relays came in second.
The 400-meter relay grouping of Grant Smith, Kyler Swanson, Wyatt Wertz and Tim Blackburn-Kelley was timed in 47.68 seconds.
SJ-O put together a second-place finish in the 800-meter relay as well. Handling the baton in that race were Smith, Carter Turner, Wertz and Aden Armstrong. Their cumulative time was 1:39.16.
The Spartans also received points from Drew Thurman in the JV shot put. He finished fourth with a toss of 35 feet, 6 inches.
