May 20, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Knott, sprint relay shine at GCMS Invitational

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ track and field team went two weeks in between competitions.


Blame Mother Nature for that.


But the Spartans made the most of their opportunity on Tuesday at the Falcon Invitational hosted by Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, finishing fourth at the 11-team meet after being a late addition to the field.


SJO compiled 73 points, just behind Clifton Central (105), Paxton-Buckley-Loda (104) and GCMS (81). Ridgeview (61) rounded out the top five schools.

The Spartans emerged with two first-place finishes as the 400-meter relay team of Dwight Colvin, Aiden Meyer, Brayden Grimsey and Lane Gaskin blazed around the track in 44.48 seconds to top the rest of the relays.


Hayden Knott performed well in the discus, winning the field event with a toss of 138 feet, 3 inches.


SJO added 10 other efforts that resulted in top-five finishes to aid its efforts in Gibson City. Meyer placed second in the 100 with a time of 11.35 and Eric Poe also finished second in the 800 with a time of 2:07.73.


Lane Gaskin in the 200 (23.47), Ethan Vanilew in the 400 (55.73) and the 1,600 relay quartet of Keanen Swanson, Brady Buss, Meyer and Kaleb Harshbarger (3:37.65) all placed third for SJO.


Brandon Mattsey in the 1,600 (4:57.72), Isiah McCune in the 3,200 (10:47.18) and Swanson in the triple jump (37-0.5) all finished fourth, while Swanson in the 400 (56.80) and Vanilew in the high jump (5-6) brought home fifth-place finishes.


SJO is set to return to the track at 4:30 p.m. this Friday when it hosts the annual Spartan Classic. On the girls’ side, SJO is set to compete at both the Monticello Invitational and Urbana Open, with both meets starting at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Banner
Related Posts

McKinney, Wedig help SJO football pull away from Prairie Central

September 5, 2025

September 5, 2025

Big offensive plays are bound to happen with the St. Joseph-Ogden football team. The Spartans, simply put, have too many...

GCMS awaits as SJO girls’ basketball continues postseason run

February 11, 2019

February 11, 2019

Four high school girls’ basketball teams, including St. Joseph-Ogden, will descend upon the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley gymnasium on Monday night. By...

Witruk, Ward help SJO softball win regional title; Olympia awaits in sectional semifinal

May 22, 2019

May 22, 2019

Add another regional title to the growing collection for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School softball team. The Spartans earned their...

Michael looking to the future with coaching job

August 23, 2019

August 23, 2019

Nate Michael spent his youth playing basketball in every form.  After graduating this spring from McKendree University, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound...

Primmer trying to keep hope as SJO baseball waits on possible start to season

April 7, 2020

April 7, 2020

Blake Primmer’s senior season wasn’t supposed to play out like this. As the St. Joseph-Ogden High School baseball team was...

Smith, Pence and Wertz spark SJO football to first playoff win since 2015

November 5, 2022

November 5, 2022

The wait for a playoff victory from the St. Joseph-Ogden High School football team is no more. Hosting the program’s...

Smith, Wertz shine as SJO football wins homecoming game

September 26, 2022

September 26, 2022

It was a happy homecoming for the St. Joseph-Ogden football team.And with the Spartans defeating Nokomis 42-12 this past Friday...

Born to dance: Hess takes passion with her to SIUE

May 30, 2019

May 30, 2019

Kaitlyn Hess has danced nearly all of her life. The recent St. Joseph-Ogden High School graduate will continue to do...

SJO to host Toyota of Danville Classic starting on Tuesday

November 27, 2023

November 27, 2023

The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ basketball program is no stranger to having tournaments in its own gym.This season is no different....

Way to go, SJO: Spartans’ girls’ basketball heading to state!

February 19, 2019

February 19, 2019

In a season full of signature wins, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team delivered another one on Monday...

Armstrong, Spartans start off Arteaga Era with unbeaten opening week

November 23, 2021

November 23, 2021

What a way to start the season. And the Drew Arteaga Era. The St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team...

Groundbreaking takes place at new baseball field

April 9, 2021

April 9, 2021

A ground breaking ceremony took place this week at the new home of the Royal Giants and the St. Joseph-Ogden...

Jones named SJO student-athlete of the month

November 18, 2020

November 18, 2020

Helene Jones likes a challenge. Jones, the October St. Joseph-Ogden student-athlete of the month, enjoys math because it challenges her....

After winning Illini Prairie Conference championship, SJO girls’ basketball to play for regional title

February 18, 2022

February 18, 2022

Postseason accomplishments are significant ways to remember a season.But so are conference championships.And when this chapter is written on the...

5 Question Friday with SJO Football Head Coach Shawn Skinner

October 21, 2022

October 21, 2022

How has the team improved since the first game?I think the team has been as committed as you can as...

Comments
Leave a Reply