Prep T&F: Bulldogs Take Third
Staff Report
MARION - The Harrisburg High School boys' track and field team finished third out of 11 teams at last week's Marion Relays.
The Bulldogs, who scored 93 team points, fell to meet winner Mascoutah (125) and were one-point shy of tying for second with Herrin (94).
The concept was ran in the premise that everything was done in relay fashion, except for the 100 meter dash. In the field events the best mark was added up for the three best athletes on each team. For example, three guys going 11-feet in the pole vault equals a 33-feet-0 final total.
"This was one of those meets where you walk away thinking we were so close to putting together a great meet," Harrisburg head coach Zach Cox said. "There were a lot of positives as we achieved one of our team goals for the season which was a top three team finish at this meet. We finished ahead of a lot of big schools and good teams today. As a coach you are always wanting the best for your team and we still let quite a few points slip through our fingers. I'm not sure we could've caught Mascoutah but we definitely could have made it interesting. We had both our hurdle races disqualified and had a couple races that I thought we should have performed better in, but we are really close to putting it all together."
In the 100 meter dash, Dustin Lane was first with a time of 11.28, while Corbin Crim was third, finishing in a time of 11.48.
The other first place finish went the 4x400 meter relay team of Michael Victoria, Cody Rightnowar, Lane and Crim, who had a time of 3:29.19.
Kane Carrigan, Jared Barger, Jordan Bartok and Lucian Hicks were second in the discus, while Donny Hicks, Carrigan, Barger and Bartok were second in the shot put.
The 4x100 meter relay team of Michael Victoria, Aaron Stephens, Lane and Crim were second with a time of 44.17.
A third place finish was awarded to the 4x200 team of Chris Williams, Chandler Bowling, Hunter Smith and Jordan Bartok, who had a time of 1:40.49.
The sprint medley team of Lane, Stephens, Crim and Victoria were fourth with a time of 3:44.13, while Harrisburg had seven fifth-place finishes.
"Dustin Lane took the 100 and Corbin finished right behind him for 3rd place. Those two guys are the ones who can set the tone for how this year finishes out. If they do what they are capable of along with Victoria things should get exciting from here on out.
"Corbin is getting healthier as he ran a couple 51 second 400 splits and Dustin just ran a 2 second PR split (52.4) in the 4x400," Cox added. "That relay could be big for us through the state finals. Kane had throws that would have qualified him for state in both the disc and shot. Consistency will be the key for him from here on out. Cody Rightnowar had a big PR split of 52.3 in that 4x400 on the anchor leg and ran down Mascoutah's best athlete. River Jordan had a 7 second PR in the mile for 4:50 and Jordan Bartok threw 5 feet over his PR in the discus for 123' 0". Times and performances will continue to improve as long as we continue to focus and work hard."