Peotone's Clott wins Class 1A shot put state title

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CHARLESTON -- Peotone High School's Tyler Clott won a state championship in the shot put but he certainly wasn't alone among area athletes who made history at Saturday's boys state track and field meet.

Six other area individuals joined Clott as medal winners in field events in the initial three-class state meet, which took place at Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Stadium.

Beside Clott, who will be featured in a story in Monday's Herald News, two individuals became their school's first medal winner in an event while two others tied their program's best state finishes.

Plainfield Central junior Mark Hardman, Romeoville senior Richmond Richter and Bolingbrook sophomore Jovante Slater all earned medals in the triple jump and Slater also placed in the long jump.

Lemont senior Andrew Rachwalski got a medal in the pole vault in Class 2A while Lockport senior Steve Monte and Lincoln-Way East senior Mike Sheetz won medals in that event in the Class 3A meet.

The area's best showing came in the triple jump where Hardman (45-10.25) was fifth, Richter (45-6.75) took seventh and Slater (45-5.75) finished eighth.

Hardman becomes the first Wildcat athlete to ever win a medal in the triple jump.

"I'm a little disappointed that I didn't place higher or break my PR," Hardman said. "But I'm definitely happy that I placed at state and that's what I wanted to do. This is what I waited for all year and it will help me next season."

Richter tied the state finish set by the school's only other triple jump and field event placewinner, Bryon McClain in 1999.

"I'm kind of disappointed because I thought I could have done better," Richter said. "But I'm happy that I placed in my senior year."

Slater's best showing came in the long jump, where he took fourth place with a 22-8.5 showing.

As the result, he joins Troy Doris as just the second Raider athlete to place in both the long and triple jump at the same meet.

"I'm pretty happy to come away with two medals," Slater said. "I could have done better but I have two more years to work on that."

In the Class 3A pole vault, Monte and Sheetz each tied for ninth-place finishes after turning in 14-0 jumps.

Monte equaled the finish established by the Porters' only other state placewinner in the event, Ken Kellett in 2001.

"I wanted to go for the school record today but a medal is a medal," Monte said. "It was pretty awesome to win a medal so I can't hope for more."

And Sheetz joins Joe Noonan as the only Griffin to earn a medal in the pole vault at a state meet.

"I was pretty excited to be able to stand up on the podium," Sheetz said. "I've been thinking about this day for a long, long time. I didn't jump as well as I could have but I'm still ninth-best in state and I think that's fantastic."

Rachwalski took sixth place in the Class 2A pole vault (13-9) to become the first Indian medal winner in that event.

The last Lemont athlete to win a medal at state was Nick Bromberek in 2000. He also was the program's only other placer in a field event.

Two other athletes from area schools advanced to Saturday's finals in field events but they failed to finish in the top nine in their events.

Plainfield South sophomore Dondre Adams missed in the long jump (21-10.25) and Seneca senior Luke Collins fell short in the Class 1A pole vault (12-6).