Lyke magic: Hurdler, Hawks take state

Hillcrest's Jamison Wilson (center) and Maurice Lyke (right) compete in the 110-meter high hurdles at the state track finals Saturday in Charleston.
(Corey R. Minkanic/For the Sun-Times News Group)

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CHARLESTON, Ill. — Hillcrest had never won a team state championship in any sport, but the Hawks’ boys track and field team made sure that changed on Saturday.

The Hawks thoroughly dominated the Class 2A field to win their first title, scoring 93 points. Cahokia was a distant second with 47 points.

‘‘Our goal was to win state,’’ Hawks senior Maurice Lyke said. ‘‘As a freshman and sophomore, I never thought Hillcrest could win a state title in anything. It’s great to bring it home.’’

And the meet was wrapped up early. But that didn’t stop the Hawks from winning the meet’s final event, the 1,600-meter relay, to put the exclamation point on the win. Lyke was in the middle of that, as he had been all day.

He was also part of the champion 400 relay squad and took the title in the 110 hurdles, being credited with a state record with his time of 14.34 seconds in the preliminaries.

‘‘We wanted to win [the 1,600] to prove a point, and that’s what we did,’’ Lyke said. ‘‘We came out and showed everybody that we deserved it. We’ve been working too hard this season. We had to think that it wasn’t over yet.’’

Jamison Wilson was another key component for the Hawks all day, running legs in both championship relay teams and taking second in the triple jump.

Also winning 2A titles were Crete-Monee’s 800 relay team and Kaneland’s Logan Markuson in the 300 hurdles.

In Class 1A, Princeton-bound North Shore Country Day senior Peter Callahan electrified the crowd with dramatic finishing kicks in winning the championship in both the 1,600 meters (4:15.30) and the 800 meters (1:51.22). Callahan’s effort in the 800 meters set a state record.

‘‘I was stuck at 1:56 early in the season,’’ Callahan said. ‘‘My coaches were telling me after practice that my workouts say I should be running 1:51. I went out and gave it a shot. I just wanted to maintain contact with the leaders, about 10 yards, and try to reel them in a little down the back stretch and kick it the last 200.’’

Walther Lutheran’s 1,600 relay team also took first in 1A.