By Fred Kroner
Seventh-grader Jacob Golightly was the lone Villa Grove athlete to qualify for the IESA boys’ Class 2A junior high state track and field meet.
In the sectional at Central A&M, he placed fifth in the long jump, but advanced with a leap of 16 feet, 1 inch. At state, Golightly finished in 20th place with a best mark of 14 feet, 10 inches.
He did not advance in the 400 meters, but placed third at sectionals in 1 minute, 2.63 seconds. Golightly was also sixth in the 100 meters (13.83 seconds) at the sectional.
Villa Grove had three other sectional entries that finished in sixth place at the A&M Sectional, including the 400-meter relay foursome of Cole Cardiff, Logan Hauersperger, Cody Witte and Jaden Reynolds. Their time was 1:00.56.
Reynolds finished sixth in the 400 meters (1:06.17) and Hauersperger was sixth in the 1,600 meters (6:14.48).
In the boys’ seventh-grade division, Villa Grove ended with three top-five placements at sectionals, including Thomas Vandeventer, who was third in the shot put (36 feet, 2 inches) and fourth in the discus (112 feet, 9 inches).
The 400-meter relay unit of Jacob Golightly, Jackson Gilles, Zane Hosier and Landon Chambers took fifth in 54.90 seconds.
