Six Spartans earn All-State honors at IHSA Class 1A track and field state meet

By Fred Kroner

Seven of 14 St Joseph-Ogden participants in the boys’ IHSA Class 1A track and field state meet advanced to the finals.

Six of them earned medals and All-State recognition on Saturday (May 27) for positioning themselves among the top nine in their respective events.

Carson Maroon was a two-event placer, running fifth in the 1,600 meters (4:25.28), a time that was more than 16 seconds quicker than he recorded at the sectional and was just off his lifetime best (4:24.98). He qualified in the eighth position with a preliminary time of 4:26.264.

Maroon added a seventh-place finish in the 3,200 meters (9:42.54) despite not running in the fastest of the two-state heats.

In the IHSA’s longest-distance race, he improved his sectional time by more than 20 seconds and was close to his PR (9:39.30).

In the Thursday (May 25) prelims, pole-vaulter Charlie Schmitz met the automatic qualifying standard of 12 feet, 5 ½ inches. Schmitz was one of 13 athletes who moved on to the finals in the event. He ended in sixth place in the finals with a mark of 13 feet, 2 inches.

The SJ-O 800-meter relay posted the fourth-best qualifying time (1:30.92). The foursome consisted of Tyler Burch, Logan Smith, Colin Wayland, and Jackson Greer. Overall, there were 41 entries in the event at state.

They cut more time in the finals, finishing seventh in 1:30.69.

Posting the seventh-best qualifying mark in the discus was the Spartans’ Brock Trimble (146 feet, 11 inches). He took home the eighth-place medal after a finals toss of 149 feet, 3 inches.

The SJ-O 1,600-meter relay qualified for the finals with the eighth-best time (3:29.76), which was 1.83 seconds better than their sectional time.

Sharing the baton were Smith, Spencer Wilson, Wayland and Greer. They ran even quicker in the finals (3:27.90) and wound up in eighth place.

There were no prelims in the 3,200 meters, where Spartans Maroon and Holden Jones were automatic finalists. Jones came in 31st in 10:36.22.

Of the Spartans’ All-Staters, the only ones with previous state medals were Trimble in the discus in 2022 and both Burch and Wilson as part of relays in previous seasons.

The top placement for 2023 SJ-O athletes who did not advance to the finals individually was Burch in the 100 meters. He finished in 20th place with a time of 11.269, which was an improvement over his sectional performance.

Smith took 23rd in the 300-meter hurdles (42.63 seconds) and Tim Blackburn-Kelley ended 30th in the triple jump (39 feet, 1 inch).

Lance Retz ran 33rd in the 1,600 meters (4:44.77), just off his personal best of 4:44.38. High-jumper Garrett Siems did not clear the opening height.

SJ-O’s 400-meter relay – featuring Burch, Greer, Wayland, and Smith – placed 19th in 44.46 seconds.

The school’s 3,200-meter relay of Mason Guido, Joe Griebat, Aden Armstrong, and Wilson wound up in 25th place with a combined time of 8:49.23.

In the final Class 1A team standings, SJ-O came in tied for 15th with 19 points but ended just three points away from a top-10 finish. State champion Salt Fork amassed 45 points. In all, 77 Class 1A teams scored points at state.

The SJ-O boys’ track and field program has produced state placers eight consecutive years (excluding 2020, when COVID-19 canceled the meet) and in 25 of the past 27 years that state meets were contested.