Dorsey finishes with a flourish at state track and field finals.

CHARLESTON - It likely will take some time before the whole state meet weekend catches up with Wauconda senior Garrett Dorsey. But when it does, it likely will bring a smile to Dorsey's face.

In the final two races of his very successful career at Wauconda, Dorsey took full advantage of his experience to finish off a brilliant weekend at the state track and field championships at Eastern Illinois University and O'Brien Field.

First, Dorsey lined up all the way over in lane nine in the finals of the Class AA 400-meter run. Since he couldn't see the entire field behind him, Dorsey pretty much had to run a blind race. Into the final turn, suddenly the field came into view and Dorsey turned it on.

Into the final stretch of the race, Dorsey crossed the line in second place in a time that was over a half second faster than his prelim effort on Friday. The finish was the highest by a Bulldog since Phil Winteroth won the state title for the Bulldogs in the long jump in 1959.

"I feel so honored to represent my school like this," Dorsey said. "I just tried to make sure in my race today that I ran relaxed and didn't lock up down the stretch."

Dorsey closed his track and field career 90 minutes later as the anchor leg on the Bulldogs' 1,600-meter relay. Dorsey brought his team from next to last place all the way to a fourth-place finish in the event. The time of 3:22.67 run by Dorsey, his brother Brandon, Santiago Lopez and Mike Malisheski broke the school record for the third straight time.

"Things like what have happened to me here at state don't happen at Wauconda," Dorsey said. "I am just in awe right now. This is an incredible feeling for me and for Wauconda."

In his first finals appearance and second trip to state, Dorsey became the first Bulldog in school history to win two medals at the state track meet.

The day was just as historic for Antioch. Seniors Brent Jones, Cameron White and Tyler Woolard made history on Saturday becoming the most medalists in one year for Antioch boys track.

White battled through a very sore hamstring to finish seventh in the 200 dash (23.03). Woolard competed in the shot put and discus in Class 2A, medaling in the shot put. His best mark from Friday of 52-8.5 held up for sixth place and a first boys shot put medal in school history.

Jones capped off a great weekend for the Sequoits by improving in his triple jump event. Jones improved his mark by nearly 2 feet to finish with a personal best of 45-11.25, good enough to place Jones sixth overall.

"Today was a better day and I felt more comfortable," Jones said. "This whole weekend was a great experience for me."

Grayslake Central also got into the mix and it was a freshman that broke a long draught for the Rams. William Brewster, who missed the indoor state meet and the Class AA cross country state finals by just 2 seconds, wasn't about to come up short on Saturday.

Brewster put together his finest 3,200-meter run of the season to earn an eighth-place medal in the Class AA event. The medal marked the first earned by a Ram athlete at state since Elias Washington took seventh in the high jump in 2006. The medal was also the first running event medal for the Rams in 13 years.

"Everything really kind of felt normal to me after about the first 200 meters or so," Brewster said. "I came so close during indoor and during cross-country and now this makes up for a lot of it and makes me excited for next year."

Teams in Class AA were not the only area teams to enjoy a little history making this weekend. Stevenson senior Derek Chmielewski became the first Patriot to throw in the boys state finals in school history. While Chmielewski didn't have a chance to move up in a very competitive shot put field, his mark from Friday of 168-9 gave Chmielewski a fifth-place medal.

Other medalists from the finals included Jeremy Birck of Libertyville placing ninth in the high hump, Gerry Perez of Lake Zurich with a seventh place finish in the 3,200-meter run and Karsen Green of Warren placing sixth in the 800-meter run.