IHSA Class 1A Boys State Track: Morgenstern and Hoffman head north
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A long-and hopefully very fruitful-holiday weekend starts a tad early for two local athletes Wednesday,
Du Quoin High School juniors Brock Morgenstern and Karson Hoffman left at mid-morning for the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 1A Boys State Track and Field preliminaries.
Action begins at 11 a.m.Thursday at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.
Hoffman's sectional time of 49.1 (49.34 FAT) ranks second behind Ben Asmus of Heyworth (48.94) entering the prelims.
He's one of five local competitors who made the 400 field. All five, including Hoffman, ranked in the top 10 after sectionals.
The group includes Marshall Anderson and Brock McGee of Herrin along with the Nashville duo of Gannon Mammel and Zach Fieber.
Hoffman, a state qualifier for the third straight year, holds a pair of relay medals and also qualified in the triple jump.
At 43'0 to win the Nashville sectional, Hoffman is seeded 11th as state begins. Herrin's Brian Pankey (45'6) is tops.
Morgenstern was listed at #28 among shot put qualifiers at 49'1. That's nearly a foot shorter than his career best.
The 2010 shot put field is loaded with 22 qualifiers throwing 50'0 or farther at the sectional level.
Who : Karson Hoffman and Karson and Brock Morgenstern of Du Quoin.
What: Class 1A State Preliminaries
Where: O'Brien Stadium, Charleston
When: Thursday, May 27, 11 a.m.
Notes: Hoffman is ranked second in the 400 meters with a career best time of 49.1 in the sectional. Hoffman's 43'0 triple jump ranked eighth, despite being almost 12 inches shorter than his previous season's best.
Morgenstern's sectional effort is 27th entering the prelims, but his farthest toss of nearly 50' would rank in the top 15.
Start times: Preliminaries in the shot put started just after 11 a.m. with triple jumpers reporting at 12:30 p.m. The 400 heats are at approximately 1:40 p.m.
The weather: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy and rather humid with a high near 84. North wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.