Published on May 27, 2025 10:48 am
Last Updated on May 27, 2025 1:55 pm
Effingham Junior High School competed in the IESA State Track and Field meet held in East Peoria.
“It was a great weekend for the EJHS team, walking away with a lot of medals,” said Coach Nancy Ervin. “The eighth-grade girls tied for second place becoming State runner-ups.”
Eighth grade girls:
The eighth grade girls were led by A. Johnson. She ran away with the 3A girls 1600 m championships with a new state record time and school record of 5:09.11, crushing the old record of 5:18.70 with her nearest competitor clocking in at 5:17.95. She also won the 800 m with a new school record 2:21.54. The eighth grade 4×400 with A. Wade, O. Koester, R. Holland and A. Johnson finished fourth overall with a new personal record of 4:22.57. Eighth grader C. Emmerich placed sixth in the pole vault with a jump of 2.52 m (8’3.25″).
Seventh grade girls:
The 7th grader 4 x 200 m relay of C. Bailey, M. Anderson, A. Gouchenouer & R. Holland placed 4th overall with a new PR of 1:55.78. R. Holland also participated in the 400 m run and ran a new PR of 1:04.53, beating her old PR of 1:06.03. She placed 16th overall. Also competing for the 7th grade was 6th grader L. Ring. She participated in the 7th grade pole vault and gained a lot of valuable experience.
Eighth grade boys:
The 8th grade boys team was led by C. Moon with a third place finish in the high jump with a personal record jump of 1.74 m (5’8.5″). The eighth grade 4 x 200 team of B. Kade, B. Osborne, J. Flack and K. Richmond set a new school record with a time of 1:39.71, which beat the old record time of 1:39.88, finishing in third place. K. Richmond also participated in the 200 meter run and the eighth-grade 4 x 100 team of C. Moon, M. Overbeck, X. Layne and K. Allison finished with a personal record with a time of 48.48, placing ninth just missing a medal by 0.06 seconds. They finished 14th place overall out of 46 teams who scored in the meet.
Seventh grade boys:
The seventh graders were represented by J. Klingler, who placed eighth in the 1600 m run with a new personal record time of 5:01.44, less than a second from the school record and crushing his previous personal record of 5:04.46. D. Thompson also had a great first state experience, participating in the high jump and finished with a jump of 1.47 m (4′ 9.75″).