CHARLESTON — Joey Bothwell was focused solely on football until one day during freshman year when he joined the track team.
“Funny story,” the Lyons junior said. “One of my best friends now got me into it because I was doing after-school lifting. He’s like, ‘Dude, come and join this track thing. We lift anyways, you might as well show up.’ So I don’t know, it was just sheer accident, I guess.”
Two years later, Bothwell is a state champion.
His personal-best throw of 63 feet, 2.75 inches was good enough to win the Class 3A shot put title at the IHSA state finals on May 30 at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field. Bothwell is the Lions’ first state champ since 2018.
Before the season started, Bothwell and his coach thought 58 feet would be a reasonable goal. Then he threw 59 feet indoors.
But he also had to overcome some adversity. He had an AC sprain in his throwing arm from football before suffering a pair of pectoral injuries. Then it all came together at state.
“A little surreal,” Bothwell said. “I never thought I’d be in this position.”
The area had a strong showing in the middle to long distances in 3A.
In the 3,200, Reavis’ Santiago Chavez and Stagg’s Jack Krusinski both won medals.
Chavez took third in a personal-best 9 minutes, 1.53 seconds, while Krusinski ran a PR and the second-fastest time in program history, taking ninth at 9:14.85.
Chavez is Reavis’ first state placer since 1998 and just the Rams’ second overall, while Krusinski is Stagg’s first placer since 2019.
Morton’s Orlando Sandoval ran a PR of 1:52.14 to finish third in the 800, while teammate Alex Rodriguez had a PR of 4:12.72 to take fifth in the 1,600.
Sandoval expected to focus on the 1,600 and 3,200 this season.
“But my coaches put me in the (800) because I didn’t run too many (800s), but I was in the sub-two (minute) range,” he said
He ran a 1:53 during the indoor season. “So from there, I thought to myself, ‘Well, I think that might be a better shot than the mile and two-mile.”
Shepard’s Arrien Lee won a medal in the 3A long jump, finishing ninth at 22-5.75. He’s the Astros’ first state placer since 2018.
“Last year, I made it down (to state), but I didn’t really do my best,” Lee said. “But to come back this year stronger, it was amazing.”
In 2A, Chicago Christian’s Zachary Van Wyk finished third in the 110 hurdles at 14.99.
This season, Van Wyk said, “I focused more on my speed. I’ve got the hurdles stuff down. I’ve just got to keep getting faster from now on. I’ll be running in college (at Division II Cedarville in Ohio). So I’m excited for that, for sure.”