Geneseo’s Curt Jensen is the lone state qualifier for the Leaf track and field team as he nabbed second-place finishes in both the shot put and discus at the Rock Island Sectional meet May 22.

Jensen took second in the shot put with a qualifying mark of 56-3 1/4 and in the discus with a throw of 148-09.

“Geneseo has not had an all-state thrower before and Curt is in the position to change that and that is exciting,” said head coach Don Fredericks. “He was disappointed because he got beat, because that didn’t happen that much this year. I am hoping that he will use that as motivation and carry that into the state meet.”

The Leafs had others place in the top 5, but just missed qualifying marks.

Aaron Ganson took fourth in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in 2 minutes and 67 seconds, while Billy Hamer came in fifth in the 400-m dash in 52.38.

The 4x400-m relay of Hamer, Ganson, Chris Bisom and Michael Ashpole finished in fourth place with a time of 3:34.24, while Jake Ballegeer came in fifth in the high jump, clearing 5-11. Rob Barton took home third place in the pole vault with a final height of 11-9.

“Curt is our only athlete to qualify and we were hoping for more so that is a little disappointing,” said Fredericks. “Rob had a bad meet, unfortunately it was just one of those things, but he had a tremendous season. Aaron Ganson ran a phenomenal PR in the 800-m run and just missed out.”

In the 100-m dash, Aaron Kotecki placed sixth with a time of 11.51 in the finals, while Andrew Walters took 14th in the prelims in 12.03.

Ashpole placed sixth in the 110-m hurdles prelims in 15.88, followed by Cameron McNeil taking 13th in the 200-m dash prelims in 24.70 and Isaac Silver, 15th in 25.10.

In the 3200-m run, Josh Lodge placed 11th in 10:40.13, followed by Chad Ford in 13th at 10:57.78. The 4x800-m relay of Ganson, Thomas Sigwalt, Jacob Arnold and Kenny Collis took seventh with a time of 9:00.88, while the 4x200-m relay of Kotecki, Silver, McNeil and Walters came in 10th at 1:41.52.

Justin Anderson finished the 400-m dash in 16th at 56.29, while Bisom came in seventh in the 300-m hurdles with a time of 42.31.

In the 1600-m run, Sigwalt placed eighth in 4:39.03, followed by Lodge in 17th at 4:47.36.
Mark Sliz and Nathan Walter placed 14th and 15th respectively, Sliz in 18-1 1/2 and Walter at 17-10 1/4 in the long jump, while Joe Snyder took 15th in the triple jump at 36-9 1/2.

In the shot put, Troy Diericks came in 16th at 38-8 1/2, while Joe Huffman placed 11th in the discus at 119-0.

Colton Boyles finished his season in eighth place in the pole vault, clearing 10-9.

Jensen will compete for a state title in the discus and shot put this weekend May 29 and 30 at the IHSA State Finals in Charleston.

“We had a great season, but it just wasn’t quite enough,” said Fredericks. “They left it all on the track.

“All in all, we had high hopes, but we didn’t have a lot coming back and the bottom line is we are NCIC champs.”