Sergeant finishes fourth in triple jump, Tilton takes fourth in high jump

GENOA — The Rochelle Hub varsity track and field team concluded its season at the IHSA 2A Genoa-Kingston Sectional on Friday evening. Rochelle tied for 10th place out of 15 schools with 10 points and the team did not have any athletes qualify for the IHSA State Championships.

Junior Landon Mickley finished fifth in the shot put with a heave of 13.75 meters and 11th in the discus with a throw of 35.28 meters. Junior Nathan Sergeant took fourth in the triple jump with a personal-best distance of 12.41 meters and 14th in the long jump with a distance of 5.29 meters. Sophomore Jack Tilton took fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 1.80 meters.

“Nate was a big surprise for us in the triple jump,” head coach Dale Bergeson said. “He had a shot and was third heading into the finals. Landon made the finals in shot put and threw well. I was really impressed with Jack in the high jump. He nearly cleared the state qualifying standard but was off by only a few centimeters. Overall, I thought we performed well. We came out and competed and what’s exciting is that almost all of these kids will be back next season.”

Rochelle’s 400-meter relay team (Caden Goodwin, Jackson Smith, Reece Harris and Virgil O’Dell) and 800-meter relay team (Caden Goodwin, Reece Harris, Jackson Smith and Nathan Sergeant) each finished 11th with respective times of 48.32 seconds and 1:41.21. Rochelle’s 1600-meter relay team (Bruno Fernandez, Caden Goodwin, Nathan Sergeant and Jackson Smith) took 12th with a time of 3:51.55. Rochelle did not run the 3200-meter relay.

“Whenever we can have freshmen and sophomores compete at the sectional, it’s a big deal because that experience will really help them when they become juniors and seniors,” Bergeson said. “The kids gained some confidence knowing where they are and where they could be next year. They’ll have a chance to improve and possibly qualify for state next year. It was a big learning experience for them and I think they’ll be used to the pressure the next time around.”

Freshman Wyatt Worthington placed ninth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.91 seconds as well as 10th in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 17.90 seconds. Junior Luis Hernandez finished 15th in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:58.00 and freshman Declan McGee placed 13th in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:15.05. 

Freshman Elijah Mayen took 15th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.68 and freshman Gabe Montes finished 18th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.16. Sophomore Virgil O’Dell took 23rd in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.54 seconds and freshman Reece Harris placed 21st in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.41 seconds.