By Fred Kroner
Two Oakwood athletes secured berths in the IHSA boys’ track and field state meet based on their performances on Friday (May 19) at the Westville Class 1A Sectional.
Sprinter Connor Smith ran a personal-best 51.44 seconds and placed second in the 200 meters.
Triple-jumper Bryson McDaniel was also a sectional runner-up. He had a leap of 39 feet, 9 inches.
Eleven other Comets registered top-15 finishes in the 18-school sectional, led by Thomas Wells (fourth in the 1,600 meters in 4:56.52), McDaniel (sixth in the long jump at 18 feet, 6 inches) and Sailer Harrison (sixth in the triple jump at 36 feet, 9 inches).
Other personal-best by Oakwood athletes in the top 15 were recorded by : Macen Phillips (eighth in the 400 meters in 55.54 seconds), Grant Brewer (11th in the 800 meters in 2:16.04) and Connor Taflinger (13th in the 100 meters in 12.42 seconds).
The other individual team leaders were Harrison (ninth in the long jump at 17 feet, 9 inches), Jacob Pricer (10th in the 200 meters in 25.52 seconds), Jakob Rupp (12th in the 800 meters in 2:17.32), Tucker Pesek (13th in the 110-meter high hurdles in 20.17 seconds) and Jack Ajster (15th in the 300-meter hurdles in 49.74 seconds).
Three of Oakwood’s relays secured top-10 finishes, including the fifth-place 1,600-meter relay foursome of Kaden McDaniel, Rupp, Phillips and Brewer. They were timed in 3:45.62.
The 400-meter unit of Bryson McDaniel, Pricer, Noah Phillips and Smith took seventh in 46.92 seconds.
Handling the baton on the ninth-place Oakwood 800-meter relay were Pesek, Kaden McDaniel, Harrison and Taflinger were clocked in 1:48.08.
St. Joseph-Ogden captured team honors at the sectional with 129 points. Oakwood ended in eighth place with 25 points.
Oakwood’s state-qualifiers will return to action on Thursday (May 25) at Eastern Illinois University, in Charleston.
