Knott, Meyer win conference titles for SJO

The Illini Prairie Conference track and field meet took place over two days because of inclement weather.

But when it was all said and done, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ track and field team had two individuals win conference titles en route to a fifth-place finish at the 10-team meet.

The Spartans compiled 74 points, with Monticello winning the meet with 141 points. Unity (103), Rantoul (99.5), Pontiac (84) and SJO rounded out the top five schools. Olympia (71.5), Prairie Central (49), Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central (29), St. Thomas More (26) and Bloomington Central Catholic (24) rounded out the bottom half of the team standings.

Hayden Knott was a standout in the throws for the Spartans, winning both the discus and shot put titles. Knott tossed the discus 145 feet, 2 inches for the best mark and he did the same in the shot put with a throw of 48-5.

Aiden Meyer also had a sterling meet for SJO by placing first in the 100 in 11.10 seconds to go along with a second-place finish in the 400 (51.80) and a fourth-place finish in the 200 (23.22). The Spartans added two runner-up efforts in the 400 relay (44.30) and the 800 relay (1:33.83), while the 1,600 relay placed fifth in 3:45.12.

Along with Meyer’s showing in the 200, Lane Gaskin added a fifth-place effort in the same event with a time of 23.45.

SJO is slated to compete again at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at the Clinton Carnival before ending the regular season at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11 at Mahomet-Seymour’s Bulldog Invitational.