By Dan McGrath
Senior Jesse Howard won two events and junior Venson Jones was a three-event state qualifier as the Leo Lions placed second in the IHSA Class 1-A Sectional track and field meet at Hope Academy on May 21.
Host-school Hope swept the sprint relays and won the meet with 144 points to Leo’s 124.5. But, with the top two finishers in each event qualifying, the Lions will be well represented at the state meet at Eastern Illinois University on May 29-31, with five athletes competing in eight events.
They are:
* Howard, who won the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 11 ¾ inches, and the discus with a heave of 112-11.
* Jones, who won the long jump with a best effort of 21 feet, 8 ¾ inches and placed second in the high jump at 5-5 ¾. Jones also finished third in the triple jump, behind Omari Lee of Fenger and Andrew Milissis of Northridge Prep, but he surpassed the state-meet qualifying standard of 41 feet, 2 inches by jumping 41-6 ½, so he will compete at Eastern.
* Freshman Steve Gordon, who won the high jump at 5-feet-7 ¾.
* Senior Lordan Black, who placed second in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.27 seconds.
* Freshman Cam’ron Thomas, who finished second in the pole vault at 8 feet 6 ¼ inches.
“The conditions weren’t ideal – cold, wet, windy – but we competed, and it was a good showing,” said Ed Adams, Leo’s veteran Hall of Fame track coach.
In addition to the state qualifiers, Leo’s point total came from 10 of the sectional meet’s 18 events:
* Pole vault – Vandell Dudley 3rd place, 8 feet, 6 ¼ inches;
* 4-by-100-meter relay, 3rd place (Amir Adams, Marcus Reddick, Jaivon Dale, Jubril Kannicke), :47.26;
* 4-by-200-meter relay, 4th place (Vandell Dudley, Jordan Watkins, David Maldonado, Amir Adams), 1:40.43;
* 4-by-800-meter relay, 4th place (Dudley, Watkins, Keion Long, Maldonado), 9:25.69;
* 100-meter dash – Chase Jordan 4th, :11.52, Amir Adams 7th, :11.66;
* 110-meter hurdles – Ayden Bright 4th. :17.79;
* 300-meter hurdles – Bright 3rd, :45.17, Black 6th, :48.57;
* Triple jump – Kyriell Pierce 5th. 36 feet 9 inches;
* Discus – Carlin Henry 6th, 107 feet 7 inches;
* 1,600 meters – Cam’ron Thomas 7th, 5:21.17.
Hope’s coach is Marcus Pass, a 2004 Leo graduate who was an assistant track coach and head cross country coach for the Lions before moving to Hope, where he heads up the men’s and women’s track and cross country programs.