The Homewood-Flossmoor track team won applause from the District 233 school board and audience members after Athletic Director Dan Vosnos announced the team as the first ever winners of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) track and field combined meet.
4×100 track team, from left, Josh Bridges, Jesuseun
Adeyiga, Matt Lewis-Banks and Marcell Ellis brought
home the first place trophy from the IHSA track
and field meet in May. The team members are
returning for this year’s track season starting
in January. (Provided photos)
The Homewood-Flossmoor track team won applause from the District 233 school board and audience members after Athletic Director Dan Vosnos announced the team as the first ever winners of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) track and field combined meet.
And the 4X100 team won H-F its first ever first place title. Bringing home the honors were Josh Bridges, Jesuseun Adeyiga, Matt Lewis-Banks and Marcell Ellis.
Overall, the H-F team placed sixth in the IHSA state track meet at the end of the season in May.
A combined team allows able-bodied and disabled students to compete together. For two years, Aaron Holliday competed as an H-F track team member who used a wheelchair in the 100, 200 and 400 distance races. His score in the wheelchair competition, combined with the H-F able-bodied team scores, won H-F the state title.
“I’ve been coaching for 20 years and this is the best group of young men I’ve had the privilege of working with,” head track coach Nate Beebe told board members at the Oct. 17 meeting. “Everywhere we went traveling across the state — and we even went to California — these young men represented our school, our community and their families with as much pride and dignity as any coach could ever hope for.”
The team’s season starts in mid-January and extends to Memorial Day in late May. In the 2016-17 season, the team was invited to the Asics Mt. Carmel Invitational in San Diego. The team captured 12 medals and broke several school records.
Beebe said the team has been invited back for the 2018 meet. He’s expecting his team will do as well or better. About 90 percent of the team’s members returned as junior or seniors this year.
Also in the last season, the team took first at two indoor invitationals and second place in a third. In outdoor meets they won first, second and fourth place. The team qualified for the IHSA meet and then competed the next day, May 27, on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.
Members of the first place team were:
- High jump — Cole Lewis
- Long jump — Christian Reed and E.J. Burruss
- 100 — Josh Bridges and Jesuseun Adeyiga
- 200 — Josh Bridges
- 800 — Stewart Keene
- 110 high hurdles — Matt Lewis-Banks
- 300 hurdles — Matt Lewis-Banks
- 4 x 100 — Josh Bridges, Jesuseun Adeyiga, Matt Lewis-Banks and Marcell Ellis
- 4 x 200 — Josh Bridges, Jesuseun Adeyiga, Grant Floyd, Marcell Ellis
- 4 x 400 — Knik Bentley, Christian Reed, Tyler Roberson, Davell Clemon
- 4 x 800 — Stewart Keene, Tyler Roberson, Jalen Robinson and Davell Clemon
- Team alternates were Justin Hall, Cameron Payne, Jalen Hunter, Caleb Lenoir, Acque Warner, Byron Graham and Bradley Coen.
Beebe works with the sprint and hurdles competitors. He is assisted by Rob Assise, jumps; Jim Schmidt, distance; Matt Dreger, throws; and Clifton Culpepper, sprints. Culpepper also helped Holliday with his training regimen.
and coaches stand with the first place trophy won
at the first ever state combined track meet hosted
by IHSA. The meet allowed able-bodied and
disabled students to compete.
