Broncos claim state title in 1600 relay

Walther Lutheran's Lloyd Watson takes off after receiving the baton from teammate Reggie Hughes in the finals of the 1600-meter relay at the IHSA Class 1A state meet. Walther won the state title in the event.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

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BOYS TRACK-- Brandon Sims thought his high school career was over after failing to advance beyond the preliminaries in the 200-meter dash at the IHSA Class 1A State Meet.

That was true until the Walther Lutheran coaching staff decided during dinner that night to add Sims as the third leg of the 1600 relay team.

"Brandon ran a couple 400s during the season," Walther coach Bill Koehne said. "There was no concern about strength or endurance. The only thing was inexperience. That could lead to him going out too fast."

Sims had not been a part of the relay since the season-opening Private School League indoor meet on March 21.

"Coach said he wanted to see me in his room," said Sims, who will play football next season at Wartburg College in Iowa. "I thought I was in trouble at first. I didn't know what was going on. He asked me if I was up for being on the 400 relay. I was up for doing anything to help the team."

A great deal of help wasn't necessary, considering the Broncos had the second-best time (3:27.86) in the prelims behind only Olympia (3:26.55).

With the help of Sims, the Broncos were able to run even faster in the finals on Saturday at Eastern Illinois University and won the state title in 3 minutes, 22.53 seconds.

The other three runners on the relay were Lloyd Watson, Martin Lamar and Reggie Hughes. All three turned in season-best splits.

"I just wanted to win," said Sims, who had a split of 50.2 seconds. "I went out and competed. I was kind of nervous (because) I didn't really know how to run it. I didn't know how to pace myself, when to run fast, when not to. Coach told me to relax and just run."

"I knew he was capable of at least a 51.0," Koehne said.

It was the first relay state title for the Broncos since winning the 800 in 1984.

"It made a huge difference," said Hughes about the addition of Sims. "It was a three-second difference (on the Sims leg). I was amazed he did so well with this being his first time running it outdoors."

Olympia was a close second in 3:22.95.

"We thought we would at least get top three," said Watson, who was the only underclassmen on the relay. "We were hungry to win it. The seniors wanted to go out with a bang. I was a little nervous. We had only one day to practice."

The Broncos were in second place behind Olympia when Lamar received the baton from Sims for the anchor lap.

"I was about a step and a half behind," Lamar said. "I had a better kick. With about 80 meters left I went ahead and stayed there."

Walther finished sixth in the 800 relay in 1:30.93 with Sean Cotton, Leo Johnson, Alphonso Dunbar and Sims.

The 400 relay of Hughes, Cotton, Dunbar and Sims placed ninth in 44.14 seconds, while the 3200 relay of Lamar, Sandro Mazza, Chris Koehne and Grant Neubieser was 10th in 8:11.91.

Ashton Adger was ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 43 feet, 1/4 inch.

The Broncos finished 12th in the team standings with 16 points.