Caron, Bicket, 4 X 800 Relay, and 4 X 400 Relay win titles for Boys; Baughman, Sprint Medley, and 4 X 200 Relay win titles for Girls
BY JIM BEERS, Contributing Writer
CHESTER – Chester hosted its 2023 Rocky Bridges Invitational Tuesday April 18 at the Chester High School Dr. Charles R. Young Memorial Track and Field Complex. It was a warm, sunny, breezy day at CHS with temperatures in the mid-70’s for most of the meet with clouds rolling in late in the afternoon to cool things down.
Eight teams competed in both the Boy’s and Girl’s Divisions, with the YellowJacket Boys’ Team winning their division and the Lady Jackets Placing 2nd in the Runner-Up spot. Both teams had a good day of competition and fought hard to represent Chester High proudly.
Competing teams in the Boy’s Division, in alphabetical order, included Chester, Dupo, New Athens, Okawville, Red Bud, Sparta, Steeleville, and Waterloo Gibault. The Girl’s Division, in alphabetical order, included Chester, Dupo, Nashville, New Athens, Okawville, Red Bud, Sparta, and Steeleville.
Awards were presented to the 1st and 2nd Place teams as well as the 1st through 3rd finishers in each event.
Tuesday April 18 was “Senior Day” for the Chester High School Track and Field Teams. A ceremony was held at the 2023 Rocky Bridges Invitational to honor the senior athletes. Pictured are the Lady YellowJacket seniors with their parents. (Left to right): Paig Vasquez, daughter of Trent & Angie Vasquez; Briley Miles, daughter of Robert Miles and Diann Miles; Camrynn Howie, daughter of Josh and Christa Howie; and Maleia Absher, daughter of Kim Absher and Misty Parrish. Not pictured: Emma Eggemeyer, daughter of Aaron & Amy Eggemeyer. Jim Beers Photo
It was Senior Day at CHS and prior to the start of the meet, Chester Senior Track and Field athletes were honored. Each athlete received a bouquet of flowers and orange and black balloons, and his or her parents joined the ceremony on the center of the track in front of the broadcast booth
Senior girls included Paige Vasquez, daughter of Trent & Angie Vasquez; Briley Miles, daughter of Robert Miles and Diann Miles; Camrynn Howie, daughter of Josh & Christa Howie; and Maleia Absher, daughter of Kim Absher & Misty Parrish. Not present was Emma Eggemeyer, daughter of Aaron & Amy Eggemeyer. Emma is a 2-sport athlete and had a softball game on the day of the Rocky Bridges Invite.
Senior Boys included William Schuwerk, son of Matt and Jessica Schuwerk; Jacob Handel, son of Carl and Trish Handel; and Shane Bicket, son of Steve and Trish Bicket.
BOY’S DIVISION
The Chester High School Boys Track 4 X 400 Meter Relay Team placed 1st with a time of 3:36.7 at the 2023 Rocky Bridges Invitational Meet Tuesday April 18. Pictured are (left to right) Gabriel Coffman, Jacob Handel, Shane Bicket, and Blake Farmer. This relay team helped the YellowJackets to win the 2023 Invite with a total of 109 points. Jim Beers Photo
Chester won the Boy’s Division with 109 points. In the process, Shane Bicket won both the Discus and Shot Put, Lannin Caron won the Pole Vault, and the 4 X 800-Meter Relay Team as well as the 4 X 400-Meter Relay Team won their events.
STANDINGS
Chester (1st, 109) * Plaque
Steeleville (2nd, 89) * Plaque
Dupo (3rd, 78)
Sparta, (4th, 77)
Red Bud (5th, 74)
Okawville (6th, 72)
Waterloo-Gibault (7th, 53)
New Athens (8th, 13)
RESULTS
FIELD EVENTS
Pole Vault:
Lannin Caron (1st, 2.75 meters) Champion * Medal
Ivan Hobbs (2nd, 2.45 meters) * Medal
Long Jump:
Lannin Caron (7th, 4.9 meters)
Duran Rodriguez (9th, 3.52 meters)
Discus:
Shane Bicket (1st, 39.20 meters) Champion * Medal
Gavin Cowan (7th, 27.73 meters)
Shot Put:
Shane Bicket (1st, 13.36 meters) Champion * Medal
Gavin Cowan (11th, 8.75 meters)
Triple Jump:
Lannin Caron (7th, 9.87 meters)
RUNNING EVENTS
4 X 800-Relay:
Chester (1st, 9:52.1) Champions (Farmer, Coffman, Handel & Hopkins) * Medals
110 Hurdles:
Gabriel Steele (4th, 19.2)
100 Meter Dash:
Will Schuwerk (3rd, 12.0) * Medal
Duran Rodrigues (12th, 13.9)
800-Meter Run:
Gabriel Coffman (2nd, 2:07.2) * Medal
4 X 100 Meter Throwers Relay:
Chester (1st, 56.9) Champions * Medals (Absher, Cowan, Rodrigues, & Bicket)
400 Meter Dash:
Will Schuwerk (2nd, 53.2) * Medal
Jacob Handel (3rd, 53.9) * Medal
300 Meter Hurdles:
Gabriel Steele (2nd, 43.7) * Medal
200 Meter Run:
Ivan Hobbs (8th, 28.3)
Duran Rodrigues (11th, 30.0)
4 X 400 Meter Relay
Chester (1st, 3:36.7) Champions * Medals (Coffman, Schuwerk, Farmer, & Handel)
GIRL’S DIVISION
The Lady Jackets were runners-up in the Girl’s Division with 129 points. In the process, Bethany Baughman won the Pole Vault, the Sprint Medley was won by CHS runners, and the 4 X 200 Meter Relay Team won its event.
STANDINGS
Okawville (1st, 162) * Plaque
Chester (2nd, 129) * Plaque
Red Bud (3rd, 72)
Sparta (4th, 65)
Dupo (5th, 54)
Nashville (6th, 48)
New Athens (7th, 21)
Steeleville (8th, 4)
RESULTS
FIELD EVENTS
High Jump:
Erin Liefer (2nd, 1.45 meters) * Medal
Pole Vault:
Bethany Baughman (1st, 2.00 meters) Champion * Medal
Jessica Stumpe (3rd, 1.85 meters) * Medal
Long Jump:
Jessica Stumpe (2nd, 4.10 meters) * Medal
Maleia Absher (4th, 3.83 meters)
Triple Jump:
Paige Vasquez (3rd, 9.00 meters) * Medal
Bethany Baughman (6th, 7.04 meters)
Discus:
Briley Miles (3rd, 27.94 meters) * Medal
Rylie Conley (9th, 19.09 meters)
Shot Put:
Paige Vasquez (2nd, 10.25 meters) * Medal
Briley Miles (5th, 9.02 meters)
RUNNING EVENTS
800 Sprint Medley:
Chester (1st, 2:08.2) Champions * Medals (Coleman, Diskey, Liefer, & Eggemeyer)
4 X 800 meter Relay:
Chester (5th, 13:45) (Anaya, Absher, Kempfer, & Conley)
4 X 100 meter Relay:
Chester (2nd, 57.3) * Medals (Howie, Stumpe, Vasquez, & Coleman)
100 meter Hurdles:
Jasmine Merideth (2nd, 17.9) * Medal
Erin Liefer (20.9)
100 meter Dash:
Aubrey Coleman (2nd, 14.0) * Medal
Liberty McCormick (9th, 15.5)
800 meter Run:
MacKenzie Deimund (8th, 3:29.2)
4 X 200 meter Relay:
Chester (1st, 1:56.3) Champions * Medals (Eggemeyer, Merideth, Vasquez, & Coleman)
400 meter Dash:
Josalynn Anaya (8th, 1:17.0)
Kylee Kempfer (10th, 1:22.2)
300 meter Hurdles:
Jasmine Merideth (3rd, 56.5) * Medal
200 meter Dash:
Aubrey Coleman (2nd, 29.5) * Medal
Camrynn Howie (5th, 30.5)
4 X 400 meter Relay:
Chester (2nd, 4:43.5) * Medals (Eggemeyer, Liefer, Diskey, & Merideth)