Two Lemont Students Medal At 2026 IHSA Boys’ Track And Field State Finals

Jaquez made his second straight state finals appearance while Murray made his state finals debut, the school said.

By Andrea Earnest, Patch Staff

Jun 5, 2026 10:34 am CDT

Jaquez and Murray advanced to the state finals thanks to their performances at the IHSA Downers Grove North Sectional. (Lemont High School)

LEMONT, IL — Lemont High School senior Daniel Jaquez and junior Nathan Murray each earned their first career medals at the 2026 IHSA Class 3A Boys’ Track and Field State Finals, which were contested from May 29-30 at O’Brien Stadium at Eastern Illinois University, the school shared in a news release.

Jaquez made his second straight state finals appearance while Murray made his state finals debut, the school said.Jaquez and Murray advanced to the state finals thanks to their performances at the IHSA Downers Grove North Sectional.

Murray won his preliminary heat in the 400 meter dash in a time of 47.68, which tied for the fastest time of the first day of competition. Murray placed third in the finals in a time of 47.47, which is the program’s fastest ever in state finals competition. He is the third Lemont runner to medal in the 400 meter dash and earned the program’s fifth medal overall in the event. He also placed 15th in the 200 meter prelims in a time of 21.89, according to LHS.

Jaquez was one of 20 participants to clear the 6’4” mark in the preliminaries and advance to the final round. In the final round, he was one of four competitors to clear the 6’7” mark, and placed fourth based on his number of attempts, LHS shared.

Jaquez and Murray advanced to the state finals thanks to their performances at the IHSA Downers Grove North Sectional. Murray won the 400 meter dash in a school-record time of 47.29 (the state’s third-fastest time of the season), while Jaquez won the high jump after clearing the 6’4” mark. Murray also eclipsed the IHSA qualifying standard while placing third in the 200 meter dash in a school-record time of 21.84, LHS said.

Head coach Frank Kovach’s team won its first-ever South Suburban Conference-Blue Division Meet this spring. Jaquez set a school record while clearing the 6’8.75” mark in winning the high jump, while Murray won both the 200 and 400 meter dash events and was part of the victorious 4x100 relay squad that set a school record (42.94).