Nine Railsplitters shine at the
2026 Illinois Top Times Indoor Meet
[March 30, 2026]
Parker Campbell and Mallory Short might be gone now (having
graduated in 2025) but they left their legacy and a few younger
siblings behind at Lincoln Community High School.
On Saturday those younger siblings shined at the 2026 2A Illinois
Top Times Indoor Track & Field Classic at Illinois Wesleyan
University along with a half dozen other amazingly talented track
and field athletes from LCHS.
Freshman Taylor Short was very impressive at her first Indoor Top
Times meet and Coach Jenna Crombie said, “She ripped a 59.88 400m
that left us speechless and even she didn’t know what to make of it.
This girl is special and you will be hearing a lot more about her.”
High praise indeed for the freshman.
Taylor’s sister, Mallory, currently runs for the IWU track team.
Taylor’s older brother, Preston, was also impressive on Saturday as
part of the 4x800m relay team.
According to Crombie, “The guys had a great race to finish in third
place with a season best time of 8:00.83.”
The 4x800m relay team of Pierce King (2:01.34), Henry Stoltzenburg
(2:01.02), Colin Crombie (2:00.90) and Preston Short (1:57.57) just
missed second place by a half second. Elijah Crawford is an
alternate for the relay team.
“Running these times indoors in March makes us very excited for the
next couple months,” said Crombie.
Sophomore Addy Campbell, the younger sister of Parker, ran the 60m
hurdles on Saturday and she had a great race, finishing in sixth
place with a PR of 9.57 in Prelims. In the finals, Campbell reached
a new PR of 9.44 to place sixth overall.
Bailey Tungate also ran the 60m hurdles in the Prelims. Tungate came
up short in the finals in just her first season running the hurdles
but Crombie is confident she will be back. Tungate ran a time of
10.18.
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Owen Cyrulik ran an incredible 800m on Saturday. The junior ran a
“blistering PR of 1:55.78 to finish fourth overall” according to
Crombie, who added, “It was a fantastic race with the top four
finishers running in the 1:55 range and all four breaking the
previous meet record. Owen normally anchors the 4x800m so it was
time for his teammates to step up so he could focus on the open.
This team has great chemistry and supports one another.”
Cyrulik also ran the 400m and he gave it his best effort with a
54.39 finish. He had a torn shoe mid-race but still had a
respectable finish.
Finally it was junior Braxton Eilertson finishing 14th in the 400m
with PR of 52.45.
This meet is considered the indoor state meet in Illinois and LCHS
athletes have had great success in the past and obviously this year
was no different.
Coach Crombie was really pumped up after Saturday’s performances on
the track and the Illinois win over Iowa in the NCAA Tournament and
she shared her excitement.
“These kids continue to surpass expectations,” said Crombie. “We’ve
got a really solid group that push each other and support each
other. When you have that type of culture, really good things
happen.”
“Half of our team has been training all winter for indoor track. But
the other half play other winter sports including basketball and
wrestling. It’s only been a couple of weeks that we’ve all been
training together, making the best of the bad weather in our cardio
room and sometimes the hallways of the school.”
“Now that the weather is improving and we are getting into a rhythm,
I am very optimistic about our team this spring. I hope our
community comes out to watch us at our home meets in April.”
Side note: Crombie said her and her parents recently just rewatched
the Arizona versus Illinois game from 2005, admitting, “I still run
around and scream at the TV! Still can’t believe that 2005
comeback!”
Adding, “Can’t believe they are going to the Final Four!”
April will be off to a great start with the Illini still playing and
the Railsplitters track and field team getting geared up for the
outdoor season.
Home dates to remember:
April 9 4:30 p.m. Boys
April 16 4:30 p.m. Boys Senior Night
April 16 4:30 p.m. Girls Senior Night
April 29 4:30 p.m. Girls
The kids appreciate your support!
[Teena Lowery w/Photos courtesy of Jenna
Crombie]
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