For the third consecutive year, the IHSA Class AA Boys state track and field championships turned into a dual-meet between metro east rivals Cahokia and East St. Louis.
In 2005, East St. Louis won the state title in convincing fashion while the Comanches finished in third place. In 2006, Cahokia won its first state title in record-breaking style while East Side finished a distant second.
Last weekend’s rubber match played out in a most dramatic fashion for all of the rest of the state to witness at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. When the smoke had cleared Cahokia emerged with its second consecutive state title, but they had to battle to keep their trophy.
The Comanches scored 63 points to win the title while East Side was right behind with 61 points. Once again, our talented young men down here ruled the roost as they left the rest of Illinois in their collective dust.
I’m very proud of my young men from Cahokia and East St. Louis. It has been a fierce rivalry on the track for the past three years, but it is also one of mutual respect. The athletes want to beat each other in the worst way, but they also respect each other as do the coaches Leroy Milsap of Cahokia and Roscoe Whitfield of East St. Louis.
It has been wonderful to see these two great teams battle in our backyard, but it’s even better when the boys take their show on the road to the state’s biggest stage to remind everyone else where the best track in the state of Illinois is being run.
It was truly a team effort for Cahokia as it battled for every point it could get. Cahokia’s lone victory came in the 4×200-meter relay when the team of Clyde Young, Jerdo Williams, Therone Devine and Earnest Winters won the title in 1 minute 25.8 seconds.
Young also finished second in the long jump and sixth in the 110-meter high hurdles despite battling injuries all weekend. Sophomore Darien “Doc” Donald finished second in the 400 for the second consecutive year. Jerdo Williams finished seventh in the 100 and sixth in the 200 while Winters was third in the 200. London Davis finished sixth in the shot put while the 4×100 relay team was third.
The Comanches clinched the state title when the 4×400-relay team of Donald, Exrabyion Jackson, Richard Horne and Devine finished second to East St. Louis. All they needed was the eight points for second place and they got them.
East Side made a tremendous effort to regain their state title, including big victories in three events. Senior Artavious Kizer won the 400-meter dash in 47.37 seconds while sophomore Kraig Appleton won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 37.57 seconds. On the final event of the day, Kizer joined Mario McCottrell, Evan Johnson and Javaughn Tabbs to win the 4×400 in a new state-record time of 3 minutes 13.66 seconds.
Kizer also finished second in the 110-meter high hurdles while McCottrell was eighth in the 400. Nick King was sixth in the triple jump while the Flyers finished second in the 4×100 and 4×200.
So, this closes another chapter of this great metro east rivalry, which will live on for several years. We are truly blessed to have two of the nation’s top boys track teams right here on the EAST SIDE.
