By Kyle Daubs

Athletes from Charleston and Mattoon will be competing tonight either for a chance to earn a berth in the boys state track and field meet and to earn a medal during the Class 2A Sectional at Tolono. Field events begin at 2:30 p.m., finals are set to begin at 4 p.m.

Here is a breakdown of each event.

Said Charleston Coach Josh Stice: “I would think Urbana is going to be a favorite at our Sectional,” said Charleston coach Josh Stice. “They hold some of the top spots in a majority of the events. Anything can happen at the Sectional meet so we are hopeful for a few state-qualifying performances.I hope to see our team continue to compete. The best of the state is often in our Sectional, so it is fun to see our guys go out there and compete with them.”

Order of Events

Shot Put: Mattoon’s Sam Bradbury is the No. 1 seed with a season-best of 15.34 meters, which he threw at the Apollo Conference to claim all-conference honors.  Charleston’s Alex Stout’s throw of 14.26 meters is going to be right in the mix. Stout is 0.7 meters behind the second-best throw in the sectional. Said MHS coach Jarad Kimbro: “Sam Bradbury will have a very good chance of making it to state in the shot put and the discus.  He has thrown qualifying distance in both.”

State Qualifying: 14.80 Meters

Discus: Bradbury is ranked third overall in this event with a season-best toss of 44.78 meters. The top seed belongs to Mahomet-Seymour’s Robert Byron at 47.98 meters. Stout is ranked right behind Bradbury with a throw of 44.30 meters. 

State Qualifying: 44.24 Meters

High Jump: Mattoon’s Matthew Gordon is ranked fifth with a jump of 1.83 meters, or roughly 6 feet. The good news is that Gordon is one of six athletes who has jumped higher than 6 feet this year. Gordon will likely have to hit a personal best and go close to 6-2 to make it. The top-ranked seed is Drew Rogers, a freshman out of Paris, who has jumped 1.98 meters, or roughly 6-4. Mattoon’s Jackson Whalin and Charleston’s Jacob Flight are both tied at seventh with a jump of 1.78 meters. 

State Qualifying: 1.87 Meters

Pole Vault: Charleston’s Zach Stout and Mattoon’s Trent Hettinger are ranked second and third. The top spot will likely belong to Mt. Zion’s Kyle Hensley at 4.57 meters, followed by Stout (3.96) and Hettinger (3.80). Charleston’s Peyton Cox is ranked fifth with a vault of 3.51 meters. 

State Qualifying: 3.96 Meters

Long Jump: Charleston’s Wyatt Strader is the No. 1 seed going into his event with a season-best of 6.55 meters. The next best seed is Rex Hallam of Olney at 6.46 meters. 

State Qualifying: 6.57 Meters

Triple Jump: Charleston’s Jacob Flight is ranked third behind top-seed KeJauna Caradine of Rantoul, who has leaped 13 meters. Flight has a season-best of 12.51 meters, which is tied with Mount Zion’s Bryndon Wallace.

State Qualifying: 13.05 Meters

4×800 Meter Relay: Three teams are within seconds of one another –  Urbana (8:21.90), Mattoon (8:22.65), and Lincoln (8:23.27). The Mattoon team is made up of Quincy Hamilton, Chase Armstrong, Sam Ferrar and Jackson Whalin. 

State Qualifying: 8:16.81

4×100 Meter Relay: Neither Mattoon nor Charleston has a relay ranked in the top-10. The top teams in this event are Urbana (42.64) and Mount Zion (43.62). 

State Qualifying: 43.50

3,200 Meter: Mattoon’s Brock Davee is ranked fifth with a time of 10 minutes, 11.94 seconds. There are two individuals, Brenden Heitzig of Lincoln and Julian Baker of Mount Zion have each gone under 10 minutes. 

State Qualifying: 9:53.65

110 Hurdles: Jackson Taylor of Decatur Eisenhower owns a top time of 14.98 seconds, followed by Miles Wood of Champaign Central at 15.72. CHS’s Caleb Oakley is ranked ninth at 17.46. 

State Qualifying: 15.29

100 Meter: Christian Keyhea of Mount Zino (10.97) and Jacob Tackett of Monticello (10.98) are going to have a fun race along with Jackson Gilbert (11.00) and Terrell King (11.07), both of Urbana. 

State Qualifying: 11.12

800 Meters: Garrett Slack is favored heavily and will be a fixture in competing for a state championship. Slack owns a season-best 1:53.98 with Sam Atkinson of MountZioning owning a time of 1:56.10. 

State Qualifying: 2:00.80

4×200 Meter Relay: Monticello owns the best time at 1:31.27 with Rantoul at 1:32.05 and Mount Zion will is at 1:32.16. Mattoon’s time of 1:35.12 with Derrius White, Andy Karpus, Sawyer Kirts and Cale Kimbro is ranked 10th. 

State Qualifying: 1:31.24

400 Meter: Two Urbana runners could place first and second – Jackson Gilbert at 48.15 and Cedric Sabin at 50.64. 

State Qualifying: 51.10

300 Hurdles: Olney’s Chase Travis (41.51) and Champaign Central’s Miles Wood (41.82) are at the top. Charleston’s Kyle Ross is ranked fifth at 44.09. 

State Qualifying: 40.71

1600 Meter: Garrett Slack and Brendan Heitzig, teammates at Lincoln, are ranked first and second in the mile with a 4:21.15 and 4:22.47, respectively. 

State Qualifying: 4:31.13

200 Meter: Urbana’s Jackson Gilbert is ranked at the top with a time of 21.80, while Mount Zion’s Christian Keyhea is second at 22.10. 

State Qualifying: 22.57

4×400 Meter Relay: Urbana (3:28.25) and Champaign Central (3:28.86) will be racing for a championship. Mattoon is ranked fifth at 3:33.53 and could be in the mix for a state qualifying time. 

State Qualifying: 3:28.84