Local high school track and field athletes brought home a few medals from the IHSA state meet held this past weekend at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Waterloo sent four athletes to compete in five Class 2A state events. Three of those events resulted in medals for the Bulldogs.

Luke Smith, a freshman, capped off an amazing first high school track season by placing second in the 800 meter run at state on Saturday with a school record time of 1:54.57. 

Waterloo track coach Jacob Flick said that is currently the fastest time for a freshman in that event in the entire country.

“It was a very competitive 800 meter run,” Flick said.

Smith’s finish in the final was less than a second behind state champion Tra’Monti Williams of Chicago Payton, who is a junior.

He placed 12th in Friday’s prelim to advance to the final.

Also at state, Waterloo senior speedster Chris Pete competed in the 100 meter and 200 meter runs. Pete ended his high school career by medaling in both events. 

Early on Saturday, he ran the fastest 100 meter dash of his career (10.74 seconds), which broke his own school record. This time placed him eighth in what Flick described as “an extremely fast race.”

Later on Saturday, Pete placed third in the 200 meter run at 21.85 seconds. The state runner-up time was 21.84 seconds. 

Pete set a school record in Friday’s prelims at 21.76 seconds in the 200.

Pete advanced to the final by virtue of a seventh place run in the 100 and fourth place run in the 200 on Friday.

In all, Pete concluded his running career at WHS with four individual records and one record in a relay. 

“It was a bittersweet ending watching Chris finish his 200 meter dash on Saturday as we will miss his talent and leadership next year, but knowing that we have many gifted young athletes means the future is bright for WHS track and field,” Flick said.

In addition to Smith, that future involves Waterloo junior Landon Wilson, who competed in the high jump at state.

“Although he didn’t make finals, he had a great season and looks forward to improving and trying to make the podium next year as a senior,” Flick said.

Also running at state for Waterloo was sophomore Tyler DeVilder, who competed Saturday in the 3,200 meter run for the second straight year. 

“Our team was very competitive all season and I was very proud of how our athletes competed at the state meet,” Flick said. “I’m looking forward to watching our athletes continue to grow and hope to have many more great experiences and success at the state meet.

Also in the Class 2A meet, Columbia junior Chase Hendrickson placed sixth in the discus with a distance of 48.95 meters (160 feet, seven inches). He threw that same distance in Friday’s prelims, placing fifth to advance.

Hendrickson also competed at state last year.

At the Class 1A meet, Dupo freshman Braxton Barnett placed eighth in the discus with a distance of 48.62 meters (159 feet, six inches). He qualified for the final by throwing that same distance on Friday, which placed sixth. 

Also competing in the Class 1A state meet but not advancing to Saturday’s finals were Dupo’s Keith West in the triple jump and 110 meter hurdles,  Valmeyer’s Landon Roy in the 200 meter run and Gibault’s Ryan Biffar in the 400 meter run.