By Michael Newman

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We had a sense that Mahomet-Seymour’s Hunter Hendershot would be doing some great things in the ring when he finished seventh in the Shot Put and sixth in the Discus his freshman year at the IHSA 2A State Meet. Flash forward to last May when he was crowned state champion in the Shot Put and finished third in the Discus.

We saw this kind of progress curve with Sam Sikon and John Meyer Jr. during their high school career. It looks like Hendershot is on a similar curve as he enters his junior season. He could be the best Illinois athlete in the Shot Put this spring.

Hendershot is the only returning state champion in the 2A Field Events and is a good bet to repeat. The five other events have mystery sprinkled all around them in who will leave Charleston at the end of May with a state title.

Here is a look of what we could see this season in the six 2A Boys Field Events.

Shot Put

Top Athletes from 2018

Outlook – There is a “Grand Canyon” sized gap between Hunter Hendershot and the rest of the returning field entering this 2019 season. Hendershot threw 60-3.25 last year in the finals to claim the state title. His best mark before entering the outdoor season was when he won the Illinois Top Times Championships with a 56-5 throw. His best mark before the state meet was 55-2 in his sectional win.

There are no other athletes back that went past 52-6 outdoors. Tyler Sudduth is the lone all-state athlete back as he finished seventh last year in the state finals. His seasonal outdoor best last year was 52-3.25.

After that, it is anyone’s guess. Josh Schmid and Grant Edwards are the only Shot Put athletes back in 2A that went past 50-feet last outdoor season. After the four above athletes, there are eight athletes that are returning with 48-feet or farther. New faces will be on the podium in this event. You can count on that.

Discus

Top Athletes from 2018

Outlook – The same openings as the Shot Put is evident in the other weight event. Three all-state athletes are led by Hunter Hendershot as his third-place finish. Hendershot leads all returnees as well with a 170-0 throw. Clay Alewelt is three feet behind Hendershot while finishing fifth last year. Josh Schmid finished seventh last May in Charleston and is the other returnee. Alex Anger threw 161-8 during the season but did not make the state finals. He is an athlete to watch for in the top three this season.

There are five other athletes that threw over 150-feet in 2018. Elijah Nitz, Steven Lewis, and Payton Smith are some of the athletes from that group to keep an eye on.

Pole Vault

Top Athletes from 2018

Outlook – When you have six athletes within a foot of each other in the Pole Vault, you know that this competition when you get to the state meet should be red hot. Such is the case in Class 2A when you have six all-state athletes ready to vault higher.

Eli Badger and Chandler Ifft finished third and fourth last year with Badger six inches ahead of Ifft clearing 15-0. Ifft has the best returning clearance from last year (15-6) and has already cleared 14-8 indoors at the National Pole Vault Summit.

Dayton Black finished fifth at state while Kyle Mulhern was sixth in Charleston. Both had seasonal bests of 14-6. Jadon Elliott did not have his best meet at Charleston finishing seventh. He did clear 15-0 during the season. Elliott could be a threat to win the state title. Garrett Bachtold cleared 14-9 while finishing second in 1A. Now that Paxton-Buckley-Loda has moved up to 2A, keep an eye on Bachtold to also challenge for the title. He improved from 11-11 as a sophomore up to 14-9 at last year’s state meet.

There is another foot separation between these athletes and the rest of the pack. Mitchell McKelvey, Sam Wahlers, and Hunter Hartwig are some of the athletes to watch out for in this event.

High Jump

Top Athletes from 2018

Outlook – This event should again be tough although state champion Austin Rauch and Seth Groom have graduated. Karl Wright had a great state meet last year clearing 6-9 to finish third. The Lanphier senior will have company up front. Zach Pluff cleared 6-7 at state to finish fourth last year. He did clear 6-9 during the season. Aaron Shepard cleared 6-7 during 2018. He only could clear 6-5 in Charleston to finish fifth. Any of these three athletes could end up as the state champion. They could push each other to 7-feet or maybe even higher.

David Emuze cleared 6-5 in the post season and could push the three above mentioned athletes. There is no one else with a clearance of 6-5 or better back. Issak McKay and Patrick Mayfield both cleared 6-3 last year and finished eighth and ninth in all-state positions. Levi Williams and McKallen Smith are some of the other jumpers that could challenge for a spot on the podium.

Long Jump

Top Athletes from 2018

Outlook – A wide open event with only two all-state athletes coming back. Ryan Curington will enter the season as the favorite with a third-place finish at state to his credit. He also has the best returning jump coming back (22-9.75). Logan Rubin, who finished ninth last spring as a freshman, is the other athlete that has all-state honors.

Brendan Meng and Aiden Terry are the only other athletes back that jumped past 22-feet. Either of these athletes could end up with the state championship. Justin Houston and Skylar Bennett advanced to last year’s finals. They could be threats. David Emuze, Leondre Pollard, and Jeremy Earnst will also be in good position to take home the top prize this May. This could be one of those years that someone out of nowhere could leave Charleston with the title.

Triple Jump

Top Athletes from 2018

Outlook – Andra Ward should be the class of this event with his best jump three feet ahead of the rest of the returning athletes. He is also the lone all-state athlete back. Ward finished second a year ago.

Take your pick on who will challenge Ward. Five athletes that are back jumped at or longer than 43-feet. It could be Kai Baumgartner, Khalil Ross, Deante Pulley, Elijah Pena, or Malik Coleman that could challenge for the second spot. It is hard to think that anyone could catch Ward in this campaign. Let's wait and see what develops in this event.