Harrisburg’s John David Rollins dashed his way to a spot on the postseason awards list. Joining Rollins on the All-South team is Eldorado High School senior distance runner Barry Parks. The sophomore runner was named to the Southern Illinois Coaches Association All-South Boys Track Team. Rollins set three personal bests on April 15 at a meet in which the Bulldogs finished in second place, only 10 points shy of Fairfield. He blazed the track posting personal records en route to winning the 100 meter dash in 11 seconds and the 200 dash in 22.97 seconds. Rollins showed his versatility by winning the long jump with a leap that measured 20 feet, 5 1/2 inches after scratching on an attempt that measured more than 21 feet. In addition to his feat in April, Rollins qualified regionally in the 100 dash and also was featured on the 4 X 200 Class 1A Regional qualifiers along with teammates Kaleb Ward, Ethan Alexander and Marvin Speh. At the Black Diamond Conference track championship on May 14, Parks won the 800-meter run, cracking the two-minute mark in the process. The senior runner, who finished in 1 minute, 59.6 seconds, bested Fairfield’s Bryant Simpson who finished second, and his Eldorado teammate, freshman Austin Pryor, who finished third. Parks also shined at the Class 1A Regional held in Fairfield, winning the 1,600-meter run as he finished 20 seconds before Fairfield’s Tyler Dobbs. ALL-SOUTH BOYS TRACK TEAM: Jaelen McWilliams, David Grandt, and Nick Jones of Murphysboro; Zach Fieber, Zach Wreath, David Conner, Nate Hart and Gannon Mammel of Nashville; Trevor Hoffman of Du Quoin; Zach Riley, Brian Pankey, and Marshall Anderson of Herrin; Cody Klein, and Wade Reeves of Sparta; Kendrick Simelton of West Frankfort; Corey Ayala of Massac County; Steve Wallace and Chad Koenegsein of Chester; John David Rollins of Harrisburg; and J.R. Woodward and Sully Edwards of Anna-Jonesboro, Lucas Cherry, Godfrey Kawewe, Aye Oyetunji, and DeAndre Smith of Carbondale; Chandler Smith, Campbell Walters, and Sean Wiegel of Mount Vernon; Quentin Garrison of Salem; Barry Parks of Eldorado; Kenny Cullum of Centralia; Tyler Ackerman of Carmi-White County and Brandon Lee of Faifield. Relay teams: 400-meter teams from Carbondale, Herrin and Murphysboro; 800 Relay teams from Carbondale, Murphysboro, and Herrin; Mile relay teams from Carbondale, Murphysboro, Nashville, Sparta, and Marion; and 2-mile relay squads from Salem, Murphysboro and Sparta.
