CHARLESTON – Joel Billhorn and Henry Nichols were where every track and field athlete wants to be at the end of the season on Thursday, May 29 – Eastern Illinois University in Charleston at the IHSA State Track Meet.

Billhorn, a then-senior/now-Amboy High School graduate, ran in the 400-meter dash and took 11th with a personal record of 50.70 seconds. Nichols, a then-sophomore/now junior, ran a 10:38.55 in the 3,200-meter run for 31st.

Billhorn fought nerves at sectional to get to state. When he was there, it was all about doing the best he could.

“Last year, I was under the qualifying time for the 400 pretty much all year. I got to the sectional and just fell apart,” Billhorn said. “It meant a lot to me to make it to state, especially after what happened last year. This year’s sectional race was the most nervous moment of my life because I didn’t want to miss state again.

“I played basketball for my first three years. This year, I decided to quit basketball. After football ended, I completely focused on track and put in as much work as I could for this season.

“During my sophomore year when I went to state as part of the 400-relay team, If I didn’t run great, I knew I had guys who were going to back me up. Coming into this year, I knew it was going to be my last time ever running. I wanted to go out with a bang. There was a lot more pressure, but I’m pretty happy with how it went.”

Billhorn finishes his AHS athletic career as a six-time state qualifier as he was a member of the last three state appearing (one) and champions (the last two years), two times at outdoor track and once in indoor track.

Although sports have been fun, he is already adulting as he currently has a job and wants to get into the sheet metal workers union in Rockford.

In a short two years, Nichols has made teammates, coaches, opponents and sports writers very aware of his name.

Advancing to the state track meet as a sophomore has everyone’s attention now.

“It was nice to qualify for state. I’ve been working hard. All of my coaches have been working with me and giving their all to try to get me to state,” Nichols said. “It was really nice for it to pay off. I was pretty confident at sectional. There was some tough competition, but I was able to pull it off to get to state.

“State was a mixture of excitement and nerves. It was new; an entirely new experience running at a higher level.”

With his first state experience in the books, he wants to keep adding pages.

“I’m really hoping for a lot more next year and the year after. I know I can drop my time. Hopefully, eventually, I’ll make podium. We’ll see,” Nichols said. “Going to state this year really gives me motivation to work hard for both cross country and track to try to go to state again.”