Vandalia boys track finished in fifth place as a team at the Newton 1A Boys Track Sectional on Wednesday and will be represented at the IHSA 1A Boys State Track Meet by freshman hurdler Sam Bowers next week. Bowers ran to a second place finish in the 110m High Hurdles with a time :16.06 to earn his trip to State. Bowers will run in the IHSA 1A Boys State Prelims that will be held on Thursday, May 23 at O’Brien Stadium at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
While not a state qualifier, the boys 4×400 relay team turned in a fourth place finish that is a new school record for VCHS boys track with a time of 3:37.55. The relay team beat the previous record of 3:39.02 that was set in 2019.
Other non-state qualifying placers for the Vandals at the Sectional were Ian Whitehead with a fifth place finish in the 400m Dash; Nic Jackson with a fourth place finish in the 800m Run; Sam Bowers with a sixth place finish in the 300m Hurdles; the 4×100 relay team of Jay Keck, Sam Bowers, Jordan Colburn and Ian Whitehead with a fifth place finish; the 4×200 relay team of Jay Keck, Keagan Turner, Jayden Rench and Jordan Colburn with a third place finish; the 4×800 relay team of Dade Kleinik, Kaleb Peebles, Cole Durbin, Nic Jackson with a fourth place finish; Lucas Bowers with a third place finish in the High Jump and Jayden Rench with a seventh place finish in the long jump.
