How these state medalists became staples on the Litchfield boys track team
Keenan Powell’s dad talked him into it.
“It was in middle school and he said, ‘Keenan, you’re going to do track,’” the Litchfield senior recalled. “At first I was like, ‘Uh, I don’t know,’ because I had never done track. It never crossed my mind, so I was not happy about it. But I’m glad he pushed me to track.”
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Powell’s newfound appreciation for track especially took root sophomore year when former coach Dan Newkirk introduced the triple jump.
It was an instant hit with Powell.
Powell qualified for the Class 1A boys state meet and ascended as high as third place in the ensuing state finals where he set a school record of 44 feet, ¾ inches.
That benchmark has since swollen up to 45-11 ¾ ahead of his final state appearance at O’Brien Field in Charleston this weekend. Why did Powell end up gravitating to the triple to such a vast degree?
Success was at least one contributing factor.
“I don’t know if I can explain it,” Powell said. “It was the very first time I started to actually triple and I started getting it down and I started falling in love with it. It’s one of those things where you just can’t explain, you just have that feeling.”
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Building knowledge
Powell’s dad, Anthony Robinson, now leads the Litchfield boys track team.
Powell said it’s not a new experience working with dad — he's been there from the beginning. And not unlike dad, Powell will continue track — and football — at Greenville University.
But Powell has also learned from other experts such as former Carlinville coach Ken Garrison and one of Garrison’s former standouts, Babatunde Ridley, whose long jump of 24-2 still stands as the 1A state meet record.
Powell may become a track coach someday himself and intends to study sports management to enhance his training repertoire.
This past season, he assisted a couple of jumpers on the girls side and Izabella Fenton qualified for the recent state meet in both the long and triple jump.
“I want to say throughout the four years running track was one of the greatest parts of my life because I’ve gotten to meet so many great runners and jumpers,” Powell said. “As I leave for Greenville next year, there’s no doubt in my mind the guys who are juniors are going to rise up and they’ll just be fine without us. That’s what I’m dead set on.”
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Camden Quarton’s final season
Powell could count on somebody else for constant motivation: fellow teammate Camden Quarton.
The senior long-distance runner will make his final state appearance in the 800-meter run and the 4x400 relay with Powell — not to mention the 4x800.
Quarton has appeared in the 1600 and 3200 at state each of the past three years but pivoted toward the shorter distances this year due to Achilles tendinitis.
That adversity hasn’t stopped him from enjoying the season, including the 4x4 relay.
Earlier this season, Quarton caught up to the frontrunner and won the final leg of the 4x4 at the South Central Conference meet in April. Better yet, the Purple Panthers claimed the SCC title as a team after coming up short by one point last year.
“That was just fun chasing him down and winning that for the team was awesome,” Quarton said. “It’s so awesome because we all ran our best race. It takes the whole team, it’s so awesome they all ran that.”
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Quarton, the State Journal-Register's two-time Small School Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, has forged a distinguished running career, ushering school records in the two-mile for track and three-mile for cross country.
He reached as high as sixth place in the 3200 at last year’s state track meet before earning all-state in 15th place for cross country. He will next aspire to be a fighter pilot at the Air Force Academy.
“Having Keenan and Camden on the same team is nice,” Robinson said. “We show up to a lot of meets and people are like, ‘Oh geez, they’re still here?’ just because they’ve gotten the reputation the last couple of years of being pretty good at what they do. It’s going to be a little sad watching those two leave.”
Love of running
Quarton’s older sister, Victoria, similarly chalked up track and cross country state medals before racing at Eastern Illinois University.
Their dad, Brian, steered them both to running. He still may compete in endurance races himself, according to Quarton. That even includes Ironman triathlons.
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It took a little time — perhaps not unlike Powell — but Quarton eventually championed long-distance running by eighth grade.
“That success taught me a lot about determination, dedication and what hard work can do and why not continue that in high school and it brought me to where I am today teaching me success throughout every aspect of my life,” Quarton said.
Quarton, Powell, Easton Grammer and Mitchell Floyd will challenge for a new school record in the 4x4 relay, but Powell is more focused on achieving one last medal in the state meet's final, climactic event.
“He always pushes everybody past their limit," Powell said of Quarton, "and I love that about him. He’s willing to push past his own limits just to help the team succeed. He’s a really great teammate.”
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Keenan Powell, Camden Quarton set big marks at Litchfield
