PREP BOYS TRACK: D'Mario Jackson excels on disappointing night for Vikings

May 9—CHAMPAIGN — Danville freshman D'Mario Jackson couldn't believe it when his 200-meter time was announced at Wednesday's Big 12 Conference track meet at McKinley Field.

Jackson has set a goal of being sub-22 seconds — he did that and a little more.

His winning time was 21.73 seconds which is obviously a personal record for the freshman and it lowers the school's freshman record in the event.

"It was immediate shock," said Jackson about hearing his time. "I really wasn't expecting a 21.7. I was shooting for 21.9, but I definitely overshot it."

Before he heard the time, how did he feel about the race?

"I really felt like I was going to be 21.9, but I wasn't really sure," he said. "I was just trying to push through the whole race and really finish well."

So, what was different this race for him?

"My block start was very good," he said. "I didn't pop up too early, according to coach, I came out and drove really hard.

"I've always struggled with blocks from like middle school and during summer track. I'm really glad that I'm getting that down a little bit."

Jackson says the key are understanding the angles and using his power.

"Just coming out of the blocks the right way can make a big difference," he said.

It was also good in the 100 meters where Jackson was also first with a time of 10.88 seconds, which is also a new personal record for the freshman, and again, it lowers the school's freshman record.

"I was really trying to go 10.7 bit I still glad that I got my personal record," he said. "It felt like a really good day."

Jackson admitted the fast times will be needed next week when Danville hosts the IHSA Class 3A sectional on Wednesday at the Wayland-Young Athletic Complex.

"Tonight gives me confidence and it should give me a high seed at the sectional meet," he said. "I'm probably going to need to PR again next week, but I know God has been blessing me with the confidence and the strength to always go my best."

Jackson also ran the anchor legs on the second-place 400- and 800-meter relay teams for the Vikings.

"We were really hoping to win that 4-by-1 race," said Jackson. "And I think we would have definitely won the 4-by-2 if we had Jayden (Rowell)."

Rowell, a sophomore sprinter, appeared to injure his right leg in the finals of the 100. He was on the 4-by-1 relay along with Allante Anderson and Davari Boyd, but the Vikings had to replace him with Aidan Henderson in the 4-by-2 team that included Boyd and Jerry Reed III.

They still ran a very good 1 minute, 30.38 seconds in the race.

"Jayden is a big part of what we do," Danville coach Tyler Arnholt said. "We are going to have to see where he's at next week when it comes to the sectionals.

"Jayden has been getting better every day and it sucks to see someone like him get hurt because he has been doing everything right this year for us."

That was just one of the disappointing aspects of Wednesday night for Arnholt.

The Vikings failed to score any points in the distance races, the hurdle races or the throwing events, and they got just 1 point from the horizontal jumps and just 6 points from the vertical jumps.

"There were just a lot of things that didn't go our way today," Arnholt admitted. "There is no excuses and it doesn't matter right now.

"We need to regroup and get ready for the sectional meet."

At McKinley Field

Team scores — 1. Normal West 146, 2. Normal Community 126, 3. Peoria Richwoods 63.5, 4. Champaign Centennial 56, 5.(tie) Champaign Central and Danville 43, 7. Bloomington 32, 8. Urbana 25, 9. Peoria Notre Dame 18, 10. Peoria High 5.5, 11. Peoria Manual 0.

Individual results

100 meters — D'Mario Jackson (Danville) 10.88, 2. Dane Whitaker (Normal) 11.00.

200 — D'Mario Jackson (Danville) 21.73, 2. Darrin Dussett (Richwoods) 22.26.

400 — 1. Darrin Dussett (Richwoods) 49.70, 16. Christian Davis (Danville) 55.39, 18. Miles Littlepaige (Danville) 56.36.

800 — 1. Aiden Swanlund (Normal West) 1:56.50, 12. Revan Bailey (Danville) 2:12.99, 18. Peter Vitek (Danville) 2:24.08.

1,600 — 1. Aidan Swanlund (Normal West) 4:29.29, 13. Dempsey Wyman (Danville) 5:12.35, 14. Phil Andrei Pacheco (Danville) 5:13.77.

3,200 — 1. Ezekiel Rice (Normal West) 9:47.18.

110 hurdles — 1. Michael Mavec (Normal) 15.11, 7. Josiah Hoskins (Danville) 16.66, 9. DeVante Johnson (Danville) 17.09.

300 hurdles — 1. William Hardy (Central) 41.07, 10. Josiah Hoskins (Danville) 45.11, 11. DeVante Johnson (Danville) 46.23.

400 relay — 1. Richwoods 42.65, 2. Danville (Allante Anderson, Jayden Rowell, Davari Boyd, D'Mario Jackson) 43.01.

800 relay — 1. Centennial 1:29.57, 2. Danville (Davari Boyd, Aidan Henderson, Jerry Reed III, D'Mario Jackson) 1:30.38.

1,600 relay — 1. Centennial 3:23.97, 8. Danville (Kaden Vance, JaVaughn Robinson, Aidan Henderson, Jerry Reed III) 3:41.60.

3,200 relay — 1. Normal West 7:50.80, 7. Danville (Bryce Martin, Manasseh Moore, Phil Andrei Pacheco, Revan Bailey) 9:07.79.

Shot put — 1. Antonio Montoya (Normal) 16.19 meters, 9. Tim Long (Danville) 12.41.

Discus — 1. Antonio Montoya (Normal) 46.69 meters, 7. Curtis Beasley IV (Danville) 36.40, 13. Tim Long (Danville) 31.14.

High jump — 1. Voldy Makabu (Centennial) 2.05 meters, 4. Victor Jones (Danville) 1.82, 5. Per'Sirius Menifield (Danville) 1.82.

Pole vault — 1. Noah Miswukonis (Bloomington) 4.42 meters, 11. Jesse Grupe (Danville) 2.60.

Long jump — 1. Kayden Hardeman (Normal) 6.67 meters, 6. Davari Boyd (Danville) 6.19, 21. Aidan Henderson (Danville) 5.16.

Triple jump — 1. Zion Russell (Normal West) 13.90 meters, 8. Jerry Reed III (Danville) 12.56, 12. Davari Boyd (Danville) 12.02.