Giving back to community major focus of Illinois/Missouri Senior All-Star Track Meet

PALMYRA, Mo. — The Illinois/Missouri Senior All-Star Track Meet serves a two-fold purpose.

“We want to give local kids one last chance to compete,” organizer Nick Koetters said. “We also do it as a way to raise money for Special Olympics.”

The meet, which annually includes some of the top track and field talent from West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri, raised more than $1,000 for Special Olympics in 2023.

“I just wanted to go straight to the local people,” Koetters said. “I tried to get names from everybody we needed to. I just grabbed a checkbook, wrote checks and drove around and handed them to people. I think half the people didn’t know I was coming and we just completely shocked them, and they didn’t know what to do. It was fun.”

Koetters, now the junior varsity track coach at Hannibal High School, first got involved with Special Olympics a decade ago when he coached track at Palmyra. Giving back was his top priority when he helped start this meet in 2017.

“I said from the beginning that I don’t want to make any money off of this,” Koetters said. “We could, and I know people do, but that’s not what I care about. I don’t want to make money. I just want to help the kids, and whatever we make — however much it is — we’re going to give it to Special Olympics.”

Athletes, coaches and fans will descend upon Palmyra High School on Friday for this year’s cross-river rivalry. Throwing events will begin at 6 p.m., and running events will kick off at around 7 p.m. to allow the throwing events to finish.

While it is an exhibition, the event generates enough adrenline to lead to some impressive results.

“We’re had a lot of PR’s in a lot of events at this meet just because it’s relaxed, they’re probably rested up, they haven’t had to go to school,” Koetters said. “A lot of kids surprise themselves and do really well.”

The star-studded list of sprinters includes Illini West’s Ian Bentzinger, Liberty’s Keegan Sunde and Clark County’s Kaden Hamner. Bentzinger finished fourth at the Class 1A state championships in the 100-meter dash and fifth in the 200. Sunde qualified for state in the 100 and 200. Hamner, who is a University of Missouri signee, ran wild at the Missouri Class 2 state championships, bringing home titles in the 100, 200 and 400 meters.

Although they may not go head-to-head in both events, seeing the fastest area runners on the track together should be eye-catching.

“That should be fun to watch,” Koetters said. “I’m tempted to put those three on a 4×100 (relay team) together and see how fast they could go.”

Another head-to-head matchup to watch features Camp Point Central’s Jack Thompson and Monroe City’s Waylon DeGrave in the triple jump and long jump. Thompson took third in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump at the Illinois state meet, while DeGrave placed fourth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump at the Missouri state championship.

On the girls side, a pair of state qualifying distance runners will go toe-to-toe. Liberty’s Arianna Neisen finished 24th in Class 1A in the 1,600 meters and 20th in the 3,200 meters, while Hannibal’s Jocelyn Dorsey finished 11th in the 800 meters in Class 4.

In total, 50 athletes from 15 different schools — eight Illinois schools and seven Missouri schools — have committed to participating in the meet.