STERLING — A stronger and bouncier Jack Tilton set a new personal record in the high jump competition on Saturday, when the Rochelle senior finished first at the Warrior Invitational in Sterling while also punching his ticket to the 2025 Illinois Top Times Indoor State Championship.

Entering Saturday’s meet within leaping distance of the state qualifying standard, Tilton soared to new heights, placing first with a personal-best clearance of 1.94 meters (6 feet 4 ¼ inches) and taking home one of two field event victories for the Hubs. Tilton, who helped lead Rochelle to third out of six schools in the boys competition, is one of three RTHS athletes who will head south for the indoor state meet, which will be held at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center.

“The feeling was unreal to have waited so long and been so close to competing at the state level multiple times,” said Tilton, who was within inches of advancing to the outdoor state meet last season. “It felt so rewarding to complete that goal. I would love to keep the train rolling and try and set another PR and go for a medal at the indoor state meet. I’m most looking forward to the atmosphere there. From what I have seen, it’s electric and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Saturday’s meet marked the third high jump victory of the season for Tilton, who has been right on the cusp of qualifying for the IHSA state meet over each of the last two years. Already a full inch over his personal record from last year, Tilton is continuing to strive for greater heights.

“I think I have improved most in my strength,” Tilton said. “I feel much stronger and bouncier than last year, and my goals for the rest of the year are to try and keep moving up that all time leader board for high jumpers and compete at the state level again in May. I have great people around me and my teammates, coaches and family always believe in me and support me.”

Junior Andrew Nuyen will join Tilton at this year’s indoor state meet, which runs from March 28-29 at the Shirk Center in Bloomington. Having already qualified for the indoor state meet prior to the Warrior Invitational on Saturday, Nuyen finished first in the pole vault over the weekend, clearing a height of 4.65 meters (15 feet 3 inches). The defending indoor state champion in the pole vault, Nuyen will attempt to repeat at the state meet this weekend.

“It's great to be able to compete at the Shirk Center,” Nuyen said. “It's a great environment and I hope to jump well. I don't want to put a number on what I want to jump, but it would be great to win again. Winning last year was a crazy turn of events that I'll remember forever. It will mean a lot not just for me to win again, but for my parents to see that excitement one more time.”

Rounding out Rochelle’s indoor state qualifiers is senior Erin Murphy, who set a new school record for the Lady Hubs during Saturday’s meet. Just a second-year track and field athlete, Murphy won the shot put competition with a personal record of 10.94 meters (35 feet 10 ¾ inches), shattering the previous school record of 35 feet 2 ½ inches established by Stephanie Orlikowski in 1994. Murphy has earned top-3 finishes in all four of her indoor meets this year.

“I was really excited,” Murphy said. “My goal was to qualify and I was really hoping for a PR. I’ve been looking for a PR all year and something clicked. Coach [Zach] Miller has been working with me a lot, which has been great… I’m really excited and it’ll be good to see where I am against some really good competition. Being around a bunch of girls who are at the same level or better than me will be good for me to see because I can watch and learn from them too.”

Murphy’s PR from Saturday’s meet eclipsed her indoor PR from last season by nearly eight inches. Murphy, who finished third in the shot put with an outdoor PR of 10.51 meters (34 feet 5 ¾ inches) during the IHSA 2A Sectional last year, said her goals for the rest of this season include breaking the outdoor school record of 37 feet 1 inch set by Deanne Kester in 1986.

“I wanted to make the indoor and outdoor state meets this year, so we’re halfway to that goal,” Murphy said. “I want to hopefully hit 12 meters and break the outdoor school record, so we’re getting close to those. I wasn’t expecting to break the indoor record, so I want to keep pushing and see what distance I can get. We’re moving faster than I expected… I’ve been working on getting my shot up higher and that’s something that clicked for me on Saturday.”

Both the Hubs and Lady Hubs finished third at the Warrior Invitational on Saturday, with the boys scoring 80 points and the girls tallying 83 points. With the indoor season coming to a close, Rochelle will start the outdoor season at the LaSalle-Peru Invitational on Saturday, April 12.

Varsity Boys

Junior Jonathan Bearrows led Rochelle in the long jump, taking second with a leap of 6.12 meters. Senior Virgil O’Dell, who finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 5.68 meters, also earned a top-10 triple jump performance, taking ninth with a mark of 10.74 meters. Senior Jacob Ost was the top thrower for the Hubs, placing 14th in the shot put with a heave of 11.67 meters.

Rochelle landed top-6 finishes in each of the three relays on Saturday. The Hubs took fourth in both the 3200-meter relay (Declan McGee, Elijah Mayen, Pedro Rosales and Tyler Johnson) with a time of 9:11.19 and the 1600-meter relay (Pedro Rosales, Hunter Bivins, Jackson Smith and Aaron DeClerck) with a time of 3:52.17. Rochelle finished sixth in the 800-meter relay (Hunter Bivins, Nathan Rosas, Virgil O’Dell and Richard Pierce) with a time of 1:39.49.

Freshmen spearheaded the charge in the distance events, as Eduardo Cisneros and Gregory Smith went first and third with PR times of 12:51.93 and 13:35.34 in the 3200-meter relay before Tyler Johnson ran a PR time of 4:43.50 for third place in the 1600-meter run. Junior Declan McGee scored a victory in the middle distance area, claiming the 800-meter run with a PR time of 2:11.29 while junior teammate Elijah Mayen finished in fifth place with a time of 2:19.09. 

Senior Chris Hickey led Rochelle in the sprints, taking fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.77 seconds. Senior Richard Pierce placed eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.59 seconds and sophomore Jaden Martina finished 10th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.50 seconds. Sophomore Hunter Bivins led the charge in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing fifth with a time of 9.31 seconds while junior Wyatt Worthington took seventh in 9.93 seconds.

Varsity Girls

Senior Dempsey Atkinson brought home two field event victories for the Lady Hubs during Saturday’s meet, finishing first in the high jump with a PR clearance of 1.57 meters (5 feet 1 ¾ inches) and the triple jump with a PR distance of 9.65 meters (31 feet 7 ¾ inches). Sophomore Elyse Manning also shined in the triple jump finishing fourth with a distance of 9.46 meters.

Rochelle recorded top-6 finishes in all three relays on Saturday. The Lady Hubs ran second in the 3200-meter relay (Carol Carpenter, Rose Luxton, Brisa Zepeda and Kyrie Cragin) with a time of 11:41.22 and third in the 1600-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Jasmine Walsh, Kyrie Cragin and Elyse Manning) with a time of 4:33.67. Rochelle finished sixth in the 800-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Katie Toczylowksi, Dylan Etes and Elyse Manning) with a time of 1:58.18.

The Lady Hubs scored big points in the distance and middle distance events. Freshman Carol Carpenter won the 1600-meter run with a time of 6:08.82, sophomore Vivian Worthington took third in the 3200-meter run with a time of 15:31.22 and junior Rose Luxton placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:53.71. Junior Kyrie Cragin ran an indoor PR to lead Rochelle in the sprinting events, clocking in at an even 1:06.00 to take second place in the 400-meter dash.

Sophomores Dylan Etes and Elyse Manning led the Lady Hubs in the short sprints, with Etes running a 29.64-second time for ninth in the 200-meter dash and Manning finishing seventh in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.56 seconds. Sophomore Jasmine Walsh ran Rochelle’s top time in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in with a PR of 10.87 seconds to finish in sixth place.