Harrisburg boys send three to state

Three Harrisburg High School boys' track and field athletes qualified for this weekends state tournament after standout performances as last week's Salem Sectional.

As has been the case all season, Niko Neal was tops in the 300 Intermediate and 110 High Hurdles as the Bulldog senior finished with a time of 38.97 in the 300 and 14.36 in the 110's.

In the pole vault, Harrisburg's Kody Cavender was second, qualifying with a jump of 13-feet, as Mt. Vernon's Eli Badger took first place, clearing 15-feet.

Jordan Bartok will also be making a trip to Charleston as the senior took third in the discs with a throw of 146-feet-11 and was edged out by Waterloo's Jackson Ivers, who took second in the the event with a toss of 155-feet-9 and Marion's Josh Schmid, who won the event with a throw of 166-feet-2.

Other notable performances for Harrisburg included: Zach Gibbs, who placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 47-feet-10.25.

The 4x400 meter relay team of Niko Neal, Dallas Schmidt, Darnell Boone and Noah Thaxton were sixth with a time of 3:37.67 and Trenton Case was 18th in the 400 meter dash with a time of 58.86, while Jesse Lawler was 20th in the 400 meters with a time of 57.93.

Mascoutah won the event with 89 points, while Marion was second with 67 points. Freeburg was third with 54, while Cahokia and Carterville tied for fourth with 40 points.

Harrisburg was sixth with 39 points, while Centralia (38), Mt. Vernon (37), Columbia (37) and Waterloo (34) rounded out the top 10.

Herrin, Salem, Carbondale, Murphysboro, West Frankfort, Massac County, Benton, Mt. Carmel and Anna-Jonesboro rounded out the field in order.

The IHSA Class 2A State Finals will be held over the weekend at Eastern Illinois University.