Griffin Kimbrel, other area athletes qualify for state (2024)

Pana’s Griffin Kimbrel was forced to try track as a middle schooler, so he decided to pick out the most interesting thing he could.

That ended up being the pole vault, one of the more unique and events out there. He struggled initially and said that most people have to be crazy to stick it out, but that’s exactly what he did. Now he’s a sectional champion and state title contender after his performance at the IHSA Class 1 sectional at Okaw Valley High School on Wednesday.

"I was like, oh, pole vault sounds fun, I'll try it and apparently I turned out to be decent at it," Kimbrel said.

Kimbrel hit a personal record of over 15 feet and the crowd roared and runners in the middle of the 3200-meter race all looked over to see what had just happened. It ended up being Kimbrel cementing his sectional title.

"There's no better feeling in the world than PR-ing," Kimbrel said. "It's everything you always look for."

Kiimbrel’s teammate Isaiah Harbert finished second while Shelbyville’s Peyton Curry and Sullivan’s Bret Bushue qualified by hitting the qualifying standard in third and fourth. Tuscola won the overall team sectional title while Sullivan finished second and Shelbyville finished third.

Kamden Flenner sweeps spring events

Tuscola’s Kamden Flenner will get a chance at a state medal in each sprint event after winning the 100- and 200-meter dash.

Meridian’s Lleyton Miller finished second in the 100 to qualify while Jamarian Cobbins from Pana hit the time standard with a third-place finish in the 200 while Sullivan’s Aian Fryman qualified on time in the 100.

In the 400-meter dash, St. Teresa’s Colton Deetz qualified for state with a second-place finish while Shelbyville’s - needed a personal record of 51.63 to beat out the 52.01-seconds qualifying standard to earn a trip to state with a fourth-place finish.

Tuscola trio coasts to qualification in distance events

Jackson Barret, Josiah Horton and Will Foltz will all be state title contenders in the distance events in a week in Charleston. Horton and Foltz finished first and second in the 800, while Barrett won the 1600 with Horton right behind him in second.

Horton won the 800 while Cerro Gordo-Benet’s Will Fuson and Sullivan’s Hayden Moody hit the time standard to qualify in fourth and fifth.

Barrett and Foltz have two of the top 3200-meter times in the state this season but hit the qualifying standard with ease as St. Teresa’s Evan Cook ran away with the sectional title. Fuson and Cook each hit the time standard in the mile to qualify with third- and fourth-place finishes while a personal record from Sullivan’s Jonathan Iacobozzi got him a spot to the state finals in sixth.

Mason Booker, Jamarion Cobbins get hurdle wins

Sullivan’s Mason Booker left some distance between himself and the rest of the pack for a win in the 110-meter hurdles. Tuscola’s Carter Simpson qualified with a second-place finish.

Pana’s Jamarion Cobbins won the 300-meter hurdles while Shelbyville’s Hadley Smith finished second. A personal record from Tuscola’s David Hornaday got him into the state finals by getting under the time standard with a third-place finish.

Relay dominance helps Sullivan

Sullivan won three of the four relays on the afternoon with a win from Auburn in the 4x400-meter relay keeping Sullivan from a sweep.

Fryman, Booker, Kyle Corkhill and Kaden Guest won the 4x100-meter relay while Guest, Fryman, Corkill and Deaiden Arnold won the 4x200-meter relay.

Tanner Thomas, Brody Phillips, Ryan Lindstrom and Oden Barron earned Arcola a second-place finish in the 4x100-meter relay while a Pana relay team that included Kimbrel, Cobbins, Sam Sims and Wyatt Kylie hit the time standard and finished third to qualify.

Barron, Thomas, Phillips and Braeden Phillips finished second in the 4x200-meter relay for Arcols while Tuscola’s Flenner, Calvin Cook, Dylan Graves and Kam Wilcox hit the time standard in third to qualify.

In the 4x400-meter relay, Guest, Corkhill, Moody and Owen Hussong finished in second for Sullivan to qualify while Tuscola and Shelbyville finished third and fourth. Tuscola’s team featured Hornaday, Graves, Wilcox and Cook while Aydan Fisher, Ayson Fisher, Hayden SMoth and Isaac Chambers hit the time standard for Shelbyville.

Moody, Hussong, Iacobazzi and Easton England win the 4x800 for Sullivan.

Sweetnam, Woodyard and Weaver get field event wins for Tuscola

Kam Sweetnam won the triple jump while Sawyer Woodyard won the discus and his teammate Aidan Weaver won the shot put. Woodyard hit the state qualifying standard in a fourth-place finish in the shot put while Shalbyville’s Jack Jokisich finished third and Arthur’s Jacob Tighe finished second. Jokisich finished second in the discus.

Sweetnam finished second to Pana’s Sam Sims in the long jump and St. Teresa’s Anthony Rice finished second in the triple jump. Shelbyville’s Will Nohren won the high jump while his teammate Karson Burns hit the qualifying standard in third place. Sullivan’s Bret Bushue finished second.