CHARLESTON – Despite some mammoth discus throws, true satisfaction had eluded senior Reece Ihenacho for most of the season. That was not the case on Saturday. Ihenacho closed out his career in fitting fashion, with three throws of 59.
64 meters or better, to take the Class 3A discus championship at the IHSA Boys Track and Field State Meet at Eastern Illnois University’s O’Brien Stadium. Every throw Ihenacho made in Friday’s preliminaries and Saturday’s finals was farther than the previous one. His last throw of 62.
61 mebers (205 feet, 5 inches) was only 6 inches from the state-meet record set by Edwardsville’s AJ Epenesa in 2016. Epenesa, a defensive end with the Buffalo Bills, watched the competition about 30 feet away from the ring. His little brother, Iose (YOH-say), took second to Ihenacho at 57.
88 (189-10). Ihenacho had throws of 59.64 (195-8) and 60.
34 (197-11) before his career-best final throw. That 62.61 is fourth-best in the nation this season.
“I’m happy that I was able to finish my high school season off like this,” said Ihenacho, who will throw at Illinois next year. “I can’t wait for college now. Yes, I felt like I did (what I wanted).
I’m glad I could close this chapter.” Also in 3A, Torrion Bell, Terrion Spencer, Kali Freeman and Oreoluwa Sobodu ran 41.72 seconds to take second in the Class 3A 4x100 relay.
The same four finished fourth in the 4x200. Zeke Galvicius took third in the pole vault for the second straight year and Hampshire�.
