York, Neuqua place 1-2

CHARLESTON - York coach Stan Reddel felt good when senior Jordan Hebert, who as a freshman "not only wasn't very good, he wasn't bought-in," busted a gut in the 3,200.

Reddel watched Steve Sulkin battle from sixth to third in the 1,600, after Sulkin had already won the 3,200.

When Khara Williams took fourth in the 200 - "dead" after his fourth race, the coach said - Reddel was convinced he was watching a state champion.

He was right. Saturday at Eastern Illinois University the Dukes won their fourth state track championship and first since 2000. Their 56 points in the Class 3A finals outdistanced Neuqua Valley's bestfinish, second with 36 points, and Belleville West's 34 points.

"Here's the deal," Reddel said. "He" - motioning to legend Joe Newton on his left - "created a culture of excellence and toughness, and we're just trying to be the caretakers of that.

"It's just very satisfying, and fulfilling, to see the kids compete like they did today."

Neuqua Valley's Danny Pawola was third in the 3,200, Sam Wildeman scored in pole vault, and Aryan Avant did yeoman work. The junior ran fourth in the 400 and teamed with James Krist, Robert James and anchor Brian Griffith for a third-place 3,200 relay. Far from done, Avant anchored the championship 1,600 relay for Cale Brown, Jamere Morrison and Griffith, subbing for an injured Tanner Maunder.

"I was really tired," Avant said, "but I wasn't going to let up for my team. Not a chance."

Neuqua's third top-10 finish bettered its fifth-place position in 2006.

"They've got great character," said Wildcats coach Mike Kennedy. "In fact, I said this last race of the day (1,600) relay), don't think of it as a race, think of it as a test of your character. And I think you see what that is."

District 204 chum Waubonsie Valley also scored a title. Michael Lorenz, Matt Havlik, Craig Huhtala and Emmett Lorenz took home the 3,200 relay in 7:43.39. The first three legs of the relay all set personal-record splits, then Emmett Lorenz never looked back.

"We had most of it together sophomore year, and we just kept building it up," Havlik said of the all-senior unit. "And this year we finally got it all together and did it."

Lake Park's Dan Block cemented his position as arguably Illinois' greatest prep thrower in history. Friday's preliminary shot put mark of 62 feet stood for his second straight title in that event. In Block's first attempt in the discus finals, he sent it 205 feet, 8 inches, exhorting the disc as it sailed: "Go! Go!"

Setting a state record in Friday's preliminaries then seeing it wrested away minutes later by Huntley's Marcus Popenfoose, Block was owed his rare emotional outburst, and his second discus title in three years.

"After last year (when Waubonsie's Brett Einbecker won shot), I knew if I got a second again, it would kill me, that kind of thing," Block said. "That's just all the emotion I had just coming out."

Aided by sophomore Jermaine Kline's third-place finish in shot put, Lake Park tied for sixth-place with 27 points.

In Class 2A, handled easily by Hillcrest's 93 points, Glenbard South's Andrew Payne took fourth in the 100 dash and sixth in the 200. He joined Wesley Sanders, Connor Douglas and Austin Williams in a fifth-place 800 relay.

Timothy Christian's Rob Stein was second in 1A shot put, his mark of 55-53/4 a 6-foot improvement from the start of the year.

"Lifting more," he said of the reason, "and caring more."

Pierre Washington-Steel ran a great second-place 100 dash in 1A, and Jeremy Wilk became the last Highlander ever to compete for the closing school. Wilk's fourth-place medal in the 800 will be Driscoll's last piece of hardware.

Wilk ended Driscoll's reign with trademark desire: "I was really hoping to do a little more than I did."