CHARLESTON -- Nick Nasti walked around his future home, the football field at Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Stadium, and soaked it all in.

The Plano senior flipped an empty water bottle in his hand and paced around slowly, looking around at the field and experiencing what a full EIU stadium will look like in the fall. Nasti was caught up in this daydream enough that he was slightly late and had to be called over for the gathering of discus medalists readying to head to the medal stand.

To wrap up a dream sports season, Nasti finished fourth in the Class A discus and with a coveted new school record, something he chased for at least the last two years. It added to a year that included an all-state year for the Class 3A football champ and a Class A heavyweight title in wrestling.

"It's been fun," Nasti said simply.

Early in Saturday's finals, three competitors passed the Plano senior, who was sitting in third place at 163 feet, 1 inch. He missed on his first chance to pass them, but on his second one, he set the school record with a throw of 165-10.

"I just completely peaked at the right time," Nasti said. "I hadn't thrown in the 160's that much all year. I throw it three times, and I hit 165."

In the Class AA discus competition, Waubonsie Valley's Brett Einbecker was down to his last chance. The easygoing Warriors junior did what he always does. He blocked out the crowd around them, stayed composed then unfurled his best throw of the weekend.

"I had really good warmups. I just couldn't get it,"

Einbecker said. "It's a really good experience. Next year, I'm hoping to win it."

Einbecker's toss of 175 feet, 8 inches moved him into second place behind Lake Park's Dan Block, who recorded the winning mark of 183-4 during Friday's competition.

"I just pretend not to look at the audience. I don't think about all the people around," Einbecker said. "I was little disappointed. I thought I had more in me, but I'm still happy."

Kaneland's Sam Kranz faced perhaps the most stacked competition of Saturday. In the Class AA pole vault, the Knights senior saw three other competitors cleared 16 feet -- a little less than a foot shy of the state record.

Kranz couldn't clear any higher and wound up in fourth place. Both state champion Mitchell Erickson of Marian Catholic and runner-up Joe Noonan of Lincoln-Way East attempted to break that mark of 17-1/2 set in 1992 by Daren McDonough. Both vaulters fell just short with Erickson coming in at 16-9 and Noonan finishing at 16-6.

"It was really tight. That might have been the toughest competition in state history," Kranz said. "I vaulted decent. It was an okay day. I've been over 16 feet nine times this year. It was really just another day. It was nothing spectacular, but it got the job.

Marmion's David Grange was fifth in both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs (see sidebar). West Aurora's Jawon Jackson came in fifth in the 400 meters. Oswego East's Justin Lawrence won the first state medals in program history when he came in seventh in the long jump. The Waubonsie Valley 3,200 relay team finished eighth as did West Aurora's 1,600 relay. In the Class AA 3,200 run, Marmion's Josh Stein came in 16th. Waubonsie's Mark Schumacher was 31st and David Schumacher finished 39th.

In Class A, Aurora Central Catholic brought 12 competitors to the state meet but only senior Anthony Karafiat ran on Saturday. Karafiat finished 23rd in the 3,200.

Boys State Track and Field Meet