The Yellowjackets showed up and showed out on Saturday, April 18 at the 2026 Keith Hall Invitational at Wesclin High School. Chester’s boys won the meet by 30 points, and the girls placed fifth out of thirteen teams. The Jackets racked up impressive finish after impressive finish, with numerous personal bests and meet records.
Senior Gabe Coffman cleared a height of 5’ 9” to place second in high jump, followed closely by teammate Sophomore Danny Worley who placed fifth with a height of 5’ 7”. Junior TaShawn Palacio reached a personal best in the high jump, overcoming a height of 5’ 3”. Palacio also led the boys in the long jump, leaping a distance of 18’ 5.75” to place fourth. Junior Anthony Armenta bounded 36’ 0.75” in triple jump, placing second, Senior Derrius Shoemate coming close behind in third jumping 36’ 0”.
Senior Ivan Hobbs once again claimed first place in the pole vault, topping a height of 9’ 3”. Mirroring this finish for the girls, Junior Lauren Cowell won pole vault passing 7’ 9”, a height beating the meet record. Junior Sam Hall achieved a personal best in the boys’ pole vault, clearing a height of 8’ 9” to claim fifth place.
Sophomore Paxton Beam threw yet another personal best in the shot put. Beam placed third, with a throw of 40” 0.5”. He went on to place fifth in discus, launching the disc a distance of 117’ 6”.
In the sprints, Sophomore Donnie Sabo claimed second in the 100 meter dash, clocking a time of 11.47. Junior Joella Eggemeyer finished fourth in the 100 meter dash (13.17s), and second in the 200 meter dash (27.62s). Gabe Coffman won the 400 meter dash with a time of 52.43s.
Freshman Katelynn Vallett placed second in both the 1600 and 800 meter run. Vallett ran a time of 2:34.1 in her 800, and a personal best time of 5:58.75 in her mile.
In a rare race for the Yellowjackets, the boys’ Swedish relay team not only won the event Saturday, but also set a meet record. Danny Worley, Donnie Sabo, TaShawn Palacio, and Gabe Coffman each ran in the order of 100-200-300-400 meters, managing to clock a time of 2:07.14. The same team of boys also competed in the 4×100 relay, coming in second with their time of 45.01s.