“Mahomet-Seymour Junior High Triumphs: Boys’ Track Teams Dominate Local Meets, Win Multiple Titles
By FRED KRONER
Mahomet-Seymour’s eighth-grade boys’ track and field team captured team honors on Thursday (April 11) in the Linda Parnell Bulldog Open in Mahomet.
M-S amassed 80 points to earn the team crown for the first time in five years. Runner-up Charleston had 76 points.
Jayvon Tompkins was a double winner and established personal bests in both of his events.
He tossed the discus 141 feet, 2 inches and threw the shot put 50 feet, 7 inches.
Teammate Noah Snyder was the high jump winner (5 feet, 6 inches).
M-S put together two winning relays.
The 400-meter foursome of Kiptyn Fan, Dylan Heckman, Jude McWilliams and Snyder were timed in 49.63 seconds.
The Bulldogs’ 1,600-meter unit included Snyder, Tayten Gergen, Adam Smigielski and Fan. Their composite time was 4:02.02.
Smigielski was the runner-up in the 1,600 meters (5:03.54) and McWilliams took second in the 110-meter sprint hurdles (17.66 seconds).
Liam Burwell was third in the 800 meters (personal best 2:19.84).
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The M-S seventh-graders were third at the Linda Parnell invitational with 61 points. Meet champion Normal Chiddix had a winning score of 73 points.
Kingsley Boateng was a double-winner for the Bulldogs. He was victorious in the 100 meters (12.72 seconds) as well as in the 110-meter sprint hurdles (17.61 seconds).
Teammate Jonathan Pitts was third in the 100 meters (13.05 seconds).
The Bulldogs had two high-placing relays.
The 1,600-meter relay grouping of Abdel Abdo, Will Bednar, Grant Morphew and Pitts placed second (4:24.38).
Sharing the baton for the third-place 400-meter relay were Abdo, Owen Henry, Pitts and Boateng. Their combined time was 55.80 seconds.
“Overall both teams really excelled,” M-S coach Bobby Boykin said. “We could not be more proud of everyone’s efforts.
“Everyone came to compete at a very high level against some of the best competition in the state.”
In the combined scoring (for seventh- and eighth-grade together), M-S was the overall champion with 141 points. Runner-up Normal Kingsley was second with 125 ½ points.
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The M-S eighth-grade squad also won team honors on Monday (April 8) in the seven-team Danville North Ridge Invitational.
The meet was the Bulldogs’ season-opener.
Tompkins dominated the throws, winning the discus (132 feet, 7 inches) and the shot put (45 feet, 5 inches).
Smigielski (5:05) and Henry Welch (5:43) were first and third, respectively, in the 1,600-meter race.
M-S secured a 1-2 finish in the 800 meters. Burwell (2:21) beat teammate Gergen (2:30) to the finish line.
The Bulldogs’ 1,600-meter relay was also triumphant. The runners were Fan, McWilliams, Smigielski and Snyder. Their cumulative time was 4:07.
The 800-meter relay ended in second. The featured runners were Gergen, Burwell, Luca Vanderstraeten and Heckman. Their time was 1:49.
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The Bulldog seventh-graders wound up in third place at North Ridge. Champaign Edison won the meet.
Boateng won the 110-meter hurdle (17.63 seconds). Teammate Caleb Zalauf was first in the 1,600 meters (5:20).
In the 800 meters, M-S runners Morphew (2:31) and Abdo (2:58) were first and second, respectively.
In the discus, Thatcher Leevey placed third (60 feet, 8 inches).
The Bulldogs’ 1,600-meter relay outran the competition, placing first in 4:29. The group consisted of Abdo, Ethan Roland, Pitts and Zulauf.
The 400-meter relay entry of Trey Douglas, Auggie Zimmerman, Henry and Boateng came in third (56.31 seconds).
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On Tuesday (April 9), the M-S sixth-graders were second with 73 points to Tolono Unity (!07 points) in a meet for sixth-graders at Mahomet.
Roland was victorious in the 400 meters (1:12.2).
He was also part of the winning 400-meter relay, teaming up with Cooper Minor, Hudson Pike and Pitts. Their time was 59.40 seconds.
