The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Southern Jr. High Boys Track & Field team traveled to East Peoria on Friday, May 10th for what turned out to be a grueling, rain soaked affair that lasted until late Monday night.
Jerry Morris endured the long waits through the storms to take the state championship in the discus with a Southern school record toss of 143'11"! He then overcame the pain of a nagging hip flexor injury to jump 5'6" and take a sixth place medal in the 8th grade high jump!
Adam Corzatt fought through the prelims and semi-finals in the 110 meter hurdles on Friday to earn a spot in the finals which was delayed until Monday afternoon. There he earned a seventh place medal with a time of 16.79 seconds!
The Raiders as a team were not able to repeat as State Team Champions this year due to several circumstances.
Darick Clark, defending state champ in the 400 m dash, the 800 m run, and the long jump, left the meet without a single medal for the first time in the four years. He had qualified since 5th grade.
Clark was suffering from pneumonia and only had 50% of normal lung capacity. He made no excuses though, taking the track for all of his events without complaining.
His 10th place finish in the 400 m dash with a time of 56.7 seconds was a courageous effort! He took 19th place in the 800 with a time of 2:18.
Darick had more bad luck in the long jump as he scratched three times. No one will ever know how things would have worked out for the Raiders this year if the state meet had been a week later allowing Morris and Clark to be at 100%. Unforeseen circumstances often ruin the best laid plans in sports.
Ryan Utter, Blake Fox, Tanner Hartman, and Ross Gullberg competed in both the 8th grade 4x100 relay (53.25) and the 4x400 relay (4:15.24).
Abe Chockley, Morris, Corzatt, and Clark competed in the 8th grade 4x200 relay (1:50.05). Utter also competed in the 110 m hurdles (17.12), making it into the semi-finals! Corzatt also ran the 8th grade 1600 m run (5:24).
Brice Jack competed in the 7th grade shot put (28'10.5"). Andy Chockley, Taylor Hoover, Cameron Hartman, and Sean Webb competed in the 7th grade 4x200 m relay (2:04.41).
The 8th graders from Southern finished their last Jr. High season with an undefeated record in all meets going into the State meet.
They won the Bobcat Relays, the Bushnell Invitational, the Avon Invitational, the Sand Valley Conference, the Bulldog Relays, and the IESA 8A Sectional.
This year the 8th grade broke or tied five different school records.
Clark now holds the record for the long jump (19'5"), and the 400 m run (56.0). Morris now holds the discus record (143'11"), and shares the high jump record at (5'7"). Chockley, Utter, Corzatt, and Clark now hold the 4x400 relay record (4:07.09). (see photos inside)
Boys L to R: Adam Corzatt- 7th place 110 m hurdles, Jerry Morris- 1st place discus, 6th place high jump
Girls L to R: Shayna Heap- 5th place 4x200 relay, Shanna Avery- 5th place 4x200 relay, Laura Hoover- 5th place 4x200 relay, Theresa Brokaw- 2nd place 1600 m run, 3rd place 800 m run, 5th place 4x200 relay.