BELVIDERE - Janardie Turner pulled off the greatest NIC-10 boys track meet in Jefferson High School history, winning four NIC-10 titles Wednesday night at Belvidere North High School.
Turner dominated the 110 meter and 300 meter hurdles, his specialties, winning the 110-meters by 1.24 seconds, a huge margin for a sprint race. He also took first in the 100 meter dash and the long jump.
Before Thursday, the best a J-Hawk had ever done was win three NIC-10 titles. Three J-Hawks pulled off that feat a total of four times.
* In 2010, Royce Dixon won the 100 and 200 meters and ran a leg on the first-place 4x200 relay team.
* In 2004, Ricky Ellis took first at conference in the long jump, high jump and triple jump.
* In 1999 and 2000, Jvontai Hanserd won the 100, 200 and 400.
Turner's huge night powered the J-Hawks to fifth place in the conference with 51 points. It was the highest finish for Jefferson since 2014. The J-Hawks also got points from freshmen Zhysean Young, who took fifth in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles, and Jan Lomidze, who was fifth in the shot put and sixth in the discus. Jefferson's 4x400 relay team also scored points by taking fifth.
Turner now has seven NIC-10 titles. He won the 110 hurdles for the third straight year and the 300 hurdles for the second. The junior now turns his sites toward the IHSA sectional and state meets. Last year, Turner finished third in the 3A state meet at 110-meter hurdles and sixth in the 300-meter hurdles. He was the 16th J-Hawk in school history to medal at state. No Jefferson athlete has won a state track title. Hanserd took second in the 400 in 1999, Ellis was second in the high jump in 2004, and Keith Dismuke finished second in 2008 in the 110-meter hurdles.