Coal City Middle School will be well represented at the 2025 Illinois Elementary School Association [IESA] Class 3A State Track & Field Meet, having qualified in 15 events—earning the top seed in four of them.
The state meet gets underway with a Parade of Athletes on Friday, May 23 at Eastside Center in East Peoria. Eighth grader Marina Figge has been selected by the IESA as one of four athletes to participate in a reading of an oath to all of the competitors that calls for the display of proper attitude and leadership. “This is quite the honor to achieve,” reports coach Chad Larson.
Marina is entered in four events—three individual and one team—at the state meet. She is the number one seed in class 3A in long jump. Her personal best is a jump of 17’ 8.25 and it beat a 46 year old record by more than a foot. This is her second consecutive year qualifying for state in long jump, an event she finished first in at the conference and sectional meets, as well as the Coal Mine Classic.
Marina will be running in the 100 and 200 meter individual events and is seeded second and third respectively. In the 100 meter she finished first in conference and sectional and took second at the Coal Mine Classic. A highlight was setting a personal best of 12.61, beating a 40 year old school record set by her guidance counselor Michelle Painter. In the 200 meter event, Marina took first in conference and sectional action, and second at the Coal Mine Classic. She stole a 40 year old school record with her personal best time of 27.05.
Marina holds or is part of seven Coal City Middle School track and field records. She holds the seventh grade records in the 100 and 200 and is part of the seventh grade 4x100 relay record. This year she established the new records in the 100, 200 and long jump, and along with her teammates holds the 4x100 record.
The 4x100 relay team is composed of Marina, Kenslee Baldauf, Norah Minuth and Kinsley Nowak, and alternates Avery Male and Angelise Stevens. The relay team finished first in conference, sectionals and Coal Mine Classic, and enter the state meet seeded third. They hold the eighth grade school record time of 52.50. They also own the seventh grade 4x100 record and qualified for the state meet as sixth graders.
Heading to the state meet for the first time is sixth grader Kylee Looper who is seeded sixth in pole vault. She qualified for state with a fourth place sectional finish and a personal best vault of 7 '3”, a height that puts her as the schools sixth/seventh grade record holder. She placed second at the conference meet and sixth at the Coal Mine Classic.
Overall, the eighth grade girls finished with a 54-4 record that included a conference championship and runner-up finishes at the sectional and Coal Mine Classic. The seventh grade team posted a 39-22 record and the sixth grade team went 1-3 this year.
The eighth grade boys team finished the season with a perfect 64-0 record and this brings their middle school career record to 128-0. This season they were first in the conference and sectional for a second consecutive year, and posted the first ever Coal Mine Classic championship.
“They are the only team in school history to win a team state trophy and we are looking to improve on our finish last year,” coach Corey Mikula said.
This year’s eighth grade state qualifiers will compete in nine events—six of them individual.
Two Coalers—Spencer Vaira and Jonah Micetich— qualified in pole vault. Spencer is a three time qualifier finishing seventh at last year’s state meet. He enters this year’s meet with a qualifying vault of 10’ and is seeded eighth. He is the conference and Coal Mine Classic champion and took third at the sectional.
Jonah is a two time qualifier in the event—finishing 13th in 2024. His vault of 9’3” at the sectional propelled him to this year’s tournament where he is seeded 14th. Jonah finished second at the conference and Coal Mine Classic.
Kiptyn Dearth is headed back to state and will compete in discus. This season he was first at the Coal Mine Classic, fifth in conference and seventh at the sectional. Kiptyn came into sectionals with a personal record of 107’, but needed 122’ in order to qualify. Kip threw 125’ 2.5” at sectionals to send him to state,” Coach Mikula said. Kiptyn enters this year's meet seeded 22nd.
Rylan DeMichele is looking to be at the top of the podium this weekend. He enters the meet ranked first in shot put having posted at 46’ 6.5” thow at the sectional—a personal record. A two time state qualifier, he placed second last year—his first season with the team. Rylan is currently undefeated. He is the conference, sectional and Coal Mine Classic champion.
Levi Marshall and Nick Pfeiffer will run in the 400 meter at state. Levi is also a two time state qualifier in this event. This year he claimed the conference and Coal Mine Classic titles, and finished third at the sectional with a time of 55.13—a personal record. He enters this year’s meet with a seventh seed.
Nick is also a two time state qualifier, but last year it was in the 800 meter. “On May 7, I asked Nick to try out the 400 and he almost ran a state qualifying time. He decided to try it again at sectionals,” Coach Mikula said. Not only did he qualify for state but goes in as the fourth seed. At sectionals he ran a 54.68 which broke the school record and he finished second behind last year’s champion. “Not bad for only running the race two times,” the coach said.
Maddox Meents is headed to state in two relays and an individual event—long jump. At sectionals he jumped his personal record of 18’ 6.75” which earned him the championship. He also won the conference title and was second at the Coal Mine Classic. Maddox enters the state meet seeded seventh.
The Coalers have two athletes entered in hurdles—Frank Roehr and Jonah Micetich. This is Jonah’s second time qualifying for state in this event, he finished in fourth place last year. He is the IVC and Coal Mine Classic champion and placed second at the sectional with a time of 16.25 seconds—a personal record. He enters this year’s meet seeded seventh.
This is Frank’s second year qualifying for state, his first in hurdles. He was second in conference and finished fourth at the sectional with a personal record of 16.65. He enters the state meet with a 10th seed.
Coal City’s eighth grade 4x100 relay team of Nick Pfeiffer, Spencer Vaira, Levi Marshall and Frank Roehr enter the state meet with a 14th seed. The team finished second in conference, fifth at the Coal Mine Classic and fourth at sectionals. Coach Mikula said prior to the sectional they had never ran a state qualifying time, and this time they did with a time of 48.83 seconds. The team is assisted by alternates Ryder Meyer and Rylan DeMichele.
The 4x200 relay team of Jonah Micetich, Alex Duran, Maddox Meents and Kenny Tazelaar enter the state meet as the number one seed. They are undefeated this season and hold the eighth grade record with a time of 1:40.22. They are the conference, sectional and Coal Mine Classic champions.
The number one seed in the 4x400 relay at this year’s state meet is the team of Levi Marshall, Maddox Meents, Kenny Tazelaar and Jonah Micetich, along with alternates Nick Pfeiffer and Frank Roehr. This group has been together for the past two years and is once again headed to state with a goal of improving on its fourth place finish in 2024. “In fact, the last two years, the only time they have been beaten was at state,” Coach Mikula said. The team holds the seventh and eighth grade school records, along with the conference record. They are the 2025 Coal Mine Classic, conference, and sectional champions. “To win sectionals they ran their pr of 3:47.08 seconds. That means the average 400 time of each runner is 56.77 seconds which is very impressive,” the coach said.
The leading sorcerer this season is Maddox Meents with 202.75 points. Jonah is the second leading scorer on the team with 173.25 points and is followed by Frank Roehr in third with 153.75 points, Rylan DeMichele in fourth with 141 and Levi Marshall is fifth with 123 points.
Representing the Coalers seventh grade team at state is the 4x200 meter relay composed of Evan Kozlowski, Kason Bluth, Brayden Brncich and Zack Babcock, with alternate Ryder Sorensen. Enroute to a state appearance, this group won the conference title and finished second at the Coal Mine Classic just 68 seconds behind the winner—Minooka.
“They were third in sectionals, but they shaved 3.5 seconds off the PR to make a state qualifying time of 1:51.48,” said Coach Mikula, noting they head into the weekend as the 17th seed.
The coach also noted the role Easton Horath played on the relay. “He was working his way in and out of the lineup as well and suffered a season ending injury the weekend before sectionals,,” Mikula said.
This year’s seventh grade team finished with a 43-24 record including a third place conference finish, they were fourth in the Coal Mine Classic and closed out the season at the sectional meet with an 11th place finish. The leading scorer for the team was Zack Babcock, followed by Jett Johnson, Kason Bluth, Evan Kozlowski and Brayden Brncich.
The sixth grade team competed in two meets and closed out the season at 3-1.
Coaler fans heading to the state meet in East Peoria can purchase admission tickets in advance—$12 per person—here