CHARLESTON — The Metamora Redbirds broke new ground with the greatest track and field performance in school history on Saturday, May 30.
Metamora handed the baton to a running back and he didn’t stop until the team was celebrating its first-ever state track and field championship.
The Redbirds finished with 46 points to win the IHSA Class 2A boys state track and field team championship at O’Brien Field on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.
“I’m just trying to take it all in,” said Jaiduan Cranford, Metamora’s relay runner and running back on the football team. “It feels amazing. To be able to put that in our trophy case, to know we’ve seen other good teams do it and we were better, it’s just the best thing.”
Cranford finished fourth in the 100-meter dash at 10.83 seconds, anchored the 4×100 relay to a fourth-place finish and anchored the 4×200 relay to a state title in 1:27.08, the ninth fastest time in the state this season.
His teammates took over and did the rest, in particular a state title for junior Zach Born in an incredible finish in the 800 in which he came down the final 60 yards shoulder to shoulder with IVC star Aiden Duhs and edged him at the finish line.
“I think what really helped me win that race was making the last move,” Born said. “Coach always tells me, ‘Make sure you’re the last one to lock up, last one to make the move. I let Aiden go, and then I just reeled him in, reeled him in, reeled him in, broke him at probably the last 25 meters and got the job done.”
The final couple hours of the state finals were a waiting game for Metamora in a broader sense, too. The automated team point scoring system showed the standings with Metamora on top, and with a projected expected point total that was insurmountable. The Redbirds just had to finish their remaining races to get there.
“I talked to a bunch of coaches throughout the season who have been in these situations,” Metamora head coach Sheridan Ray said. “I never have been through this. So I asked guys like Brett Charlton and Chuck Danner for their two cents. They said, ‘Looking at the end is fun, but you gotta get to the end before you start thinking about that stuff.’
“I told our boys the highs can’t be too high and the lows not too low. We wanted to live in the middle ground, and we did it, we knew things were going to happen in the state meet.
“We just needed to be mentally engaged, and I think we were today.”
Metamora’s 46 points placed the program ahead of second-place Cahokia (39 points) and third-place Carbondale (36 points). Morton finished tied for fifth in 2A with 30 points.
At the end of the competition, the Redbirds lined up on the track in front of their fans, with the athletes, coaches and staff receiving their medals. Then the state title trophy was handed over and the celebration was on.
“The legacy that we’re talking about now, I think the boys see it, the girls see it, I think the community sees it,” Ray said. “Honestly, at the end of the day this isn’t my trophy. It isn’t Metamora’s trophy. It’s the whole community’s trophy, every level of the feeder programs, every person, it’s pretty special.
“Our guys were prepared for the battle at hand. Our best finish ever was fifth. So on the bus ride home it’s going to be pretty rowdy. I’m just going to sit there and think. And I’m going to tell them to take in the moment, because it doesn’t happen often.”
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star senior writer and sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: ‘It feels amazing’: Metamora makes history with IHSA track and field title
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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