Prep Track & Field: Bulldogs Best Field
The effort and performances were outstanding across the board, according to Harrisburg High School boys track and field head coach Zach Cox.
Cox wasn't far off with his assessment as Harrisburg finished first out of seven teams at the Carterville Invitational over the weekend.
The Bulldogs scored a team best 204 points, far and clear from second place finisher Herrin, who had 166 points.
Pinckneyville was third with 98 points, while Anna-Jonesboro was fourth with 94 points. Carterville (76), Johnston City (39) and Goreville (19) rounded out the field.
The Bulldogs came away with 10 first-place finishes, highlighted by three relay teams.
The 4x100 relay team of Cody Rightnowar, Michael Victoria, Tylor Marler and Dustin Lane finished with a time of 44.06, while the 4x400 team of Rightnowar, Victoria, James Curtis and Adarsh Manawa crossed the line at 3:33.8. The freshmen/sophomore relay team of Chris Williams, Chandler Bowling, Hunter Smith and Jordan Bartok also finished first in the 4x200 with a time of 1:41.4.
Dustin Lane took first place in the 100 meter dash, darting down the track in a time of 11.0, while taking first in the 200 meters with a time of 22.8 and Victoria placed first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:09 and finished first in the 400 with a time of 51.9.
In the field events, Kane Carrigan took first place in the shot put and discus with a throw of 49-feet-9 in the shot and a heave of 148-feet-1 in the discus. A
Austin Lowry placed first in the pole vault with a jump of 13-feet-6.
"This was exactly what we needed as a team right now," Cox said of the team's performance. "There were so many positives that came out of Saturday. I don't really want to say anything about one single person because the effort and performance was outstanding across the board. I felt like we had been in a funk for the past few weeks and today we came out of that. We were a team today and that showed in the enthusiasm among our guys. They were cheering for each other and trying to count points to see where we were at against Herrin.
"It made it more exciting and that's what makes track fun. I really hope this carries over from here on out because we could bring home a lot of hard wear if it does."
The Bulldogs brought back five second-place finishes as the 4x800 relay team of Mitch Daniels, Manawa, Seth Thai and Donny Hicks finished with a time of 9:00.5 and Marler was second in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 15.7. In the 300 intermediate hurdles, Rightnowar was second with a time of 42.1.
Derek Rivers cleared 11-feet in the pole vault, while Lane went 20-feet-8 in the long jump for a pair of second place finishes.
Third place finishes went to River Jordan (3200 meters, 11:28), Rightnowar (110 high hurdles, 16.1), Daniels (800 meters, 2:11.1), Manawa (400 meters, 55.9), Stephens (200 meters, 23.8) and the 4x200 meter relay team of Axavier Doss, Aarton Stephens, James Curtis and Austin Lowry in a time of 1:36.5.
The Bulldogs return to action Wednesday at Herrin and will compete at Murphysboro on Saturday.