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Coalers Micetich and Jacovec look to medal at this year's IHSA Track and Field Finals
Coaler coach Collin Keppner has "high hopes" for his track and field athletes as they prepare for the Illinois High School Association Boys Track and Field State Finals this weekend at Eastern Illinois University.
Julian Micetich is making his second consecutive trip to Charleston, and this time he'll be joined by teammate Parker Jacovec. Both athletes earned their spots at the state meet after advancing from the sectional, with competition set to begin on Friday.
Julian will take to Eastern's signature blue track to compete in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles, while Parker will participate in the long jump.
Parker holds the school long jump record of 21' 10.25", surpassing Asa Cooper's previous record set in 2019. This season he was named All-Conference and is currently ranked as the number three sophomore in Class 2A for the state.
"Parker is one of those guys who has been battling injury throughout the season so what he is capable of is across the entire spectrum. His last jump in sectionals--which was a scratch--was the new school record," Keppner said. "We are excited to see what he is able to show us. This is the first of several trips [to state] for him I'm sure. "
Julian enters the state meet seeded fifth in the 110-meter event with a qualifying time of 14.77 seconds. This is his second time running this event at state; last year he finished in fourteenth place. As Keppner noted, "this year we have a little bit of a different story."
Julian entered the sectional meet with a time of 15.12 seconds but improved to set a new school record at14 .77 seconds.. "Julian ran heck race blew away old record," said Keppner The previous record timeof15 .01was setin1985andhadbeen oldestrecordleftonbooksCoalCity
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