Wawasee’s Clayton Cook competes in the 110 hurdles at the State Finals in Bloomington Saturday night. The junior star earned a fifth-place finish in the event.

BLOOMINGTON – Clayton Cook took a long look at the scoreboard Saturday night after finishing the finals of the 110-meter hurdles at the State Finals.

He said that he just did not want to get last in the event.

The Wawasee star had no worries when it came to that.

Cook crossed the finish line in fifth place to earn his place on the podium at the State Finals contested at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at Indiana University.

The Warrior junior hit the line in a time of 14.57, well ahead of his seed time of 14.98. He clocked in at 14.65 to place second in his prelim race, one of three in the event, to earn his spot in the finals.

“I was looking at the board and saw my name in fifth and I was like Yes,” explained Cook. “I did not want to get last.

“It really has not sunk in yet that I was fifth in the state. My goal today was to medal (top nine finish).”

Cook almost had to rerun his prelim race. Due to an issue relating to an officials’ error with the start of his heat, several competitors had to run the prelim again. Cook did not have to, however due to his second-place finish in his heat.

“After my prelim, I was confident,” Cook said. “But, it was really nerve-racking after it. I was almost freaking out when they called us back out.”

Clayton Cook gives his fans two thumbs up on the awards podium.

Cook overcame a late-season injury to earn his medal is his second trip to State. The two-sport star, who has made a verbal commitment to play football at Ball State University, injured his right hamstring in the Goshen Sectional back on May 22. He returned to place second at the South Bend St. Joseph Regional on May 29 to punch his return ticket to State.

Cook, who placed 16th at State in the 110 hurdles in a time of 15.16 as a sophomore, admitted that it helped to just have one event to be locked in on. He ran both hurdles races, as well as the 100 and 200 during the season.  Cook, who holds the school records in both the 100 and 200-mter dashes, was also part of the Warriors’ school record-setting 4 X 100 relay team.

“To be able to focus on just one event was a good feeling for me,” concluded Cook.

JJ Gilmer of Wawasee thinks about his next attempt in the high jump Saturday at the State Finals.

Wawasee junior JJ Gilmer placed 12th in the high jump competition Saturday. Gilmer cleared 6-4 after going 6-4 3/4 in the regional nine days earlier at St. Joe to place second there.

Gilmer was a regional champion in the high jump as a sophomore a year ago as he went 6-6 at Kokomo. He went on to place fourth at the State Finals in 2013 with a jump of 6-6.

Jacob Wright won the 110 hurdles state title in a time of 14.09. The Hamilton Southeastern senior was the top seed in the event. Wright was then injured in the 300 hurdles later in the meet and had to be taken from the track on a stretcher by medical personnel.

Javen Reeves, a senior from New Albany, claimed the state championship in the high jump by clearing 6-9.

Clayton Cook flies to second place in his 110 hurdles prelim race. Cook went on to place fifth in the finals of the event Saturday at Indiana University.