Prep T&F: Bulldogs shine at sectionals
Feel free to call Zach Cox a modern day Nostradamus.
The Harrisburg High School boys track and field head coach had a good feeling going into the season the Bulldogs could qualify in six events at this year's IHSA State Tournament.
After Thursday's Sectional at Troy-Triad, the Bulldogs qualified in .... six events.
The highlight of the meet was Harrisburg junior Kane Carrigan smashing the school's discus record (169-feet-9) held by former all-stater and SIU Saluki JC Lambert, as Carrigan finished with a mark of 177-05.
The other first place finish was awarded to Austin Lowry, who won the pole vault, with a jump of 14-feet.
Cox said it was deserving that those two be the two top finishers for Harrisburg.
"Those two have put in more time than anyone on the team. Kane has gone to camps at SIU, Ohio and has put in hundred of hours and to see it pay off is really something special to witness. As his coach, we have tried to give him what he needs, but he is the one that has to go out there and do it. It was one of the coolest moment as a coach that I have had thats for sure.
"The same can be said for Austin," Cox continued. Austin went out there and took care of business. He has had great practices, but this is a culmination of four years in the making. I know he was nervous going out there, because this is something that we have been talking about for seven months. He got the job done and I'm proud of him."
All three relay teams for Harrisburg the 4x100 (43.28), the 4x200, (1:29.97) and the 4x400 (3:26.28) all finished third to qualify for the state tournament.
The last spot went to Tylor Marler, whose 15.01 time in the 100-Meter High Hurdles qualified him for the state tournament, despite finishing fourth.
As a team, Harrisburg was edged out of the top spot by Cahokia, who finished with 163 points. The Bulldogs were second with 52 points, followed by Marion (47) and Carbondale (44) that finished third and fourth respectively.
Cox called Thursday's event the best team-meet he has ever been a part of.
"The competition is so ridiculously tough that it really hard on our kids to get out and make it to state. You have to go into sectional to get performance marks rather than first and second because it is so hard."
Cox was speaking of course about the Cahokia's, the Triad's, Centralia, Carbondale, Marion and Mascoutah's ... all teams that Harrisburg finished above of in the final standings.
"That really shows what kind of team we have," Cox said. "Cahokia is way ahead of everyone else. They are the best team in state regardless of class. I think when we talk about everyone else in the south, we're now in that conversation."
The State Tournament will be ran this weekend on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston and after last Saturday's performance, Cox has high expectations going into the weekend.
"When you qualify in our sectional, you're going to have a chance to make the finals at state. We're looking forward to running those six and make finals in every one. If we can do that, we should have a chance for a top 10 team finish. That would be icing on the cake."