Mattoon’s James Moore won the 300-meter hurdles in 43.67 seconds at the Olney Boys Track & Field Invitational on Thursday evening.
Moore edged Newton’s Evan Baltzell by .01 seconds in a tight finish. CHS’s Luke Nelson took fourth in 46.66, 2 seconds better than his previous best – in only his second time running the event. Caleb Oakley finished seventh in 47.31.
Oakley also took second in the 110 high hurdles in 17.79 seconds, .68 seconds behind Newton’s Evan Baltzell.
“He (Caleb) continues to be our team leader on and off the field,” CHS coach Alexander Koebele said.
The Trojans set 22 personal bests in the meet.
“We will get Langdon King back in a week to really add some depth to our sprints,” Koebele said. “There is a lot of potential with this team. We just need to continue to tweak some things in practice. It is awesome to watch our culture change daily and these guys invest more and more.”
MHS’s Dylan Sledge, meanwhile, leaped 39 feet, 10.5 inches to take second in the triple jump, just 3.5 inches behind Robinson’s Noah Gilmore.
“James (Moore) edged a kid out in the 300 hurdles for a win and Dylan took second in the triple jump,” MHS coach Jared Kimbro said. “The best part about that is neither of them are satisfied with their results.”
The Trojans’ 4 x 800 relay also finished third. Noah Hardwick, Stanley Himes, Tyler Hodges and Blake Homann completed the race in 9 minutes, 24.33 seconds – nearly 7 seconds behind runner-up Robinson and more than 30 seconds better than their previous best time. Newton won in 8:49.6.
Said Koebele: “Those guys are really starting to understand what we want.”
The Green Wave’s 4 x 200 team of Deaiden Arnold, Sawyer Kirts, Andy Karpus and Cale Kimbro finished second in 1 minute, 37.22 seconds – 3.03 seconds ahead of third-place CHS, which featured Harris Coopwood, Nelson, Jayden Sikorsky and Ezekiel Hall.
“I thought the kids competed well,” Kimbro said. “Cooper Spencer PR’d in pole vault, and, I believe, all the distance kids PR’d in their races. I was proud of the 4×400 because I had to throw a couple kids in at the end because of injury. Alija Mosley and Cale Kimbro got thrown into the 4×400 at the end of the meet, and they and Sawyer Kirts and Andy Karpus competed well to take fourth.”
TEAM SCORES
1) Newton 159
2) Robinson 123
3) Olney 106
4) Salem 94
5) Charleston 90
6) Mattoon 75.5
7) Altamont 74
8) Paris 15
9) Lawrenceville 14
10) Teutopolis 13.5
The complete results are below.
Coles County Sports 