Ogunleye to represent Hawks track and field at state

The Cooper boys track and field team will have one representative at the Class AA state track and field meet this weekend at St. Michael-Albertville High School.

Senior Israel Ogunleye finished first in the boys triple jump with a tie against Rockford’s Ty Kulavik at 42 feet, 10.75 inches at the Section 6AA meet last week at Rockford High School qualifying him for state.

Ogunleye will compete in the preliminary round at 9 a.m. Friday, June 7.

Boys events

Cooper boys netted 26 points in the Section 6AA meet putting them in 10th place ahead of Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Watertown-Mayer .

Some of the top finishers include sophomore Tacarie Siner who earned sixth place in the 100-meter dash for Cooper with a time of 11.32 seconds. Milos Athias Finn, set to join Concordia St. Paul’s track and field team next fall, earned fifth in the 200 with a time of 23.32. No Hawks reached the finals for the boys 400-meter dash, but Gregory Wheeler was very close, finishing one spot short in ninth with a difference of 0.13 seconds. Two Hawks, Zane Halstead and Raiden Southwell, took part in the boys 1600, finishing 33rd and 34th.

Malik Williams earned 10th in the 110-meter hurdles prelims and 23rd in the 800 prelims.

The 4x100 relay team of Amari Davison, Siner, Finn, and Sheldon Obonyo earned third with a time of 44.26. The Hawks took sixth in the 4x200 and 10th in the 4x800.

Aaron Giguere and Savion Gayden earned 15th and 16th for Cooper in shot put with marks of 34-11 and 34-9. Gayden also took 13th in the discus with a mark of 110-2. Wheeler did well in the long jump, finishing 15th just below the halfway point on the standings with a mark of 17-9.5.

Girls events

Attoria McDonald fought hard on the track for Cooper, taking 12th in the 200 meters with a time of 27.85 and 15th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.73.

Folake Olusesi took 24th in shot put with a mark of 24-10.5 and 28th in discus with a mark of 58=1. Amy Diouf took 29th in the shot put. Princess Nyarkoh and A’ahmariel McKenzie took 25th and 30th in the long jump with marks of 13-6.25 and 12-8.5 respectively.