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2026 NewsTribune Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year: La Salle-Peru’s Aavery Hill · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Twenty twenty six News Tribune Boys Track and Field Athlete
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  Speaker 1: of the Year, lasal Peru's Avery Hill, written by Kevin Schlum.
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  Speaker 1: This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  Speaker 1: to you by Everlett. When Avery Hill got to lasal
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  Speaker 1: Peru High School, he participated in track and field as
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  Speaker 1: a side sport to basketball, But after competing last spring
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  Speaker 1: and seeing where he stacked up with other throwers in
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  Speaker 1: his class, Hill decided to dedicate himself to the sport.
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  Speaker 1: I realized how much potential I had, Hills said. I
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  Speaker 1: was ranked top ten for the class of twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: eight as a freshman, and I realized I want to
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  Speaker 1: get on top of that leaderboard. I decided, if I
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  Speaker 1: want to pursue and reach my goals, I would have
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  Speaker 1: to stop pursuing basketball and football, So now I'm only
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  Speaker 1: focused on track. Hill's dedication to track and field led
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  Speaker 1: to an intense focus on nutritions, drink, training, and practice.
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  Speaker 1: All Hill's hard work paid off this spring, as the
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  Speaker 1: sophomore qualified for the Class two A state meet for
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  Speaker 1: the first time and placed fourth in the discus. Hill
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  Speaker 1: won the discus in nine of eleven meets before state
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  Speaker 1: including at the Galesburg Sectional. He threw a personal best
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  Speaker 1: fifty point two seven meters at Plano's Field of Dreams
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  Speaker 1: meet and placed second at the Interstate eight Conference meet.
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  Speaker 1: Hill also recorded six top three finishes in the shot put.
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  Speaker 1: For all he accomplished this season, Hill is the twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty six News Tribune Boys Track and Field Athlete of
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  Speaker 1: the Year. Hill is just the second LP athlete to
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  Speaker 1: earn the honor, joining Logan Zeman in twenty fourteen. I
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  Speaker 1: thought he had a great season for a sophomore. LP
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  Speaker 1: coach Adam Spencer said, he's very focused and he put
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  Speaker 1: in a lot of hard work. Hill focused on gaining
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  Speaker 1: weight after his freshman year when he weighed just one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and forty five pounds. He's now up to one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty. I realized I wasn't that strong, so
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  Speaker 1: I kept eating, just eating ground beef every day to
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  Speaker 1: put on more than thirty pounds, Hill said Hill. Hill
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  Speaker 1: also spends two hours a day in the weight room
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  Speaker 1: and two hours practicing throws, along with watching videos of
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  Speaker 1: himself throwing at practice and in meats to critique and
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  Speaker 1: correct his technique. I just need to stay consistent, so
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  Speaker 1: I can be at my very best. Hill said. Although
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  Speaker 1: Hill increased his weight at five foot eight and one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty pounds, he is still quite a bit
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  Speaker 1: smaller than many of his opponents, so technique is particularly
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  Speaker 1: important for Hill. Standing at five eight and one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and eighty pounds isn't going to give me that much.
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  Speaker 1: But what I have that's better than most throwers is
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  Speaker 1: my dilated technique. Hill said, I spend hours per day
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  Speaker 1: looking at my form making sure everything's right. What I
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  Speaker 1: also have, since I'm so agile, is my speed. With
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  Speaker 1: my spin, I get around the ring in less than
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  Speaker 1: three quarters of a second, which gets me more power.
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  Speaker 1: That fast also leads to a lot of mistakes. I
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  Speaker 1: practice all the time, so I try to prevent some
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  Speaker 1: of those. Spencer said. Hill is constantly working on his form,
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  Speaker 1: whether it's practicing his spins off to the side during meets,
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  Speaker 1: or staying after practice working on throws until coaches tell
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  Speaker 1: him he has to leave, or watching video he self diagnoses.
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  Speaker 1: Spencer said he understands that he didn't get his hips around,
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  Speaker 1: or he let it go too late or too early.
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  Speaker 1: He really does focus on throwing the discus, Hill said,
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  Speaker 1: he's motivated by the desire to break the school record,
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  Speaker 1: win a state title, and compete in college. He plans
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  Speaker 1: to continue working in the weight room and on his
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  Speaker 1: technique through the off season. Hill also qualified to compete
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  Speaker 1: in the AAU Junior Olympics from July twenty seventh to
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  Speaker 1: August eighth in Des Moines, Iowa.