By Tim Taylor

Seniors Megan Garrett and Grace Spoonhour ran their last races at Trojan Hill on a cold, misty Friday evening.

Garrett captured the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 15.96 seconds, and Spoonhour took the 3,200 in 11:58.82.

Another senior, Mariah Weiss, threw 26 feet, 3 inches for the longest heave in the shot put, followed closely by Aerielle Ecker in second.

Charleston’s girls compiled the most points in the four-school meet, earning 86, 10 more than Effingham. St. Anthony and Altamont came in third and fourth, respectively.

“We had an incredibly small senior class with just the three girls,” said CHS girls coach Chris Hawk, “but they have made up nearly a third of our team points this year. They have led the way for the last several years in both their example and their results. I can’t wait to see how they do in sectionals and state this year and look forward to seeing where life takes them over the next few years as well, specifically Megan at Adams State and Grace at Heartland.”

CHS’s Megan Garrett finishes in the 800. (Video/Tim Taylor)

The CHS boys’ squad came in third with 60 points, trailing Altamont by 21 points, followed by Effingham in second and Altamont in fourth.  

Wyatt Strader and Hannah Taylor each swept their respective long and triple jumps in difficult conditions. Strader leapt 20 feet, 2.5 inches to win by 3-plus inches in the long jump and 38-2.75 in the triple jump. Taylor went 13-3 1/2 and 27-10.75, respectively.

Strader also tied for first in high jump at 4 feet, 9.75 inches.

Plus, Strader served as anchor for the boys winning 4×100 team that also included Ethan McBride, Peyton Cox and Caiden Pruitt, which clocked in at 48.91 seconds despite a troublesome handoff after the first leg of the relay.

Makenna McBride and Malia Hodges each won both an individual sprint and relay. McBride’s clocked 28.18 in the 200 and then kicked off the winning 4×200 that included Ally Thompson, Treveia Couch and Weiss in 1:57.28. Hodges won the 400 in 1:07.76 and then teamed with Sophia Kattenbraker, Spoonhour and Garrett to win the 4×400 in 4:30.13.

At pole vault, the boys’ team had an outstanding day with Zac Stout taking first with a clearance of 11 feet, followed by Peyton Cox (10-6) in second and Caleb Oakley (9-5.75) in fourth.

Other notable performances:

  • Freshman Olivia Conn came in second at long jump.
  • The girls’ 4×100 relay team of McBride, Conn, Couch, Weiss placed second.
  • Treveia Couch came in second in the 100.
  • Alex Stout earned third in shot put and fifth in discus.
  • Austin Sikorski placed third in the 800.
  • Mackensie Williams and Eckert took third and fourth, respectively, in discus.
  • Williams was fifth in the shot put.  
  • Hannah Taylor finished fifth in the high jump.