McGill and Goff will compete for Class 1A titles in two events

Madison senior Andre McGill and Justin Goff of Wesclin assured themselves of two medals apiece as they qualified for the finals of the 100 and 200 meters during the Class 1A preliminaries on Thursday at the IHSA boys state track and field meet at O’Brien Stadium in Charleston.

Bidding to become Madison’s first state champion since Jessie Leonard won the long jump and Ian Smith took home the 400 meters at the 1998 Class A state, McGill posted the best qualifying time of 21.90 seconds in the 200 meters and the second-best time in the 100 — 11:05 — as he led the way for Class A athletes on Thursday.

Third in the 100 meters a year ago and a two-time indoor state champion this past March when he won the 60 meter and 200 meter crowns, McGill is a two-time Class 1A state medal winner.

Goff qualified with the seventh best time in the 100 (11.18) and the sixth best time in the 200 (22.49). Warriors teammate Blake Laird will also have a chance of earning a medal after he qualified for the finals of the pole vault by clearing the qualifying height of 13-feet, 6 inches.

Althoff sophomore Jaylen Bester moved close to earning his first state medal when he posted the third best long jump of the day at 21-9.

Luke Goebel of Mater Dei and Jacob Schwankhaus of Okawville will compete in the 3,200 finals on Saturday,which will begin at 10 a.m. at O’Brien Stadium which is located on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.

Four-time defending Class 2A state champion Cahokia begins its quest for five in a row during the Class 2A preliminaries which begin at 8 a.m. on Friday. The Class 3A preliminaries are set for noon on Friday. Both Edwardsville and East St. Louis should contend for top three finishes.

This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 11:20 PM with the headline "McGill and Goff will compete for Class 1A titles in two events."