It was a night of miracles and outstanding performances for the Geneseo track and field team as the Leafs emerged as NCIC champions over favorite Dixon by a mere two points May 18 in Kewanee.
“Wow, we were trying to think of a headline for the Web site and Mike Harrington suggested ‘Do you believe in miracles.’ That is the kind of night it was because Dixon has the cream of the crop,” said head coach Don Fredericks.
“We didn’t even talk about winning because we knew we had our hands full with Sterling and Ottawa for second. Everything lined up for a very special night. They exploded when they found out we were battling for the title. It really raised their level of excitement and they kept improving.”
The Leafs nabbed top honors with 137 points, followed by Dixon in second with 135; Sterling in third; Ottawa in fourth; LaSalle-Peru, fifth; and Streator, sixth.
Geneseo received top performances from all of its athletes as the Leafs and Dixon battled for the top spot through the entire meet with the title coming down to the final event, the 4x400-meter relay.
Although the 4x400-m relay team of Chris Bisom, Aaron Ganson, Michael Ashpole and Billy Hamer took second in the event with a time of 3 minutes and 32 seconds, the Dukes came in third to give Geneseo the extra points it needed for the championship.
“We were all tied up (with Dixon) going into the final race, the 4x400-m relay,” said Fredericks. “Dixon was seeded No. 1 by :06, but our guys wanted it so bad.
“Chris Bisom led off and put the hammer down to catch Dixon, then handed off to Ganson, who closed the gap. Ashpole got the stick and was with the Dixon runner, but then Ashpole blew by him to give Billy a lead and he ran the race of his life. Billy blasted out and opened up the lead even more and then in the last 30 meters or so you could see the Dixon runner realize he was not going to get Billy. We went nuts, it was so unexpected.”
Curt Jensen continued his dominance winning the NCIC crown in both the discus and shot put. Jensen won the shot put with a throw of 56-11 1/2 and took the discus title with a final mark of 145-09.
Aaron Kotecki also nabbed a first place finish in the 100-m dash, taking the tape in 10.8, while Bisom won the 300-m hurdles in 41.7.
In second place were Josh Lodge in the 3200-m run with a time of 10:15.6; Ashpole, 110-m hurdles, 15.9; Ganson, 800-m run, 2:06.2; and Jake Ballegeer, high jump, clearing 5-11 and the triple jump at 38-0.
Placing third for the Leafs were Thomas Sigwalt in the 800-m run in 2:07.0; Ashpole, 300-m hurdles, 42.8; Lodge, 1600-m run, 4:50.8; and Rob Barton, pole vault, 12-9.
Finishing in fourth place were the 4x800-m relay of Kenny Collis, Ganson, Kyle Reiling and John Mullin in 9:01.6; the 4x100-m relay of Kotecki, Isaac Silver, Cameron McNeil and Andrew Walters, 45.5; and Hamer, 400-m dash, 52.7.
Rounding out the top five were Bisom in the 110-m hurdles, 16.3; the 4x200-m relay of Justin Anderson, Silver, McNeil and Walters, 1:37.9; Sigwalt, 1600-m run, 4:57.8; Ashpole, high jump, 5-9; Colton Boyles, pole vault, 10-9; and Nathan Walter, long jump, 18-1 1/4.
Others placing for the Leafs on the track were Chad Ford, 3200-m run, sixth place, 10:51.6; Walters, 100-m dash, ninth, 11.3; Mullin, 400-m dash, 11th, 58.2; McNeil, 200-m dash, eighth, 24.6; Silver, 200-m dash, ninth, 24.8.
In other field events, Bisom placed ninth in the long jump at 17-1; Joe Snyder, triple jump, sixth, 35-3; Troy Diericks, shot put, 10th, 37-7 1/2 and Ethan Lawson, discus, 10th, 107-11.
F/S NCIC Meet
On May 19, the Geneseo freshman/sophomore track and field team concluded its season at the F/S NCIC Meet in Dixon with a fifth-place finish.
Track Results
100-m dash- Jacob Koster, eighth, 11.82 and Mitchell Walker, 10th, 12.47. 200-m dash- Mark Sliz, fourth, 25.33 and Koster, sixth, 25.54. 400-m dash- Sliz, fourth, 55.79 and Kyle Collis, seventh, 59.19. 800-m run- Jacob Arnold, fifth, 2:24.01 and Tanner Piepenbrink, seventh, 2:31.06. 1600-m run- Branden Smith, fourth, 5:29.35. 3200-m run- Jesse Mohr, sixth, 12:48.28. 110-m hurdles- Evan Wolfe, eighth, 20.70 and Chuck Springer, ninth, 21.22. 300-m hurdles- Wolfe, seventh, 52.87 and Springer, eighth, 53.52. 4x100-m relay- Koster, Jakob Gradert, Sliz and Joe Huffman, fifth, 47.93. 4x200-m relay- Huffman, Anthony Roome, Gradert and Mohr, fourth, 1:57.34. 4x400-m relay- Kyle Collis, Arnold, Walker and Wolfe, fifth, 4:07.17. 4x800-m relay- Arnold, Smith, Kyle Collis and Piepenbrink, second, 9:56.70.
Field Results
High jump- Springer, fourth, 5-5 and Wolfe, ninth, 4-11. Pole vault- Gradert, fifth, 8-3. Long jump- Sliz, fifth, 17-8 1/2. Triple jump- Koster, seventh, 33-7 1/2. Shot put- Huffman, third, 42-11. Discus- Huffman, first, 140-09 and Roome, sixth, 112-03.
The Leafs will compete for a trip to state today at 3:30 p.m. in the Rock Island Sectional.
Geneseo, Ill. —
