News

Charleston, Ill --- It is anybody’s guess who could leave Charleston with the 1A team championship after Thursday’s preliminaries. There is a log jam of teams that have seven qualifiers in Saturday’s finals including Tremont, Illini West, Sullivan, and Carterville. Aurora Christian is next with six qualifiers.

Illini West was the big surprise of the day qualifying all four of their relays to the finals. Amelia Glueck looked dominant leading all qualifiers in the 100 and Long Jump. She also had the second fastest time in the 200 and helped her team qualify in the 4x1.

The top performance of the day belonged to Anna Sophia Keller. The freshman pulled away from Kelsey Hildreth in the final 500 meters of the 1600 Meter Run. Keller had the top preliminary time with 4:54.96.

Here is a look at the 1A preliminaries event by event:

Track Events

4 x 800 Meter Relay

Deer Creek Mackinaw ran the fastest preliminary time in winning the second section of this event. They stormed away from Eureka in the third leg to run the best 1A time in the state (9:42.58). In the first Heat, Petersburg PORTA won running a seasonal best 9:48.63. They were powered by 2:24 splits by leadoff runner Adrienne Brauer and anchor Maria Brauer. In the final heat, Tolono Unity used a strong third leg by Nicole Bagwell to catch Carterville at the final exchange. Unity went on to win their heat in 9:49.5, four seconds ahead of Clifton Central.

4 x 100 Meter Relay

Illini West used great baton exchanges to give themselves the best time in the prelims (49.74) to win the second heat almost a second ahead of Byron. They will be pushed in the final by Aurora Christian. A strong anchor by Natasha Brown gave Aurora Christian the Heat 4 win (49.84) ahead of Chester. Amelia Glueck came from behind in the final leg to pass Decatur St. Teresa for the Heat 1 win (49.99 – 50.26). Seton Academy was a surprise winner in Heat 3 winning by four hundredth of a second ahead of Henry-Senachwine. Erie-Prophetstown was third.

100 Meter Hurdles

Jenny Kimbro (Sidell Jamaica COOP) stole the show in this event. In the third Heat, Kimbro had the lead at the third hurdle and it just kept growing. Her time of 14.60 is a Class A state best. Defending 1A champion Peyton Wade (Aurora Christian HS) looked strong taking control of Heat 1 by the fifth hurdle. Her winning time was 15.42. Cydney Long (Oregon HS) showed that she belongs in the talk for the state championships winning the second Heat in 15.38. Sectional leader Erin Johnson (Trenton-Wesclin HS) won her second fairly easily with a 15.41 winning time.

100 Meter Dash

It will be a close final on Saturday as the top three runners in this event are only separated by three hundredths of a second. Defending 1A champion Amelia Glueck (Tremont HS) ran away from teammate Kylie Black to win Heat 4 in 12.26. In Heat 3, it was a close battle as Kaitlyn Pearson (Elgin Academy) held off Willow Steudemann (Seneca HS) to win 12.26 – 12.29. Paige Bray (Illini West HS, Carthage) won Heat 1 out of Lane 9 running a seasonal best of 12.43. Elise Omoike (Lisle HS) won Heat 2 just five hundredths ahead of Maraih Woods (Seton Academy, South Holland). Some of the top sprinters in this event did not advance to the finals including Miranda Marry (Fisher HS) and Mary Bass (Bismarck-Henning HS).

800 Meter Run

Cassie Mundekis (Midwest Central, Manito) is ready to defend her 800 crown. In the third heat, Annemarie Michel (University HS, Urbana) was close for the first 600 meters. Mundekis ran a 32 second final 200 to win the heat in 2:15.79 with Michel almost five seconds back (2:20.95). The first two heats were fairly close in times. Mariah Brodie (Illini West HS, Carthage) came on strong in the last 100 meters to pass Audrey Harrod (Hinckley-Big Rock HS) to win the first heat in 2:20.77. That time was more than two seconds faster than Brodie’s sectional time. In the second heat, Claire Mesa (Rockford Lutheran HS) led wire to wire. In the final 100 meters, Mesa started to drift to the outside of Lane 1 giving Morgan Powers (Shelbyville HS) a chance to pass on the inside. Mesa sensed that and closed back in. Mesa’s winning time of 2:20.73 was just one hundredth ahead of Powers.

4 x 200 Meter Relay

Not much drama in each of the four heats as the top four teams easily qualifying. The top time came from Heat 1 with Sullivan, anchored by Amanda McClain, easily winning their heat in 1:44.56. Decatur St. Teresa also qualified running 1:45.82. Defending champion Aurora Christian looked strong easily winning the final heat in 1:45.01. They were two seconds ahead of Seton Academy. Illini West won the third heat 1:45.65 qualifying their third relay for the final Saturday. Newton was the other Heat winner winning Heat 2 in 1:47.11.

400 Meter Dash

Amanda McClain (Sullivan HS) will be the big favorite heading into Saturday’s final. McClain’s 56.63 winning time in Heat 2 is almost two seconds faster than the rest of the field. Madison Meyer (Carterville HS) could be McClain’s top competition. She won Heat 4 in 58.30 more than a second ahead of second place Jorji Sparrgrove (Central A&M HS, Moweaqua). Willow Steudemann qualified for her second final of the day pulling away from Rachel Rhodes (Williamsville HS) to win Heat 2 (58.84). Katelyn Rhea (Central HS, Camp Point) was a surprise winner in Heat 1. She was less than a second ahead of Tessa Holland (Fieldcrest HS, Minonk) to win in 58.48.

300 Meter Hurdles

Jenny Kimbro looked just as impressive in this event as she did in the shorter hurdle race. She won the final heat with the day’s fastest time (44.66). She could company in the final. Sarah Bindel (Chester HS) won Heat 3 (45.18) by more than a second ahead of Devon Hasson (Rockridge HS, Taylor Ridge). Miranda Marry bounced back from not qualifying in the 100 with a strong run in this event. She won Heat 2 (45.33) fairly easily by more than two seconds. Annie Carlson (Westmont HS) won Heat 1 (45.66) by more than a second ahead of Paige Rogers (Christopher HS).

1600 Meter Run

The final heat could have been a preview of what to watch for on Saturday between two of the top 1A distance runners Anna Sophia Keller (St. Anthony HS, Effingham) and Kelsey Hildreth (Byron HS). Hildreth and Keller traded off the lead through the first 1000 meters of the race. With 500 meters to go, Keller took off with Hildreth content with her second place. Keller crossed the line in 4:54.93. Hildreth was second eight seconds back (5:02.71). Keller’s final 400 was 71.9.

The battle could be for third in this race Saturday afternoon. Maria Brauer (PORTA HS, Petersburg) was passed by Rory Kelly (North Shore Country Day, Winnetka) with 400 meters to go in Heat 2. Brauer passed her back in the last 100 winning the heat (5:07.96) more than two seconds ahead of Kelly (5:10.46). In Heat 1, Haley Miller (Tremont HS) pulled away from the field in the last 600 to easily win the heat (5:10.59). Daly Galloway (Dwight HS) finished strong in second (5:12.32).

200 Meter Dash

The team championship could come down to the final events. This event could play a big part. Natasha Brown (Aurora Christian) pulled away from Emily Neuhauser and Amanda McClain to run the event’s fastest time (25.07) in winning Heat 3. Amelia Glueck put her team in position for a championship by qualifying for her third individual event of the day. She won Heat 2 (25.33) by almost three tenths ahead of Miranda Marry. Madison Meyer helped her team’s title chances by winning Heat 4 (25.42) just ahead of Mary Bass. Willow Steudeman qualified for her third individual final of the day winning Heat 1 (25.83) just ahead of Kaitlyn Pearson who just missed qualifying for the final by a tenth of a second.

4 x 400 Meter Relay

Aurora Christian’s title hopes took a blow when they finished twelfth overall in this event failing to qualify by less than a second. Illini West qualified their fourth and final relay for Saturday’s finals by winning Heat 4 (4:02.19) ahead of Bureau Valley and sectional time leader Erie-Prophetstown. Williamsville looked good and could carry away the relay title when they won Heat 1 (4:03.64) ahead of qualifiers Henry-Senachwine and Eureka. Mackinaw Deer Creek and Moweaqua Central A&M were the other heat winners.

Field Events

Long Jump

Amelia Glueck slammed the door on the competition in this event. She jumped a personal best 18-7 to open close to a foot lead ahead of Amanda McClain heading into Saturday’s final. Madison Meyer was only a quarter inch behind McClain in third.

Triple Jump

Nichyria Byrd (Ogden International, Chicago) jumped more than two feet better than her previous personal best to take the lead heading into Saturday’s final. Her jump of 38-3 ½ is more than a foot ahead of second place Tessa Holland.

High Jump

Defending champion Peyton Wade and Karissa Roman (Wethersfield HS, Kewanee) led seven other athletes to qualify for Saturday’s final. All qualifying athletes cleared 5-2.

Pole Vault

Morgan Zacharias (Reed-Custer HS, Braidwood) was the only athlete to clear 10-6. She will be the big favorite in Saturday’s final. Eleven other athletes qualified for the final clearing 10-0 including Bailey Reifsteck (Unity HS, Tolono).

Shot Put

Freshman Kathleen Young (Warrensburg-Latham HS) could be the next Illinois weight event superstar. She dominated Thursday’s preliminary round with a leading 42-6 put. She is almost three feet ahead of second place Mikah Maples (Central A&M HS, Moweaqua).

Discus

It is a closer battle between Young and Maples in this event. Young had the longest throw in the preliminary round (135-6), but it was only two feet ahead of Maples’ 133-4 effort.