BLOOMINGTON - After checking the rulebook, what Sodiq Alliu, Alex Freshour and Logan Pflibsen did at the 25th annual Pantagraph Honor Roll Track Meet at Fred Carlton Field Tuesday night was in fact legal. | Photo Gallery

"I felt like I was flying," gushed Bloomington High School's Alliu after bounding 46 feet, 6 inches in the triple jump for the seventh-best mark in Pantagraph area history.

Olympia's Freshour, a junior like Alliu, and Streator sophomore Pflibsen did some flying of their own for school-record pole vault clearances of 15-3, tying the No. 4 mark in area history. Freshour won by needing only two attempts at 15-3.

Each star had hoped to make the meet a springboard for Friday and Saturday's state meet while those not heading to state sought to end on a high note.

"I had real good extension on my jumps," Alliu said. "My runway speed was good, too. That's what helped me out. I put it all together."

Freshour has been put through a four-event workload every meet, but that hasn't been all bad.

"My speed has increased a lot," he said after narrowly missing at 15-7, a height which would have moved him into second in area history.

"I'm kind of disappointed, but I'll do better at state, hopefully," said Pflibsen, whose previous best was 15-1 while Freshour's old best was 15-2.

"I haven't had competition all year. I've been all by myself."

On Olympia's winning 1,600 relay (3:31.8), Freshour (51.6) was by himself after Jason Beach (52.7), Aaron Springer (53.4) and Kameron Carpenter (53.9) put him in front.

Another BHS junior, Jeshiah Campbell, will head to Charleston buoyed by wins in the long jump (22-4½) and 200 (22.1). He also contributed explosive legs to the winning 400 relay (43.6) and 800 relay (1:31.8).

"I scratched my best jump," lamented Campbell, whose best is 23-1. "I almost jumped out of the pit. This is just practice. I wanted to get a couple more jumps in before I head down to state."

Campbell's 200 was a season best, which he needed to hold off the 22.3 by Brent Ross of Normal Community.

"He was beating me at the 100, but I had a little bit of kick left," Campbell said.

Campbell was joined on the 400 relay by Alliu, Justin Brooks and Greg Patton. Alliu and Brooks almost didn't connect on the first exchange.

"It was terrible," Alliu said. "I couldn't get the baton to him."

The senior-less 800 relay included Torre Harrell, Brooks and Patton.

"That's our relay for next year," said BHS coach John Szabo with a smile.

Normal West senior Jonny Kaufmann finally got to smile after an Honor Roll Meet 1,600 as the two-time runner-up breezed to victory in 4:30.0.

"I wanted to get an individual honor roll title," he said. "I'm happy with that for the last race of my high school career."

Jesse Holliger made it a middle distance sweep for West by taking the 800 in 2:01.1.

"Tonight I was just looking for the victory to finish out my senior year," said Holliger, who has run faster in relays, but not in an open 800.

NCHS sprinter Melvin Hicks opened up his throttle to edge Heyworth's Kyle Hunn-Andreae in the 100, 10.8 to 10.9, despite a leg injury. That injury makes him wonder how much faster he could be.

"It makes me think about it a lot, but I don't try to use it as an excuse," he said.

Youth was no excuse for one of the meet's two sophomore champions, Heyworth's Ben Asmus, who motored 49.7 in the 400.

"The last 50 meters was a little tough," said Asmus, the No. 2 seed for the state meet.

It was tough for Prairie Central's Brennen Krenz to cope with not making state in the 110 high hurdles, an event he won in a school record tying 15.1.

"I choked at sectionals," he said. "It was a real disappointment. The high hurdles were what I really wanted to go state in. I made it in the high jump so I guess that's something."

Krenz was among four high jumpers to clear 6-0 Tuesday, but finished third as sophomore Marcus Harris of NCHS won based on fewer misses.

Olympia shot putter Chris Dubree rarely misses out on beating bigger opponents. The 5-foot-10, 220-pound junior won Tuesday at 51-8.

"I was quick across the ring, which kind of helps me," he said. "I'm a little bit smaller."

Illini Central's Luke Boros missed his goal by a little in the 300 intermediate hurdles, but still won in 40.4.

"I wanted to break into the 39s," he said.

U High junior Kirk Saunders didn't want to break into the lead in the 3,200 until late in the race, which worked for a winning 10:10.4 ahead of the school record 10:14.9 by Ridgeview's Ian Fryers.

"It's how we U High people run," Saunders said.

U High's Kevin Forde is looking for a different way to run after falling for the second straight meet. He tumbled after the start of the 3,200 relay, but got up to run a 2:06.9 split. Teammates James Clay (2:04.1), Andy Noe (2:07.0) and Josiah Husk (2:07.2) finished in a winning 8:25.0.

"I went down in the sectional in the 3,200, too," Forde said. "I guess I just don't have any luck this week. When you hit, your head just clicks 'I've got to get back up.'"

U High discus thrower Scott Blair had hoped to get back over 150-0, but had to settle for a winning 146-1.

"I'm extremely frustrated," said Blair, whose still has time to sort things out in Friday's state meet preliminaries.