Chester's Martin finishes 9th in state in 200 dash

Posted May 28, 2017 11:00 pm

By Jim Beers Contributing Writer

Chester High School sent five boys to the IHSA boys state track and field meet at Eastern Illinois University last week, with senior Demontae Martin finishing ninth in the 200-meter dash.

Martin also competed in three other events: 100-meter dash, 400-meter relay and 800-meter relay, but was the only Yellow Jacket to advance to the finals.

Also competing individually were Chris Lang (100-meter dash) and Savion Smith (high jump). Lang and Smith are also part of Chester's two relay squads.

"We all worked hard and competed well to get to state and then once we got there, all the boys did well, but we just couldn't carry over the same momentum that we had built up at the sectional meet," said Chester coach Ben Hunter.

To get to state in the 200-meter run, Martin ran a personal-best time of 22.75 at the Sparta Sectional. In last Thursday's prelims, he ran in the second heat of eight competitors and finished third with a time of 22.78.

In the finals, he finished with a time of 23.17 and earned a medal for his ninth place finish. Easton Bianchi, a junior from Sterling Newman Central Catholic, won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.78.

In the 100-meter dash, Lang advanced to state despite finishing fourth in the event at the Sparta Sectional, beating the qualifying standard with a time of 11.36.

There were five heats in the 100-meter preliminaries, with Lang and Martin in separate heats. Martin finished fifth in his heat with a time of 11.41, while Lang finished seventh with a time of 11.57.

Smith advanced to state with a height of 5-11 at the Sparta Sectional, but tied for fourth in his heat at state with that same height and did not advance.

In the relays, the same foursome of Lang, Martin, Smith and Jacob competed in both events. The 800-meter relay team won the Sparta Sectional event with a time of 1:33.84 to qualify for the state meet.

At state, Chester finished seventh in its heat of eight teams with a time of 1:34.66 and did not advance.

In the 400-meter relay, Chester finished second to Althoff Catholic at the Sparta Sectional with a time of 44.22. In the state prelims, the Yellow Jackets finished fourth in their heat with a time of 44.47 and did not advance to the finals.

"When we warmed up in the Eastern Illinois University Field House, I felt really good about our chances," Hunter said. "Everyone was positive and seemed ready to compete.

"There was no really apparent dramatic fall-off when we left to warm up that morning."

"Our sectional meet was undoubtedly our best of the year and we really needed to match that performance in order for us to advance to the state finals in every event," Hunter said. "Our 4 X 100 was close. They just didn't get it done.

"I am proud of that group of young men."

Hunter noted that Smith was sick during state weekend and running conditions weren't the best for Martin.

"I really do not want this to sound as if I am making excuses, but apparently Savion was sick the whole weekend," Hunter said. "It turns out he had strep throat and really got pretty bad on Friday.

"Demontae felt as if he got rushed during the 100-meter dash. He also ran in a fairly heavy breeze, which didn't help."

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