Ottawa’s Weston Averkamp to hurdle at Eastern Illinois

Hurdling is a captivating and challenging discipline that brings a unique blend of speed, agility, power and technique to track.

For recent Ottawa graduate Weston Averkamp, those are all the aspects that kept him striving to meet the small goals he set for himself throughout his high school career.

“All of those little victories I had started to add up, and with that, my confidence started to grow as well,” Averkamp said. “Even though I didn’t know it back when I was a freshman when I decided to try track, it has been the perfect sport for me. I love working out, and I love that in track you get out of it what you put in it. There aren’t really any shortcuts.”

Averkamp will continue to reach more goals as he has committed to continuing his education at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston and his track career with the NCAA Division I Panthers.

“Respect is a huge thing for me, and it goes so far,” Averkamp said. “At the start of the relationship with EIU, I felt like both sides were all in. It just felt good, even before I took a visit there.”

In his senior season this past spring, Averkamp capped off a tremendous career as a Pirate, winning a pair of Class 3A medals at the State Finals at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field. He ran a personal best 38.35 seconds to finish third in the 300-meter hurdles, the program’s highest state finish since 2006, and took seventh in the 110 hurdles at 14.44.

Averkamp was named the 2024 and 2025 Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

“When I did make my first visit to Eastern and met the coaches and athletes, I quickly saw that everyone was on board,” Averkamp said. “Everyone’s goal was to work to get better at whatever their ultimate goal is and to win. With that, the coaches also kept stressing about having a good time while pushing towards whatever goals we had.

“They also have the same beliefs I have. I knew right away that this was where I’m supposed to be the next four years.”

As a junior, Averkamp won a Class 3A sectional championship in the 300 hurdles and earned a sixth-place medal at the state finals. He also recorded a sectional runner-up finish and qualified for state in the 100 hurdles

During this past season, Averkamp combined to finish in first place in 13 of 15 races, including winning both hurdles events at the Sterling Gene Shipley Invitational and the Illinois Valley Invitational, as well as the Interstate 8 Conference Meet for the second straight year.

At the Class 3A Minooka Sectional, he finished first in both the 110-meter (14.48 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (39.33). In the state preliminaries, he placed sixth (14.44 seconds) in the 110 and third (38.06) in the 300 hurdles.

“I’d say I’ve accomplished my goals, so far,” said Averkamp, who will be pursuing an education degree in hopes of becoming a math teacher as well as a coach. “Would finishing first at state have been great? Sure, but even if I had, I would have been looking online to see what times state champions from other states ran. I ran well at state and earned medals, but that’s not going to stop me from wanting to get even better. My form can still be better, so that’s something that will always drive me.

“I’m excited and looking forward to working toward new and higher goals at EIU.”