By Ben Cox
Photos Submitted
Boys Track & Field State Qualifiers
The following high school athletes qualified for the Illinois State Track meet set to be held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston May 29-31:
Class 1A
• 110m Hurdles – Dallas Surratt, freshman, Winchester; Owen Paluska, junior, Waverly
• 300m Hurdles – Dallas Surratt, freshman, Winchester; Owen Paluska, junior, Waverly
• 4x100m Relay – Liam Melanson, Carson Clevenger, Beau Donovan, Blayne Sidwell of Winchester
• 4x200m Relay – Brady Engelbrecht,
Carson Clevenger, Beau Donovan, Blayne Sidwell of Winchester
• High Jump – Adam Abell, junior, Routt Catholic
• Long Jump – Clark Nelson, senior,
Waverly
Class 2A
• Shot Put – Ryan McCombs, senior, Jacksonville
• Discus – Ryan McCombs, senior,
Jacksonville
• High Jump – Darren Henry, freshman, Jacksonville; Wyatt Moore, freshman, Jacksonville
• Long Jump – Darren Henry, freshman, Jacksonville
Girls Track & Field State Meet
Congratulations to West Central senior Brylee Lawson for making the podium with a 6th place finish and a personal record with a throw of 38.39m in the Class 1A Discus competition. Congratulations are doubled after a freak injury robbed her of her junior season in spring sports last year.
IESA State Track Meet 4A results
Jacksonville Middle School had several ribbon winners and a couple of champions at the State Track Meet on May 23-24 in Peoria. Eighth-grader Carlito Mitchell had a huge meet taking home the championship in the Boys High Jump and 110m Hurdles. Mitchell set state and school records in both events. He also took home second place in the long jump and 100m dash.
Eighth-grader Jez Harper took home first in the boys’ shot put. Seventh-grader Kaynee Moore got a 4th place finish in the girls 400m run and also was a part of the seventh grade girls relay squads that took 3rd in the 4x100m and 4×400. Moore’s run set a new school record.
Others on the relay teams include Lamarie Fortune, Skye Bohanon, Kayshia Bowen,
Marley Schlieker, Madi Mayberry and Kennedy Dilley. Seventh-grader Donovan Meeks got on the podium with an 8th place finish in the boys’ 400m run. Eighth-grader Malin Camerer took home a silver medal as a runner up in the girls’ discus throw.
Boys Tennis
Jacksonville High School’s tennis doubles team of Bennett Karr and Colin
Knollhoff placed fourth at sectionals, while junior Cole Nebel finished second in singles. All three young men will head to the state tennis tournament May 29-31 in Palatine.
Boys Baseball
The postseason heated up in Classes 1A and 2A this week. Routt was crowned a regional champion at Mendon this week, defeating Brown County 7-1 on Saturday morning. Routt comes home to play Abingdon-Avon, better known as A-Town, on May 28 at Illinois College to start sectional play.
West Central defeated Liberty on May 24 at Bluffs for a regional championship. The top WIVC team moves on to play Illini Bluffs in the early game at Illinois College on May 28.
Jacksonville High School finished off the regular season strong. The Crimsons finished the season on a 6-game winning streak. This past week, they shut out Springfield 8-0 on May 20 and beat Quincy
7-4 on May 24. They finished the season 21-14 overall and 6-3 in the Central State 8. They begin regional play at home on May 28 vs Jerseyville in Class 3A.
Girls Softball
Triopia continued on their successful 2025 campaign with a Regional Championship in front of their home crowd on May 24. Mylee Tracy and company pitched a 1-0 shutout over Payson-Seymour for the victory. The Lady Trojans will start Sectional play at home on May 27 when they welcome the Lady Ducks from Havana.
Meanwhile, WIVC rivals Carrollton won their fourth straight regional title on May 23 against Raymond-Lincolnwood. Calhoun also won their sectional down south. It might be an interesting final couple rounds of the Class 1A softball tournament.
The Jacksonville Lady Crimsons finished on a strong note with a 6-2 win on the road on May 21 versus Alton. The Lady Crimsons finish the season 10-13 overall and 2-6 in conference play. Jacksonville stays home to start regional play on May 28 against Jerseyville.
Jacksonville Girls Basketball
Jacksonville High School Girls Basketball Head Coach Steve Brannan turned in his resignation on May 23. Brannan had been the head of the girls’ basketball program for the previous two seasons. The Lady Crimsons went 6-53 during that span. Brannan’s time with the program dates back much longer, though. Jacksonville Middle School hired Brannan in the fall of 2018 to serve as the head 8th grade girls’ basketball coach and he performed in that role through 2023. He also served as an assistant girls’ coach for four seasons under former head coach Brandan Radford before taking the top job two years ago. JHS Athletic Director Ryan Van Aken thanked Brannan for his years of service to the program and said the search is on to find Brannan’s replacement for next season.
Addendum
Last week, in our announcement of new ownership of Carriage House Fitness Center in South Jacksonville, it was not made clear that Stephen King is also a new co-owner of the gym as well as a coach. King co-owns the gym with Torri Tarrillion and Tod Dillard. We apologize for not making that clear in the article.
