Oakwood’s Connor Smith Leads Charge with Four State Qualifications at Class 1A Sectional Track Meet
By Fred Kroner
Oakwood junior Connor Smith qualified for state in four events – two as an individual and two as part of relays – and the Comets produced qualifiers in nine events on Friday (May 17) in the IHSA Class 1A boys’ track and field sectional at Salt Fork.
Smith was the runner-up in both the 100 meters (11.24 seconds) and the 400 meters (personal-best 50.52 seconds), meeting the pre-determined qualifying time in both races.
Three Oakwood relays captured sectional titles.
The 400-meter unit of Bryson McDaniel, Connor Moss, Jacob Pricer and Smith were timed in 43.29 seconds.
Sharing the baton on the state-qualifying 1,600-meter relay were Connor Taflinger, Jakob Rupp, Macen Phillips and Smith. Their cumulative time was 3:32.36.
Oakwood’s 3,200-meter secured its advancement with a first-place time of 8:25.88. The relay featured Rupp, Lucas Tyas, Phillips and Thomas Wells.
Wells was the Comets’ other state qualifier. He won the 1,600-meter race in 4:48.00.
Three Oakwood runners who turned in top-10 performances also achieved personal-best times: Tyas (sixth in the 800 meters in 2:08.32), Kyler Johnson (sixth in the 110-meter hurdles in 17.40 seconds) and Trevor McCall (seventh in the 300-meter hurdles in 44.08 seconds).
The Comets had top-10 placers in six other events, including McDaniel in two events. He was second in the triple jump (40 feet, 3 inches), qualifying him for State, and fifth in the long jump (19 feet, 8 inches).
Other team leaders were Sailer Harrison (third in the triple jump at 38 feet, 7 inches), McCall (fifth in the 300-meter hurdles in 17.29 seconds), Saul Carillo (ninth in the high jump at 5 feet, 4 inches) and Taflinger (10th in the 100 meters in 12.06 seconds).
Salt Fork earned the team sectional title with 122 points. Oakwood ran a strong second (94 points) in the 16-school meet and was followed by Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin (78 points) and Westville (73 points).
The Comets’ state qualifiers will return to action on Thursday (May 23) at Eastern Illinois University, in Charleston. Those who qualify for the finals will return on Saturday (May 25).
