The Normal West High School boys track and field team has added a Big 12 Conference Meet championship to its Intercity title.
The Wildcats topped the field in the conference event at Peoria with 128 points. Normal Community and Champaign Centennial tied for second at 91 points with Bloomington seventh at 28.
West had a double winner in Alex Austin, who took the long jump with an effort of 6.81 meters and the triple jump at 14.02.
Other Wildcats winning events were Aiden Swanlund in the 800 (1:55.85) and the 400 relay of Shaun Jones, Damir Harris, Cade Gonzalez and Cody Muhlbauer in 41.69.
West received seconds from Harris in the 200 and Ezekiel Rice in the 3,200 and thirds from Muhlbauer in the 100, Steel Zeller in the 110 hurdles, Roman Flores in the shot put, Evan Herbst in the discus and Jones in the long jump.
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Wildcats relays at 800, 1,600 and 3,200 also took home thirds.
Michael Mavec of NCHS was a double winner with a 14.87 clocking in the 110 hurdles and a 39.78 in the 300 hurdles.
Other Ironmen winners were Nate Witzig (49.43 in the 400), AJ Ince (4:25.96 in the 1,600), Colton LeCompte (14.9 in the shot put) as well as the 1,600 relay unit of Juan Rojas, Ince, Elias Komnick and Witzig (3:23.94) and the 3,200 relay of Drew Patterson, Joey Yaros, Caden Nyman and Ince (7:53.82).
Yaros was second in the 1,600, less than a second behind teammate Ince.
BHS received a second from Jamari Randolph in the 300 hurdles and a third from Devin Hendricks in the triple jump.
Eureka rules HOIC
Eureka parlayed its depth to the championship trophy in the Heart of Illinois Conference/McLean County Meet at Mackinaw.
"I felt the key was placing two athletes in most events," Hornets coach Brett Charlton said. "We didn't win that many events but scored well in almost every event."
Eureka's 143 team points led the way with Ridgeview second at 115.5, El Paso-Gridley third at 114 and GCMS fourth at 93.
The Hornets' first-place finishes came from double winner Gavin Stalter in the 800 and 1,600, Lance Wiegand in the high jump, Evan Stoller in the pole vault and their 3,200 relay squad of Davin Dingledine, Cruz Taylor, Ian Scott and Timothy Rogers.
"We had numerous athletes hit personal bests in their events throughout the meet," said Charlton. "We are very proud of this team for how they competed."
Ridgeview winners were Zane Hoffman (100), Micah Coffman (110 hurdles) and Taiyveon Hanke (300 hurdles).
The Mustangs excelled in the relays as Hoffman, Eric Payne, Hanke and Colton Sunder took the 400 relay, Hoffman, Payne, Noah Hastings and Snyder crossed first in the 800 relay and Hoffman, Tanner Maupin, Hanke and Coffman won the 1,600 relay.
GCMS had Evan Landers-Kristensen top the field in the 200 and 400 and Kale Holzhauer prevail in the shot put.
Other winners were Deer Creek-Mackinaw's Ryan Kuhn (3,200), Fieldcrest's Braydin Eplin (discus) and Micheal Beckett (long jump and triple jump).
NCHS baseball wins Big 12
Normal Community wrapped up its second straight Big 12 Conference championship with a 17-1 mark after an 18-0 conference record last season.
At 28-4 overall, the Ironmen have three nonconference games left in the regular season.
"The depth of our pitching staff is a huge reason we were able to win back-to-back Big 12 championships," NCHS coach Ryan Short said.
"We recorded shutouts in nine of the 18 conference games, and 12 different pitchers threw in at least one conference game with nine of them starting at least one conference game. That kind of depth allows us to keep arms fresh and also pitch well in nonconference games."
Landyn Corbin and Gavin Swartz both have 6-1 records for the Ironmen. Corbin sports a 0.80 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 35 innings. Swartz has a 2.67 ERA and 65 whiffs in 42 innings.
Jonah Roper has not allowed an earned run in 22⅓ frames for a squad with a 1.80 team ERA.
Max Heineman leads an Ironmen offense that sports a .345 team batting average with a lofty .527 mark and a team-high 33 RBIs.
Drew Stevens is hitting .421 with a team-leading four home runs and 28 RBIs. Carter Harris has a .370 average, while Kyle Beaty tops the team with 35 runs scored and Gavin Michaels 18 stolen bases.
"Offensively, we have consistently improved at driving in runners in scoring position with less than two outs and we have done a nice job with our baserunning," said Short.
Follow Randy Reinhardt on Twitter: @Pg_Reinhardt
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