Issue date: 6/2/09 Section: Sports

Godfrey Kawewe of Carbondale celebrates placing first in the class 2A 800 meter run final of the IHSA boys track and field state finals at O'Brien Stadium on Saturday. (Erin Matheny/The Daily Eastern News)

Lincoln-Way East competitors Seamus Hughes, left, and Ian Ziarko, right, complete a handoff during the class 3A 4x100 meter relay final. (Erin Matheny/The Daily Eastern News)

Hundreds of athletes from across the state took over the track at O'Brien Stadium May 28-30 for the IHSA Boy's Track and Field State Finals.

This year's track state finals were the first to feature three classes of competition, rather than the usual A and AA classes. As a result, an extra day of competition was added to the schedule; the class 1A meet was held in it's entirety on Thursday, while the class 2A and 3A meets were held in the traditional two day format with prelims on Friday and finals in both classes on Saturday.

The York Dukes, historically dominant on the cross-country course, returned to prominence on the track by winning the class 3A title, their first state championship in track since 2000. The Dukes finished second in last year's AA state final. York edged out second place Neuqua Valley 56-36, while Belleville West finished third with 34 points.

The sole individual champion for the Dukes was Steve Sulkin, who won the 3200-meter run in 9:03.91. Sulkin's victory in the two mile follows a second-place finish at the 2008 Cross Country State Finals. Jordan Herbert also scored for the Dukes in the event, taking second with a time of 9:04.83. Neaqua Valley's Danny Pawola was third, finishing in 9:09.7.

Hillcrest took the team title in class 2A, winning in a landslide over second-place Cahokia. The Hawks tallied 93 team points, while Cahokia finished with 47 and third place Lanphier (Springfield) finished third with 44.

Hillcrest received first-place finishes from a pair of relay teams, the 4-by-100 meter and 4-by-400 meter, as well as hurdler Maurice Lyke, who took the win in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.37.

The class 1A meet was won by Oregon with 55 points. Winnebago placed second with 37, and Olympia (Stanford) finished third with 33.5 overall points.

Oregon was paced by sprinter Jordan Thomas, who walked away with victories in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, with times of 11.01 and 21.90, respectively.

Jeff Jurinek can be reached at 581-7943 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.

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