Morgan Park's Jolly falls just a bit short

CHARLESTON - Nigel Jolly wasn't. Jolly, that is.

The Morgan Park junior was downright peeved to finish second in the triple jump at the Boys State Track and Field finals to junior Jonathan Gardner, of Whitney Young.

Jolly's leap of 47 feet, 8 1 / 4 inches was 3 1 / 4 inches short of Gardner's best mark.

"It's crazy," Jolly said. "I'm disappointed. At least I did my personal best, but it wasn't good enough. On my best jump, I didn't even hold the jump. I just stood straight up and looked down. It's disappointing all around."

The long jump, which Jolly won in 2008 on the strength of his Friday leap, didn't go his way at all. He finished 10th in the long jump, and thus out of the medals - the IHSA awards medals to the top nine, which takes in all individuals for a race on the track, but leaves some field competitors go home empty-handed.

"I guess I let the pressure get to me," Jolly said. "At least I was here this year."

Last year, Jolly missed the second day of competition because Mustangs head coach Lexie Spurlock missed the exit for Charleston on I-57, but Jolly's first-day leap held up for the title.

The Mustangs tied for 22nd in Class 3A with 13 points, Jolly's second in the triple jump accounting for eight of them, and junior Da'Ron Brown's fifth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles scoring the other five.

Tough finals for Catholic League

High expectations were met by harsh reality for the area Catholic League teams at the state finals. Only St. Laurence and Mount Carmel, on the strength of single performances, came away with points.

Josh Hodur, the Vikings' senior pole vaulter, cleared 14 feet, 3 inches to claim seventh place in Class 3A, and three points for his team. Mount Carmel senior Josh Moore long jumped 22-5 1 / 2 and finished seventh, earning the Caravan three points.

After that, area squads were shut out. St. Rita's 400 relay squad was three-quarters of a second from moving forward. Brother Rice's 800 relay team came up about two seconds short of making the finals. Mount Carmel's 1,600 relay team was about 13 seconds short of advancing to Saturday, while Moore, a part of that squad, and Caravan sophomore Mike Johnson couldn't find the speed to advance in the 400 dash.

St. Rita's Bruce Gaston fell short in the shot put by about 5 feet, and failed to record a distance in the discus. Cullen Dolan, of Brother Rice, had the same fate in discus, and St. Laurence's Keegan Wetzel failed to clear the opening height of 6-2 in the high jump.

Evergreen Park doubles up

Evergreen Park was overlooked entering the state finals, but the Mustangs advanced two athletes to the Class 2A competition, one of whom may be back for more.

Freshman Chris Cheatham ran the 300 intermediate hurdles in 44.10, after doing so in 41.84 in the sectional featuring the Mustangs and a host of Chicago Public League teams at Hanson Stadium. Cheatham was one of two freshman to make state in that race.

The other Mustang to advance to state, senior discus thrower Isaiah Donley, had a best throw of 113-10, not enough to make the final day.

Tim Cronin can be reached at tcronin@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5948.