High School Track and Field
Lincoln Railers boys and girls track teams shine at the Olympia Coed Relays

[May 18, 2021] 

~ Olympia takes 1st place

~ Normal U-High takes 2nd place

~ Lincoln takes 3rd place

Friday afternoon turned into Friday evening at the track in Stanford for the 41st Annual Olympia Coed Relays and it turned out to be a great showing for the Lincoln Railers track and field teams.

Overall the Lincoln team brought home a third place trophy and everyone was full of smiles by the end of the night.

School records and Olympia meet records were also broken by Becca Heitzig and Reese McCuan of Lincoln.

McCuan set a new LCHS record in the triple jump with a jump of 34’ 11 3/4”. The previous record was held by Jennifer Whalen with a jump of 33’ 8 1/2”. The previous Olympia Relays meet record was 33’ 11 1/2”. McCuan is a junior.

Heitzig set a new LCHS record in the 1600m with a time of 5:10.52. The previous record was held by Tara Smith with a time of 5:31. The previous Olympia Relays record in the 1600m was 5:16.8. Heitzig is a freshman.

Johnie Meisner is surrounded by record-breakers Reese McCuan and Becca Heitzig
 

On the boys side, a few of the standout performances included Brenden Heitzig taking third in the 1600m with a time of 4:44.25. That time was a PR for the sophomore.

The Lincoln boys 4x100 relay team placed first with a time of 45.6. That team included Kion Carson, Jayson Butler, Kani Carson and Jalen Franz.

The Lincoln boys 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams were a very close second to U-High and Olympia, as indicated in the results below.

Kani Carson took first in the triple jump with a jump of 10.82m or 35’6”. Impressive jump for the freshman. This was a PR for Kani Carson.

Lincoln boys track coach Matt Silkowski was very proud of the boys and girls combined effort to win a trophy. After all the events were over Friday night Silkowski said, “This is the first trophy the track team has gotten since I’ve been here. It was a really good night for Lincoln track. Obviously, Becca and Reese broke records and we just had outstanding individual efforts from everyone. We swept the 4x100 relays. We had kids come out and run races they normally wouldn’t run. They were trying to fill a lineup and get points where they could. Just a lot of unselfish kids and a great team effort. Planning for the meet, I thought we had an outside chance of this. To be able to get third place out of nine teams, we needed some things to fall our way and they did. Some things didn’t go our way but we made up for it other places. I am just really proud of all these athletes.”

UIS track standout and LCHS alum Blake Jones is an assistant coach for the track team and he mentioned after the meet, “I haven’t seen a track trophy in forever. Even when I was in junior high, the classes above me never got a trophy. There’s been no trophy for track in like a decade.”

Gayal Rademaker coaches the LCHS girls track team. Rademaker texted on the way home to a track parent, “the bus ride home with the kids was a good crazy, all kinds of laughing and excitement….love it!”

Track coach legend Johnie Meisner also helps with the track program at LCHS. He is very well-known throughout Central Illinois for giving his time and talents to improve the technique and abilities of these athletes. Their hard work is paying off, due much in part to his dedication as well.

A couple more notes worth mentioning from Friday night are:

1. Brady Crane suffered a leg injury while running and had to be helped off the track to seek medical attention. No official word yet on the extent of the injury but obviously everyone is hoping it is not severe. Crane was an outstanding track athlete at Chester East Lincoln and as a sophomore at LCHS he certainly has a bright future ahead.

2. Bringing a sense of normalcy back to the track and field world, Olympia’s concession stand was open! Famous Avanti’s Gondolas were even for sale at the concession stand.

3. The bus made a stop on the way home at the new Dairy Queen Brazier in Atlanta and the student-athletes continued celebrating with food and ice cream. Making memories on and off the track certainly adds to the fun.

The nine schools participating in the 41st Annual Olympia Coed Relays were:
 

Olympia 

Prairie Central

Heyworth

Lincoln

Deer Creek-Mackinaw

Midwest Central

Mount Pulaski

Normal U-High

Tremont 

Top results from the Olympia Coed Relays:

Mens 1600m

1. Charlie Kistner (Olympia) 4:34.34

2. Noah Penry PR (Heyworth) 4:39.74

3. Brenden Heitzig PR (Lincoln) 4:44.25

~ Lincoln’s Luke Jones finished in 10th place with a time of 5:10.47 PR

Mens Varsity 4x100 Relay

1. Lincoln 45.6 (Kion Carson, Jayson Butler, Kani Carson, Jalen Franz)

2. Prairie Central 46.15 (Dylan Bazzell, Drew Haberkorn, Isaiah Adams, Bryce Galloway)

Mens Varsity 4x200 Relay

1. Normal U-High 1:34.7 (Konnor Bouman, Nick Molitor, Jace Bovee, Colton Naffziger)

2. Lincoln 1:34.8 (Kion Carson, Kani Carson, Jason Butler, Jalen Franz)

Mens Varsity 4x400 Relay

1. Olympia 3:33.93 (Brad Schardan, Andrew Litwiller, Charlie Kistner, Alec Pfeffer)

2. Lincoln 3:34.05 (Drake Rutledge, Jalen Franz, Garrett Slack, Aidan Gowin)

Mens Varsity 4x800 Relay

1. Olympia 8:23.31 (Alec Pfeffer, Charlie Kistner, Carter Phillips, Owen Dare)

2. Lincoln 8:36.99 (Garrett Slack, Brenden Heitzig, Drake Rutledge, Luke Jones)

Mens Varsity SMR 200-200-400-800m

1. Olympia 3:44.29 (Alec Pfeffer, Andrew Litwiller, Justin Siebert, Owen Dare)

2. Lincoln 3:57.81 (Kion Carson, Kani Carson, Drake Rutledge, Garrett Slack)

Mens Varsity 4x110 Shuttle Hurdles

1. Normal U-High 1:17.76

2. Olympia 1:22.79

The Lincoln Railers track team

Mens Varsity Shot Put Finals 12lb

1. Isaac Adams 13.03m PR (Deer Creek-Mackinaw)

2. Zachary Hoffman 13.02m PR (Normal U-High)

3. Cade McClellan 12.73m (Normal U-High)

4. Ian Murphy 11.42m PR (Olympia)

5. Evan Wachendorf 11.17m PR (Lincoln)

6. Evan Maynard 10.51m (Lincoln)

7. Koby Stroud 10.50m PR (Olympia)

Mens Varsity Discus Finals 1.6kg

2. Isaac Adams 37.49m PR (Deer Creek-Mackinaw)

3. Joe Dahmm 33.67m PR (Lincoln)

4. Zachary Hoffman 31.97m PR (Normal U-High)

6. Aiden Stahl 29.6m (Deer Creek-Mackinaw)

7. Evan Maynard 29.42m PR (Lincoln)

10. Cade McClellan 26.41m (Normal U-High)

12. Koby Stroud 23.27m (Olympia)

13. Chase Litwiller 23.04m (Olympia)

Mens Varsity High Jump

1. Dylan Bazzell 1.88m PR (Prairie Central)

2. Chase Litwiller 1.73m (Olympia)

3. Keagan Uphoff 1.68m PR (Olympia)

~ Dylan Gowin of Lincoln placed 7th with a PR of 1.47m

~ Kion Carson of Lincoln placed 8th with a jump of 1.42m

Mens Varsity Long Jump

1. Andrew Litwiller 6.22m PR (Olympia)

2. Aidan Gowin 5.75m (Lincoln)

~ Jayson Butler of Lincoln placed 9th with a jump of 4.75m

Mens Varsity Triple Jump

1. Kani Carson 10.82m PR (Lincoln)

2. Tyler Buck 10.42m (Tremont)

3. Dylan Gowin 10.21m PR (Lincoln)

Womens Varsity 1600 Meters

1. Becca Heitzig 5:10.52 PR (Lincoln)

2. Savanah Beavers 5:21.52 PR (Olympia)

3. Lizzy Zacharias 5:29.63 (Normal U-High)

~ Abigail Stiefvater of Lincoln finished in 9th place with a time of 7:05.14

Womens Varsity 4x100 Relay

1. Normal U-High 51.74 (Jersey Jones, Reese Mitchell, Karianna Merriweather, Allie Zastrow)

2. Olympia 54.88 (Melissa Bieber, Taylor Nowaskie, Abby Stine, Bella Dickhut)

~ Lincoln finished 6th with a time of 59.5 (Makayla Koehne, Gwendolyn Gill, Jazlyn Franz, Alicen Burns)

Womens Varsity 4x200 Relay

1. Lincoln 1:55.33 (Reese McCuan, Alyssa Company, Becca Heitzig, Jazlyn Franz)

2. Olympia 1:57.44 (Erin Dederich, Taylor Nowaskie, Abby Stine, Bella Dickhut)

Womens Varsity 4x400 Relay

1. Normal U-High 4:28.22

2. Olympia 4:54.71

3. Deer Creek-Mackinaw 5:19.44

Womens Varsity 4x800 Relay

1. Normal U-High 10.23.5

2. Olympia 10.28.67

Womens Varsity SMR 100-100-200-400m

1. Normal U-High 1:56.09 (Allie Zastrow, Karianna Merriweather, Anna Barr, Reese Mitchell)

2. Lincoln 1:58.90 (Reese McCuan, Alicen Burns, Alyssa Company, Becca Heitzig)

3. Olympia 2:02.74 (Bella Dickhut, Taylor Nowaskie, Abby Stine, Anna Bieber)

Womens Varsity Shot Put 4kg

8. Cassidy Clark 10.29m (Mt. Pulaski)

10. Annie Knapp 9.31m (Normal U-High)

11. Kyra West 8.77 PR (Olympia)

16. Makayla Koehne 7.90m (Lincoln)

17. Lizzie Cleveland 7.51m (Olympia)

19. AnnaLisa Alley 6.37m (Lincoln)

Womens Varsity Discus 1 kg

1. Cassidy Clark 37.58m (Mt. Pulaski)

5. Lauren Aldridge 31.12 (Olympia)

9. Kyra West 28.04 PR (Olympia)

17. Makayla Koehne 19.06 (Lincoln)

18. AnnaLisa Alley 16.42 PR (Lincoln)

Womens Varsity High Jump

11. Abby Stine 1.32m PR (Olympia)

12. Erin Dederich 1.27m (Olympia)

Womens Varsity Long Jump

7. Taylor Nowaskie 4.80m SR (Olympia)

9. Alyssa Company 4.75m PR (Lincoln)

13. Reese McCuan 4.41m (Lincoln)

14. Mia Boudeman 4.37m (Normal U-High)

Womens Varsity Triple Jump

2. Reese McCuan 10.66m PR (Lincoln)

[Teena Lowery]