CHARLESTON — Chaz Oberkfell is a triple crown winner and the members of the Auburn 4×400-meter relay cemented a legacy.
Oberkfell, a Gillespie senior distance runner, is the current Illinois High School Association holder of the one-mile, two-mile and three-mile races in Class 1A in the state of Illinois, and the way he did it was a little surprising.
In the second of three heats of the 3,200-meter run — organized by slowest times to fastest times — Oberkfell won the heat in 9 minutes, 8.17 seconds, then had to wait around for more than an hour to watch as Toulon Stark County sophomore Evan Knobloch won his third heat in 9:32.06, giving Oberkfell a rather anticlimactic, but still satisfying, state title on Saturday at O’Brien Field on the Eastern Illinois University campus.
“It feels really good,” Oberkfell said. “A lot of pressure lifted off for sure. I mean, just coming in today knowing I had this opportunity is just amazing.”
He wasn’t done. In the 1,600 run, he was pushed to the limit by Sullivan’s Johnathan Iacobazzi, beating the fellow senior by just 0.07 seconds in 4:14.66.
“That was very competitive,” Oberkfell said. “I just want to thank God (that) He gave me the legs there for that last lap. I mean, after that 800 I was feeling it and just coming back for it, I was a little nervous.
“I got to the last 100 (meters) whenever I saw he was slightly in front of me, I’m like, I got to go. I’ve just seen (Iacobazzi’s) times are really strong, especially from last year. And so just coming into that last 100 with him slightly in front of me, I’m like, ‘I’m going.’ And that last stretch, seeing him in front of me, I (didn’t) know if I could keep this pace too much longer.”
In the Class 1A boys cross country state meet last November, Oberkfell won his second straight title at 14:32.10, topping Knobloch by 14.15 seconds.
Oberkfell also claimed eighth place in the 800-meter run in 1:56.66.
Auburn repeats in the 4×400
Jacob Barth anchored the Auburn one-mile relay team to a second consecutive Class 1A state title as the Trojans set the 1A 4×400 record in 3:17.79 and beat second-place Forreston by more than five seconds.
“Just proving that it wasn’t an accident that we won last year, that we didn’t care what anybody else did or had to say,” Barth said. “We just went out and did our own thing and showed that we belonged here.”
Hunter Piper ran the opening leg and handed off to James Baisden for the second lap. It was the same start for the Auburn relay team as last year’s that won in 3:22.05. Instead of the graduated Carter Hunley getting the baton from Baisden and handing off to Barth, it was Sam Talavera, a sophomore.
The Trojans didn’t skip a beat and led almost wire-to-wire.
“We don’t really feel too much pressure, but we knew we had a target on our back for sure,” Piper said. “We felt really good, especially this year’s prelims compared to last year’s, not fumbling the baton and all that, and getting a good time to start, we definitely felt confident.”
Baisden said previous experience helped them level up increased pressure.
“I wouldn’t say (this title was) easier, but we were up to the level of competition needed to succeed,” Baisden said. “We had worked way harder than we had last year, and it just paid off.”
Barth and Co. will treasure their gold medals and memories from their wins on the blue track at EIU, but the team had one thing on its mind following the win in the last race together.
“Before we head back home, we’re all getting the steak and shrimp combo (at the Stadium Grill in Mattoon),” Barth said, “and we can finally have a soda (now that) the season’s over.”
Barth also had a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash at 48.74.
Teams bringing home hardware
Thanks to a second-place finish by Chatham Glenwood’s McKenzie Doe III in the Class 2A high jump and a third-place finish from teammate Larry Wills, Glenwood vaulted both Downers Grove North and Homewood-Flossmoor to get the third-place team trophy.
Doe, Wills and Class 3A state champion Jaden Jean-Paul of Evanston all cleared 6-feet, 7-inches, but Jean-Paul was awarded the win based on previous number of misses. Doe barely edged Wills in misses, but the 15 points the two combined to stun and overtake Homewood-Flossmoor. Evanston (56 points) and Belleville West (49) took first and second place in the team standings. Glenwood also got seven points from its third-place 4×100-meter relay team and seven more from the 4×200 third-place team.
In 1A, Pleasant Plains finished second overall with 34 points, 17 points shy of team champ Morrison and five points in front of third-place finisher El Paso-Gridley. Auburn was seventh with 25 points and Gillespie was eighth with 22 — all recorded by Oberkfell.
Elijah Teefey grabbed third for Plains in the 3,200 (9:38.54).
Taylorville junior Liam Bettis was second in the Class 2A 1,600-run at 4:18.01. He also claimed seventh in the 3,200 at 9:21.89.
“It feels pretty good, considering last year I wasn’t even an all-stater,” Bettis said. “It’s (also) a little upsetting because I had the lead and I made a move that I really didn’t think anybody would respond to. Congrats to (winner, Cuyler Swanson of Morris), but I thought in my mind, ‘Oh my gosh, I could be a state champion.’
“I wanted to prove something and shut some mouths up. (Swanson) came up on me and didn’t see him and didn’t hear him; wish I had another little half-gear in there, which I did for prelims.”
Other area top-three results
- Wills added a second-place finish in the long jump to go with his third in the high jump at 23-4 ¾.
- Southeast’s Kamri Sales captured second in the 2A triple jump at 46-0 ¾.
- Carlinville’s Austin Homer was third in the 1A pole vault, topping out at 13-11 ¼.
- In the 2A high jump, Jacksonville’s Darren Henry was third at 6-8 ¼.
- Rushville-Industry’s Ian Escapa took third in the 1A triple jump at 46-6.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: 2026 IHSA boys state track and field meet recap