CHARLESTON — Dawveed Holland doesn’t have anywhere to practice on campus, but he has a state title.
A year after he became the first Illinois Lutheran to win a state track medal, the junior picked up two more on May 30.
One was for first place in the Class 1A triple jump at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field.
Holland’s leap of 48 feet, 4 inches was a personal best, the second-longest in Illinois in any class this season and a top-100 mark in the country.
He also took sixth in the long jump with a season-best of 22-8.
It capped a season that included some adversity.
“I had a really bad heel injury,” Holland said. “I couldn’t PR to save my life and (then) I just popped one off. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah!'”
The injury happened in early March and Holland tried to keep competing anyway.
“Which I probably shouldn’t have,” he said. “It wasn’t nearly as good as my best jump. So it took me a while to actually break my PR from last year.”
Compounding the issue was the fact that the Chargers have nowhere to practice at their school in Crete. So they go to Columbia Central Middle School in Steger to work out.
But Holland was still determined to make history, and he did.
“That was my goal,” he said. “I said I’d be a state champion this year, (win) the first state title for our school. …
“(I’m) just blessed, blessed by God for giving me so many gifts.”
Holland was one of three area athletes to earn medals.
Manteno junior Briggs Cann took fifth in the 2A 400 meters with a personal-best time of 49.01 seconds and Beecher senior Wences Baumgartner finished fifth in the 1A high jump with a clear of 6-4.
Cann set a program record by running a 49.37 in Friday’s prelims and then lowered it again on Saturday.
That didn’t surprise him. “It was better (competition),” he said. “I always run (well) with better comp. I felt confident.
“Lane four, I can see my better competition in front of me.”
It’s his second state medal after taking ninth in 2A last season. He’s the program’s first athlete to win two state medals since Mike Laninga did it in 2002 and ’03.
“I’m happy with my finish, way better than last year,” Cann said.
“I’m just a junior. I got my next year and hopefully (will) make a lot of improvement.”
Baumgartner is Beecher’s first state placer since 2015. The three-sport standout — he also plays soccer and basketball — only became a high jumper a year ago.
“I had no idea (what to do),” he said. “This year we honed in on what I specifically needed to work on, if it’s the take-off or the run-up. I think we just took better care of working on the specific things.”
Winning a medal was the goal this season.
“Looking at PRs and stuff, it was looking a little shaky,” Baumgartner said. “But I made it here, (so) I might as well just go for it all, give it my best shot and try to get on that podium.”