EDGINGTON – Senior Joel Billhorn and sophomore Henry Nichols will be representing the Amboy black and red at the IHSA Class 1A State Track and Field Meet on Thursday, May 29 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

They both advanced out of the IHSA Class 1A Rockridge Sectional on Thursday, May 22 with second-place finishes.

Billhorn ran a 50,79 in the 400-meter dash and Nichols ran a 10:39.86 in the 3,200-meter run.

The senior sprinter had previous dilemmas getting to state the last few years. This year, he ran right past them.

“Last year, Joel had a breakout year. For some reason at sectionals, it just didn’t work out for him,” Amboy boys track and field coach Jeramie Wittenauer said. “He was running under state qualifying time for most of last year and we thought we were on track. It was just one of those nights.

“Being a senior this year, it was a monkey off the back for him, I and his family to see him succeed at the sectional. All the hard work paid off for him. It was a feel-good moment for him and the people surrounding him. He ran his best time of the year and qualified.

“As a coach, we’re our own worst critics. If something would have happened where he didn’t make it to state, I would have questioned what we could have done different. We don’t have to have that conversation because he made it. He put in the work by not going out for basketball because he wanted to get an early start. It paid off.”

Billhorn was seventh in the 200-meter dash with 23.94 seconds,

In cross country and track, Henry Nichols made a name for himself as a freshman.

This year, a sophomore, there was always a push for him to advance to state.

“We saw some glimpses with Henry last year. I thought, ‘This kid’s got it,’” Wittenauer said. “He took his lumps as a freshman, and he started to get his times done. He was ranked third going into the sectional. We thought he could have a night and make it happen. He made it happen.

“He didn’t run his best time of the year or a state qualifying time, but it was a three-man race with the top guy from Riverdale being out of everyone’s league. This left Henry in a race for second or third, and he came out on top to take second.”

Nichols finished sixth in the 1,600-meter run in 5:05.70.

Also competing at the Rockridge Sectional were freshman Damian Bender, who was fifth in the 300-meter hurdles in 44.80 and  took 12th in the 100-meter dash, senior Josh McKendry was 14th in the 100 at 12.35 and 16th in the 200 at 24.73, sophomore Jack Thomas was 16th in the 400 in 56.95, freshman Jayce Hermeyer was 21st in the 1,600 with a time of 6:24.17, freshman Alex Lovgren was 13th in the 300 hurdles at 49.12, and the 400-meter relay of McKendry, Bender, Thomas and Billhorn finished eighth with a 45.64.