Woodard sweeps CIC

By Lenny Sementi
Hunter Woodard continued his farewell tour of Central Illinois in Sullivan at the Central Illinois Conference Championships this past Tuesday, May 8. The senior led the way for the third place Warriors and head coach Ryan Hornaday and throws coach Stan Weinke with gold medal production in both the shot put and the discus.

Woodard, who broke a 20-year school record in the shot earlier in the season, beat his closest competitor by more than 10 feet, tossing the lead ball 58’10”. CJ Picaso was two spots back in third with a throw of 45’6”. The duo swept the discus with Woodard taking first, eclipsing 144-feet, while Picaso captured second. Combined coach Weinke’s crew collected 34 points for the boys in black. Gage Russell added to the team in the field events also taking third in the pole vault with a leap of 9’6”.

The Warrior relays led by seniors John Hill, Bradley Kramer, and Michael Holmes did some damage as well collecting second place points in two of the four events and scored in the other two as well. Hill was strong in the opens also taking second in a loaded 400-meter field crossing the line in 52.08. He joined with Holmes and Kramer in both second place efforts in the 4×400 (3:34) and the 4×800 (8:50) meter relays. Joining the trio in the 4×4 was Noah Woods and in the 4×800 Mason Day. Woods handed off to Dalton Hoel, Hayden Cothron and Mathew Cantu in the 4×200 posting a 1:36 to secure third place honors. Woods and Cantu were the common dominator on the 4×100 fifth place team that utilized Brandon Douglas and Ben Dixon.

JD Barrett took on the distance events for the Warriors. Barrett was a top five finisher in the meet turning in a personal best 10:49 in the 3200 to take fourth in the league. Other point donators to the teams cause were: Hoel, sixth (100); Cantu and Cothron, seventh and eighth (200); Turner Hastings eighth (400); Day and Silas Hortin, seventh and eighth in the 800; Jake Dyer sixth (3200); Jake Kibler eighth, 110 high hurdles; and Hoel and Dixon seventh and eighth in the long jump.

The full story can be found in the Wednesday, May 16 edition of The Tuscola Journal.