EDWARDSVILLE - Alton High junior runner Simon McClaine finished his season with a second-place in the 300-meter low hurdles at sectional and also competed at the state track and field meet in Charleston. Simon's progress this season was rated "phenomenal" by his head Redbird track coach Jeff White.
McClaine got off to a good start for this season, finishing second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.00 seconds at the Southern Illinois Relays meet on March 25 at the Winston Brown Track Center in Edwardsville.
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After that, McClaine ran 15.93 seconds at the Winston Brown Invitational at Edwardsville on Apr. 23, and on May 11 at the Southwestern Conference meet, also in Edwardsville, he had a time of 15.64 seconds, coming in second. McClaine climaxed his season by qualifying in the 300-meter hurdles in the IHSA Class 3A sectional, finishing second at 40.91 seconds.
For all of his efforts on the track during the season, McClaine was selected as an Auto Butler male Athlete of the Month for Alton.
In an interview during the season, McClaine felt that preseason practice went along smoothly for him and his teammates and looked ahead to the season.
"It feels really good," McClaine said to be back with a full schedule after issues with the COVID-19 Pandemic in the past. "We didn't really have a season the last two years and just really back out here running, it's amazing."
Coach White said this about his star hurdler: "We are excited for how well he has done this year in the hurdles. He started hurdling last season in the shortened season and he showed a lot of potential as a sophomore. This was his first full season of a normal hurdling schedule. He has done really amazing and has been in the top two to three through the season in sectional rankings and qualified for state in the 300 low hurdles. He has a great future as a senior."
McClaine specializes in both the 110-meter hurdles and 400 meters, along with 300-meter hurdles and being part of the 4x100-meter relay team.
McClaine said he was very happy to be running with his teammates once again.
"Yeah I am," McClaine said. "It's a lot different running with these guys. In the past, it hasn't really worked out that well, but this season is a little different."
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