By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

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There are so many things to watch in the prelims on Friday leading to the finals Saturday in his 2A State Meet.

Mariya Hudson ends her high school career qualifying in four individual events. How many points will she score to get Cahokia towards their fourth straight 2A team championship?

Dunlap has 21 qualifiers in Charleston. They will need to have a clean Friday prelim to position themselves for a state championship. 12 or more qualifiers advancing would be great news for the Eagles.

Imani Carothers won three individual events in 2016. Can she repeat that this weekend? She did not win the Triple Jump at her sectional. It will be interesting to see how she responds.

Here is a look at each of the events that will take place this weekend.

FIELD EVENTS

Shot Put

This weight event could come down to Centralia’s Latavia Maines and A’veun Moore of Mt. Vernon to decide the state title. Maines has gone undefeated this season with her 48-1.25 throw at her conference meet ranked in the top ten nationally. Moore has a best of 46-5 and will be Maines chief competition. There is a gap of close to four feet between these two and the rest of the pack. Bridget Bishop of Boylan Catholic, Tayla Schwarz of Dixon, and DeAmbrea Brown of Manual Academy all have gone past 42-feet and could fight for the third (or better) place. Makenna Wilson of Charleston, Streator’s Kaylynne Terry, and Nikita Maines of Centralia all have the talent to be within the first five places.

Discus

I think this event could be closer than people expect A’veun Moore was the longest 2A throw (144-10) by more than 10-feet ahead of Dixon’s Tayla Schwarz. Moore had the longest sectional throw (135-0) ahead of Makenna Wilson by seven feet. Abby Crider-Williams of Carbondale, Schwarz, and Lanaeja Carter of Urbana were all over 120-feet at sectionals. All are capable of winning. Cassie Perry of Mahomet-Seymour and Kelly Pottorff of Triad are athletes that could find their way into one of the top spots.

High Jump

Diamonasia Taylor of Urbana has the top 2A mark clearing 5-7 three times this season. The freshman cleared a personal best 5-8 indoors to win the Illinois Top Times Championships. She has showed in her short high school career that she is a “money” jumper. She could win her first state championship on Saturday. Charleston’s Sarah Flight and Paige Minor have cleared 5-5 or higher outdoors and could be Taylor’s biggest threats. Bryleigh Buchanan of Harrisburg would be an athlete to keep an eye on.

Pole Vault

This class could be the toughest of the three classifications in this event. Aliyah Welter of Monticello has showed this season she is the state’s top athlete in the Pole Vault. The junior cleared 13-0 outdoors having a one foot difference ahead of the rest of the qualifiers. Cierra Kuipers of Kaneland, Josephine Held of Mt. Zion, and Sydney Bertschy of Dunlap have all cleared 12-0 his spring and could challenge for the state title. Stephanie Jacobs of Freeburg and Taylor Millsap of Tolono Unity are athletes with the capability of clearing 12-feet getting them into the top five.

Long Jump

This is the high-powered field event in 2A. Imani Carothers of Brooks College Prep and Erika Furbeck finished 1-2 in last year’s final. The two will challenge each other again on Friday and Saturday. Both athletes have jumped 19-9 this season. Carothers has the most recent as she jumped that distance at the Thornridge Sectional. Furbeck jumped 18-9 last week. Camile Osborne of Rich South was a surprise when she jumped 18-11 behind Carothers. Can she duplicate that again this weekend?

Aanise Sajna of Dunlap and Mariya Hudson of Cahokia have both gone past 19-feet this season and a are a threat to win the championship. Shay Scheri of LaSalle-Peru, LaQwasia Stepney of Cahokia, and Serena Bolden of Springfield Southeast are close to 19-feet and could go past that mark in this meet. If the conditions are right, it could take a 20-foot or better jump to win this event.

Triple Jump

Imani Carothers is the defending champion and could have problems winning her second straight title. She finished second at Thornridge last week behind the 38-9.75 winning jump by Rich Central’s Jayla Campbell. Carothers does have the longest 2A mark this season (39-8.75). It is only three quarters of an inch ahead of Springfield Southeast’s Serena Bolden’s best seasonal effort. It looks like these three athletes will challenge for the state title. Keep an eye on Aanise Sajna as well as Dominique Anderson of Illinois Math & Science Academy. Both are capable of going past 39-feet. Both are capable of finishing among the first three.

SPRINTS / HURDLES

100 Meter Hurdles

Imani Carothers ran a wind-aided 13.92 to win this event last season. She could repeat that in this meet. She has the fastest 2A time this season run at the Chicago City Championships. She ran 14.35 to win her sectional. LaQwasia Stepney ran 14.21 to win last week at Springfield Southeast. Both could push each other under 14 seconds in the finals. There is a gap of close of four tenths of a second between Carothers / Stepney and the rest of the pack. Dontavia Howard of Springfield Southeast, Paige Chrisopher of Galena, Jayla Crosby of Cahokia, and Vicky Ignacik of Ridgewood will challenge for the third-place spot.

100 Meter Dash

It could come down to two runners in winning his race. Both Katina Martin of Decatur Eisenhower and Mariya Hudson have run under 12-seconds this season with their seasonal bests within four hundredths of each other with Martin’s 11.70 the best in the state. Kiara Pauli of Dunlap and Erika Furbeck along with St. Viator’s Elizabeth Drab are the best bets to challenge Martin or Hudson for the crown. Drab’s 12.35 at sectionals was run in horrible conditions. She finished fourth last year and could place higher on Saturday. Nicole Sreenan of Kaneland, Olivia Strong of Morgan Park, and Brittany Hollie of Rich South all have the talent to finish among the top five.

400 Meter Dash

Elizabeth Drab is the defending champion but will be pushed in this event. She has the third fastest time in 2A (56.16) behind Decatur Eisenhower’s Tina Martin (54.80) and Mariya Hudson (54.90). Don’t let Drab’s times fool you. Her 56.54 sectional time was run in a driving rainstorm. She is capable of running under 55-seconds. The three pushing each other could get their times between 54.1 and 54.2 if the conditions are right. Raven Moore of Springfield Southeast ran 56.38 in her sectional race and could be a surprise in the first three. Jayla Campbell and Likkaya Keys of Rich South could go under 57-seconds. They could challenge for a place fifth or higher.

300 Meter Hurdles

Kayla Best of Wheaton Academy was not on anyone’s radar at the beginning of the 2017 season. The junior has run great all season entering this meet with the fastest 2A time in the state (43.98) run las week a Glenbard South. LaQwasia Stepney ran 44.39 last week and is the only 2A athlete to run under 45-seconds his season. It will be these two to challenge for the state championship. Vicky Igancik, Dunlap’s Sarah Georgieff, and Jade Mayes of Westinghouse Prep will be the chief challengers in this event.

200 Meter Dash

It could be Decatur Eisenhower’s Martin sisters challenging Mariya Hudson for the even championship. Hudson has the fastest 2A time (24.07) followed by Tina (24.20) and Katina (24.23). Elizabeth Drab ran 25.42 last week but again, we must remember the conditions she ran in. Drab finished third behind Hudson last year and will be near the front again. Kiara Pauli and Raven Moore both have run under 25-seconds and will challenge for a spot on the podium possibly the first five. Carrine Parker of Morgan Park, Erin Long of Sterling, and Jyana Anderson of Urbana are some of the other runners to watch in this event.

DISTANCE EVENTS

3200 Meter Run

Grace McLaughlin of Boylan Catholic pushed Maryjeanne Gilbert most of last year’s state race at this distance before Gilbert pulled away for the win. The question now is who will push McLaughlin on Saturday? The junior ran a solo 10:31 in her sectional last week winning by 43 seconds. Ayah Aldadah of Dunlap, Jenna Schwartz of Waterloo, Margaret McPherson of Sterling, and Libby Cultra of Urbana all ran 11:00 or faster in April at Palatine. All are 24 seconds or more behind McLaughlin. This could be a race against the clock for McLaughlin and a race for second place for everyone else. Jordan Harmon of Tolono Unity, Franny Verville of Dunlap, Megan Safranski of Burlington Central, and Maya Stovall of Macomb all could challenge for the second-place spot.

800 Meter Run

Rachel Hickey of LaSalle-Peru is back to defend her state title that she won last year. The junior has gone undefeated his season at this distance and has the fastest 2A time in the state (2:13.69). Her closest competition in this race should come from Abby Fioresi of Aurora Central Catholic. The senior finished second indoors to Hickey at Illinois Top Times and third last month at Distance Night in Palatine. Fioresi ran 2:13.84 last week at Glenbard South. The two could push each other to fast times in Saturday’s finals.

Brooke Delahanty of Rosary ran 2:16.39 last week finishing behind Fioresi and will be a factor in this event. Mackenzie Dixon of Mascoutah, Madeline Bruce of Marion, and Gillian Fiene of Illiana Christian are some of the other runners to watch in this event.

1600 Meter Run

It could have benefitted Boylan Catholic’s Delaney Appino that the 3200 Meter Relay team that she ran on last week did not qualify for the state meet. She can now put all of her attention on this race where she has a good chance to win. Appino and her teammate Grace McLaughlin have the top two 2A times heading to Charleston. Both could push each other to times under 5 minutes. It is tough to see anyone get close to them. Abby Fioresi will be coming back from the 800 Meer Run. ha could be a tough double for her. Claire Hengebaugh of Rosary, Rachel Richman of Kaneland, and Franny Verville all have run under 5:11 and could push for a top finish. Jordan Harmon, Jenna Mirande of Limestone, and Olivia Rosenstein of Urbana all have the talent to get close to 5:05 and under and place among the first five.

RELAYS

4x800 Meter Relay

Dunlap’s strength in the relays start in his event. The Eagles ran the fastest 2A time in the state (9:36.82) in last week’s sectional ahead of Washington. Both teams could push each other to times under 9:30 in the state finals. Washington is the defending state champion and should have all four of last year’s runners in Charleston. Kaneland, led by freshman Rachel Richtman, ran 9:38.83 last week and will be one of the teams to challenge up front. Rock Falls, Dixon and Eureka are teams that will challenge for an all-state position. Rosary, Freeburg, and Sterling are teams that should be watched.

4x100 Meter Relay

Dunlap seems to be the favorite in this event with the fastest 2A time this season (47.94). Cahokia ran 47.99 in April but that was with Mariya Hudson part of the quartet. Hudson will be in four individual events and not part of the relay. The Lady Comanches should still be watched. Springfield Southeast could be the team to win having run 48.10 last week. Lanphier, along with Southeast, were ahead of Cahokia last week and could push for top spots. Decatur Eisenhower has run 48.33 this year and could challenge. Rich Central, Urbana, and Marian Catholic are other teams that could surprise in this relay.

4x200 Meter Relay

Cahokia has the fastest 2A time (1:40.98) but that had Mariya Hudson in their quartet. Dunlap has run 1:41.68 this year and should be the race favorite. They have a time of more than one and a half seconds in front of the rest of the qualifiers. Urbana, Lanphier, Morgan Park, Rochelle, and Kaneland are teams that will be Dunlap’s chief competition.

4x400 Meter Relay

This could be the closest relay race of the night. The top three teams (Dunlap, Rochelle, and Springfield Southeast) all have sectional times within three tenths of a second of each other. It could be anyone’s race with Cahokia, Lanphier, LaSalle-Peru, Aurora Central Catholic, and Eureka all having the times to run near or under four minutes. A time of 3:55 or faster should be the winning time.