Chester will send 3 individuals and 3 relays to State Meet
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester High School Boys Track and Field Team finished 2nd at the 2026 IHSA Class 1A Track and Field Meet hosted at the Dr. Charles R. Young Memorial Track and Field Complex located at CHS. The YellowJackets were runners up only to the Pinckneyville Panthers and finished 2nd out of 20 teams competing at the Chester Sectional.
In addition to the outstanding team performance, the YellowJackets qualified three individuals and three relay teams to advance to the 2026 IHSA Class 1A State Track and Field Meet Thursday through Saturday May 28-30 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.
The 20 teams that competed included (in alphabetical order) Breese Mater Dei, Trico, Carlyle, Christ Our Rock Lutheran, CHESTER, DuQuoin, Dupo, Lebanon, Marissa, Nashville, New Athens, O’Fallon First Baptist Academy, Okawville, Pinckneyville, Red Bud, Sparta, Steeleville, Trenton-Wesclin, Valmeyer, and Waterloo Gibault Catholic.
In team competition, the 2026 Chester Class 1A Sectional Champion was Pinckneyville with as total of 123 points. he Panthers would have had even more points, but in the first running event of the day, the 4 X 800 Relay, Pinckneyville was disqualified due to a lane violation.
Chester was runner-up in 2nd Place with 83.5 points. The next closest finisher in 3rd Place was Nashville who accumulated 68 points (Chester was 39.5 points behind Pinckneyville and Nashville was 15.5 points behind Chester). Trenton-Wesclin was 15 points behind Chester with 53 points. After that, the final 14 teams that scored points were just a few points within the team that finished ahead them.
Two schools did not score any points (Trico and Valmeyer). The final 14 schools that did score points included Dupo (5th, 50), DuQuoin (6th, 46.5), Centralia Christ Our Rock (7th, 45), Breese Mater Dei (8th, 38), Okawville (9th, 37), Carlyle (10th, 30.5), Red Bud (11th, 29), O’Fallon First Baptist Academy (12th, 23-Tie), New Athens (12th, 23-Tie), Sparta (14th, 20), Lebanon (15th, 12), Waterloo Gibault Catholic (16th, 8), Steeleville (17th, 6.5), and Marissa (18th, 4).
The YellowJackets had a great day in both track and field. Their success was a true team effort with everyone competing hard and contributing in every way possible. Some by earning points and others being very supportive of their fellow teammates.
Individuals and relays earned points by either finishing in 1st or 2nd Place in their events or by meeting pre-set qualifying marks and times. The Jackets won three events. All were relays including the 4 X 100 Relay, the 4 X 200 Relay, and the 4 X 400 Relay. All three relays qualified for State.
Relay athletes included 4 X 100 Relay (Gabe Coffman, Donnie Sabo, Danny Worley, and TaShawn Palacio). That foursome won with a time of 43.90. The 4 X 200 Relay included Donnie Sabo, Gabe Coffman, TaShawn Palacio, and Danny Worley. They had a winning time of 1:30.83.
Finally, the last event of the day was the 4 X 400 Relay. That event was close and extremely competitive. Teammates included Danny Worley, TaShawn Palacio, Ryker Hoffman, and Gabe Coffman.
On the last handoff of the event, Gabe Coffman took the baton with several runners in front of him. He fought around the first turn to gain some momentum. Down the back side he gained even more ground. The battle continued around the final turns and as he appeared down the final 100 yards, he was neck-and-neck with Breese Mater Dei and Pinckneyville. It was a battle royal in the final 25 yards.
It wasn’t until the final steps that the winner was determined. Gabe Coffman ran the race of his life to take the win from Breese Mater Dei (2nd, 3:33.64) and Pinckneyville (3rd, 3:33.70). CHESTER won with a time of 3:33.60 due to Coffman’s exceptional performance as anchor of the YellowJacket 4 X 400 Relay Team!
Three individuals also qualified for State including Gabe Coffman, Donnie Sabo, and Danny Worley. Gabe Coffman qualified in the 400-meter dash by finishing 2nd with a time of 50.92. Danny Worley qualified by placing 2nd in the long jump with a jump of 6.52 meters. Donnie Sabo placed 3rd in the 200-meter run with his time of 22.81, but he met the qualifying time to advance to State.
Other YellowJacket performances are listed below.
100 Meters: Jonathan Hayer (17th, 12.19)
400 Meters: Caleb Coffey (18th, 1:03)
800 Meters: Duncan Bargman (11th, 2:20.03) and Edgardo Lazu-Colon (23rd, 2:39.95)
1600 Meters: Victor Fuentes (16th, 5:32.58)
3200 Meters: Victor Fuentes (7th, 11:53.03)
110 Hurdles: Anthony Armenta (8th, 18.56)
300 Hurdles: Sam Hall (4th, 45.06)
4 X 800 Relay: (5th, 10.03) Ivan Hobbs, Mitchel Liter, Duncan Bargman, & Isaac Sims.
Shot Put: Paxton Beam (5th, 12:87 meters) and Karim Landeros (20th, 10.45 meters)
Discus: Karim Landeros (8th, 36.72 meters) and Paxton Beam (16th, 33.14 meters)
Pole Vault: Ivan Hobbs (3rd-Tie, 3.20 meters) and Sam Hall (5th, 3:05 meters)
Triple Jump: Derrius Shoemate (4th, 11.80 meters) and Mitchel Liter (13th, 10.80 meters)
CHS Long Jumper Danny Worley a sophomore, makes his approach for his first long jump attempt at the 2026 IHSA Sectional Track and Field Meet. Worley finished 2nd in the event to qualify to advance to the State Meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston this weekend. Worley jumped 6.52 meters to punch his ticket to the “big dance”. Jim Beers Photo
Chester High School Pole Vaulter Ivan Hobbs and Sam Hall discuss Hall’s next vault attempt at the 2026 IHSA Sectional Track and Field Meet. At the end of the day Hobbs tied for 3rd Place with his vault of 3.20 meters and Hall placed right behind Hobbs in 5th Place with his vault of 3.05 meters. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s 4 X 100 Meter Relay won the title at the 2026 IHSA Sectional Track and Field Meet. The foursome of Gabriel Coffman, Donnie Sabo, Danny Worley and TaShawn Palacio recorded a time of 43.90 to win the event and qualify to compete at the State Class 1A Meet. Jim Beers Photo
The 4 X 200 Meter Relay of Donnie Sabo, Gabe Coffman, TaShawn Palacio, and Danny Worley ran their race with a time of 1:30.83. That time was good enough to win the race and qualify them to advance to the 2026 IHSA Class 1A State Track and Field Meet this weekend. Jim Beers Photo
To close out the meet, the YellowJackets boys 4 X 400 Relay Team of Danny Worley, TaShawn Palacio, Ryker Hoffman, and Gabe Coffman ran a thrilling race and won it at the finish line when Gabe Coffman willed himself in the Final 25-feet of the race to take the win. He was neck-and-neck with Brese Mater Dei and Pinckneyville down the stretch and gave the fans their money’s worth in the exciting thriller at the finish line. Chester finished with a time of 3:33.60. Breese Mater Dei finished 2nd with a time of 3:33.64 and Pinckneyville came in 3rd with a time of 3:33.70. Jim Beers Photo
This is the photo-finish of the final event of the day at the 2026 IHSA Class 1A Sectional Track and Field Meet Wednesday May 13th. The meet was hosted at Chester High School’s Dr. Charles R. Young Memorial Track and Field Complex. The final 50 yards of the 4 X 400 Meter Relay was neck-and-neck with Chester’s Gabriel Coffman (far right) edging out Brese Mater Dei’s Reagan Woomer (far left), and Pinckneyville’s Christian Queen (center) at the finish line. Chester and Breese Mater Dei both qualified to advance to the State Track and Field Meet Thursday, Friday and Saturday May 28-30 at Charleston, Illinois on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s TaShawn Palacio (center) sprints to the finish to secure the YellowJacket’s win in the 4 X 100 Relay at the 2026 IHSA Class 1A Sectional Track and Field Meet. Palacio ran the anchor of the Chester 4 X 100 relay team and helped win the event with a time of 49.30. The victory qualified the 4 X 100 team to compete this weekend at the State Meet at EIU in Charleston. Jim Beers Photo
Gabe Coffman of Chester guts-out the 2nd Place finish in the 400-Meter Run at the 2026 IHSA Class 2A Sectional Meet Wednesday May 13. Coffman trailed only Reagan Woomer of Breese Mater Dei who won the race with a winning time of 50.;52. Coffman turned in a time of 50.92. In 3rd Place was Christiann Queen of Pinckneyville who had a time of 51.14. Coffman and Woomer each qualified to advance to the State Meet this weekend. Jim Beers Photo
Chester’s Victor Fuentes completes his 8th lap of the 3200-Meter (2-Mile) race at the 2026 IHSA Class 1A Sectional Track and Field Meet Wednesday May 13. Fuentes placed 7th in the event with a time of 11:53.03. Eight events later Fuentes competed in the 1600-Meter (1-Mile) run finishing 16th out of 25 runners. He had a time of 5:32.58 in that event. Jim Beers Photo
Sam Hall, a CHS junior, clears the final hurdle in the 300-Meter Hurdles event at the IHSA Class 1A Sectional Meet. Hall finished with a time of 45.06 and placed 4th out of 18 hurdlers. Jim Beers Photo
Paxton Beam, a Chester sophomore, placed 5th in the Shot Put at the 2026 IHSA Class 1A Sectional Track and Field Meet Wednesday May 13. Beam threw the shot put 12.87 meters to finish 5th out of 25 throwers in the event. Here he proudly displays his 5th Place Medal following the presentation by CHS Head Coach Chris Kern. Jim Beers Photo