It would be an understatement to say that the jumping performances at the St. Clair County Meet were outstanding. They were downright spectacular. The jumping pits at Belleville West High may never be the same.
The Cahokia High duo of senior Chris Moore and freshman Ja’Mari Ward continued their fabulous seasons, as both surpassed 24 feet in the long jump in the same meet.
Moore won the event with a record jump of 24 feet 8 ½ inches. He was followed by Ward, who finished second with a jump of 24-2.
Moore came back to win the triple jump with an effort of 48 feet 10 ½ inches. Ward turned in an excellent mark of 47-7, but that was only good for third place on this day.
Jamison Nash of Belleville West turned in a school record mark of 48-9 to take second place.
That is some serious jumping, folks.
District meets
The postseason track series is now underway on both the Missouri and Illinois sides of the river.
Missouri Class 4 district meets will be held at Fox, Ladue, McCluer and Troy on Saturday. Class 3 meets will be held at MICDS and Lutheran North.
The top four finishers at each district meet will qualify for next week’s sectional competition on Saturday, May 18.
Illinois sectionals
On the Illinois side, the IHSA Sectionals will be held this week in the metro east area. The top sectional qualifiers will be heading to Charleston, Ill. to participate in the IHSA State Championships at Eastern Illinois University on May 17-18.
The Class 3A sectional meet will be held at Belleville East on Friday, beginning at 4 p.m. Defending state champion Edwardsville headlines the field. The Tigers have another talented unit, led by All-American Emmonnie Henderson in the shot put and discus.
Southwestern Conference schools Belleville East, Belleville West, Alton and O’Fallon also have talented athletes looking to qualify.
Area Class 2A schools will be heading to Triad for the Sectional meet, which will be held this afternoon at 4 p.m. Headlining the field at Triad will be the East St. Louis Flyerettes, who will be prime threats to win a state championship.
From Principia to Jeff City
The Missouri Class 1 and 2 schools held their districts meets last Saturday. Area schools will be competing at the Class 2 sectionals at Principia on Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. The top four finishers at the sectional meet will qualify for next weekend’s Missouri State Championships in Jefferson City.
Senior Aiesha Irvin-Muhammad of St. Elizabeth was one of the top individual performers at the Class 2, District 2 meet at Principia. Irvin-Muhammad swept the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. Muhammad was an All-State performer at the Class 3 state meet a year ago. Essence Brewer of Maplewood finished second to Muhammad in all three events.
Defending Class 2 boys state champion Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC will rely on a talented group of sprinters once again. Junior Michael Wells was the district champion in the 100 and 200. Diamond Hodge won the triple jump and was second to Wells in the 100. The Commanders’ 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter relays finished first and second, respectively. Devonte Kazee was also fourth in the 200.
Maplewood’s boys qualified athletes in 11 events for this weekend’s sectionals. The Blue Devils won the Class 2, District 2 championship at Principia. Lawrence Hogue qualified in three events as he finished first in the long jump, second in the 200 and fourth in the 400. The Blue Devils also finished first in the 4×200 and second in the 4×100 as they battled Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC in the sprint relays. Kellen Ludwig also finished first in the discus.
Brentwood’s Sophia Rivera was a dominant performer in the throws as she won the shot put with a heave of 41 feet 4 inches and the discus with a throw of 139 feet 9 inches. Metro’s girls will be led by Alyssa January who finished first in the triple jump and third in the long jump. The Panthers also finished second in the 4×100 and 4×200. Lutheran St. Charles ran away with the team championship as it swept all of the distance events and four relays.
McKinley’s boys will have a strong crew at Saturday’s Class 1 Sectional meet at Principia. Anthony Williams won the 400, triple jump and finished second in the 200 at the District 1 meet at Principia. McKinley also qualified hurdler Chris Maxwell, distance runner Darius Williamson and all three sprint relay teams to the sectionals.
