St. Peter Boys take third at IESA sectionals, Caceres and Tork advance to state

On a day that was nearly perfect for track and field competition, the St. Peter Rocket sixth- and seventh-grade boys took advantage of the weather at Aurora Christian on Saturday. However they needed more than good weather. With a solid team effort and on the backs of a few elite performances, the St. Peter boys ended the day in victory tied for third place with Aurora Christian at the Illinois Elementary School Association sectionals.

The 14-team field was solid and competitive. After the boys field event competition ended, St. Peter found themselves vying for the top spot. The day began with seventh-grader Josh Caceres winning high jump. For him this was just the beginning. Seventh-grader Eric Ford scored big points for the Rockets as well, placing second in long jump by only .75 inches.

Now it was time to run. Encouraged by the success of the morning's events, St. Peter's heavy hitters continued to hit it out of the park. Seventh-grader William Huber finished a solid fifth in the 1,600-meter run. And then Josh Caceres took the track. In spite of the challenge of running two events in a row and an injury from high jump earlier in the day, he decided it was his day to shine.

Caceres began his running events with a St. Peter School record 400-meter dash time of 58.72 seconds, five seconds ahead of his next competitor. He took the long walk to the start of the 200-meter dash where he again prevailed with a win. His time of 27.24 seconds was a personal best.

Also contributing was Eric Ford. In spite of being seeded out of the fast heat in both the 400- and the 200-meter dash, he won both heats and prevailed with a fourth-place finish in both events, scoring the last precious points needed for the third-place trophy.

After seventh-grader Ben Robertson finished second in the 800-meter run, St. Peter thought they had the third-place team trophy secured with a shot at second. However, Robertson was disqualified as he briefly stepped off the track while successfully passing the majority of the field coming through the last turn.

The other success of the day for St. Peter was seventh-grader Mary Tork. After four consecutive conference wins in high jump, the pressure was on to keep her winning streak going. It wouldn't be easy as she was challenged by a tough competitor from Waterman Indian Creek. Both Tork and her competitor were one for one as they jumped past the state qualifying height of 4 foot 5 inches, leaving the rest of the field behind at 4ft 1in. Tork finally secured the win at 4ft 7in and in classic fashion went on to clear 4 foot 9 inches before the event was complete. Chalk up win number five.

Both Josh Caceres and Mary Tork will be competing at the Class A IESA State Track and Field Championship Meet at the Eastside Center May 13-14 in East Peoria. It won't be easy but Tork hopes to keep her win streak going against the best seventh-grade high jumpers in the state. Caceres will compete in the high jump, the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. With his strong showing in the 400, Caceres will definitely be a medal contender at state in that event.

St. Peter once again showed the competition that in spite of being small, they aren't afraid to compete in a big way against teams well over twice their size. And with all of the seventh-grade athletes returning for another season, the sky is the limit in 2017.