Ty and Hannah Clark compete in unofficial state track and field meet
By FRED KRONER
Two Mahomet-Seymour Junior High students participated in the unofficial state track and field meet on Saturday (May 22) at Bloomington.
When the IESA canceled the state meet, due to COVID-19 concerns, a private running organization created an unsanctioned invitation-only state meet, based on performances from the outdoor season.
While the IESA typically has three classes (based on enrollment), the Junior High Elite meet combined the three classes into one for the day-long event.
M-S eighth-grader Ty Clark, competing for the Pole Vault Junkies Club, took second in his specialty in the boys’ eighth-grade division. Clark cleared 10 feet, 9 ½ inches.
The winner was Drake Howard, who cleared 11 feet, 7 inches.
In all, there were 10 competitors in the boys’ eighth-grade pole vault.
In the girls’ seventh-grade meet, M-S’ Hannah Clark was a two-event participant.
The sixth-grader ran a personal-best in the 800 meters for the second meet in a row and captured fourth place in the field of 22 runners.
Martin’s time was 2 minutes, 31.45 seconds, an improvement of 8 seconds over her previous best.
She went out with the leaders and kept pace throughout the first lap, covering the opening 800 meters in 1 minute, 12.34 seconds.
Entering the Junior High Elite meet, Martin was seeded 10th.
Her final time was 6 seconds away from the seventh-grade M-S school record. The winning time on Saturday was posted by Ali Knudsen, 2:25.24.
Martin, who was competing unattached (without school affiliation), was also a finalist in the seventh-grade high jump. She cleared 4 feet, 1 ¼ inches and finished 11th out of 18 qualifiers.
