ILXCTF.com 2022 IHSA Girls Track & Field Previews - 3A Distances

By Michael Newman [email protected]

There was a four hour wait at the 3A Girls State Finals because of thunderstorms last June hit the Charleston area before runners took the track before one of the most anticipated races of the night, the 1600 Meter Run. A roar could be heard all across Coles County in Charleston’s O’Brien Field as Ali Ince ran the second fastest time ever for an Illinois runner and a new state record. Josephine Welin, who had earlier won the 3200 Meter Run, finished second with the third fastest 1600 time.

The earth, the moon, and the starts were aligned that night. The runners that were in those races took advantage of that moment. We will not see anything like that in the near future. 2021 was a year that the COVID-19 pandemic altered the state schedule where there were no prelims but all finals. It benefitted the distances because no prelims and running multiple races in a 24-hour period and fresher legs. Too bad on June 12 temperatures before that storm climbed into the 90’s.

Will we see the kind of doubles that were produced on that Saturday at EIU? Not likely. We do have some talented athletes that could put together some unforgettable races.

There is also a good freshman class coming in for Class 3A. It is hard to tell where these youngsters fit in. Scout Storms of Barrington, Holly Johnson of Downers Grove South, and Juliet Frum of Glenbrook North were all state last fall in Class 3A while Hadley Ferrero of Crystal Lake Central finished fourth in the 2A race. Freshmen like Sofia Arcuri of Maine South, Nicole Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South, and Gabby Thanos of Hinsdale Central could put up some fast times this season. Time will tell over the next couple of months.

Here is a look at the three distance events for the Class 3A 2022 season.

3200 Meter Run

Notes – Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest won the state title in this event in 2021. One week later at a meet in Chicago, She ran the fourth fastest time ever for an Illinois runner (10:03.72). A stress fracture during last summer slowed her down through a good portion of the cross-country season. Welin still won the state title but just by three seconds. A good injury free winter of training could put her in position to put up some great times during this track season. Welin returns with the fastest time at this distance by 37 seconds. The question will be if she finds the right race and conditions outdoors she could dip under 10-minutes.

The talent is deep in this event. Six all-state runners are back. 12 runners are back that ran under 11-minutes. Aly Negovetich of Grant only finished ninth in this state race last year in the heat. She had a great cross-country season finishing only three seconds behind Welin. Negovetich ran 10:40 last spring. Watch for a significant drop of time this spring. Sophia McNerney of Downers Grove South had a great state race last spring finishing second running a 10:44 personal best in the process. McNerney did not finish the way that she wanted last fall. Watch for this senior to bounce back during this track season.

Caroline Schoen of Homewood-Flossmoor also did not finish the way she wanted last fall. Her season up to state was great having run 17:01 at Naperville Twilight. She ran 10:49.26 during the season and did finish sixth in Charleston. Her time should drop this spring. Grace Schager of Glenbard North finished fourth last fall at Detweiller Park. She finished fifth last June in Charleston. She will be a runner to watch in 2022. Morgan Mackie of Loyola Academy fought through injuries last fall after finishing sixth in this event last spring. We could see some big things from her in this track season.

Bria Bennis of York was all-state last June finishing eighth. Her teammate Katherine Klimek finished tenth. Klimek took a big step up during cross-country finishing seventh in Peoria and along with Bennis helped York win a state championship. Both runners will continue to improve this spring. Lucy Westlake of Naperville North is a runner that we will see in the front in races. Evelyn Hett of Jones Prep missed the end of last cross-country season due to injury. She did run 11:09.43 during last spring. The improvement we saw from this junior last fall leads us to believe she will be among the elite runners in Class 3A. Mia Pasha of Warren only ran 11:39.55 for this distance last spring. She did improve to finishing sixth at state last fall in Peoria. It will be fun to see the improvement she exhibits on the track in the next couple of months.

800 Meter Run

Notes – Ali Ince of Normal Community had an unbelievable freshman season in 2021. As the season came to a conclusion, those performances less unbelievable. Ince broke the All-Time Illinois best for the first time with a 2:04.10 time at Distance Night in Palatine. She concluded the season winning at Brooks PR and lowering her best to 2:03.98. Ince ended last year running four of the five fastest times ever for the distance by an Illinois athlete. And this was by only a freshman.

Her sophomore season should be just as good perhaps even better. I am guessing that one of her goals will be getting the IHSA State Meet Record in May. She just missed Courtney Clayton’s 2:07.05 state record by just one hundredth of a second. The sky is the limit for Ince. Let’s see how high she climbs this spring.

There is talent in this event with five all-state runners coming back. Bella Domier of Grayslake Central also had a great freshman season that culminated with running 2:12.64 and finishing second at state. Catie McCabe of Hinsdale Central concentrated on the 1600 Meter Run at last year’s state meet. She did run 2:12.98 at a post-season meet and returns with the fourth fastest time. Audrey Allman of Glenbard West finished sixth at state just behind Jordyn Miller of Mundelein. Both athletes could challenge Domier for the second spot.

Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich and Naomi Ruff of South Elgin were both all-state and return to better last year’s finish. Katrina Schlenker of Batavia ran 2:12.49 last year in this distance but did not have the race she wanted in Charleston. She could be a factor in this event. She could also earn all-state honors in either the 3200 or 1600 is she chooses to compete in those events. Audrey and Lily Ginsberg of Prospect will be a key part of their team in defending their 4x800m title. Both could have times near to 2:10-2:11 by the time we get to May.

1600 Meter Run

Notes – The 2021 final of this event was the fastest run in Girls State Meet history. Not only did we see the second and third fastest Illinois Girls times ever but also saw 12 runners run under five minutes in that race. It took 4:56.03 to earn all-state honors. The last state meet we had in 2019, it took 5:05 to finish ninth.

I do not think we will see the times that we saw last June. The return of our regular IHSA schedule with prelims on Friday afternoon and then the finals the next afternoon. It will take some decisions to decide whether to focus on one race our go for the double.

The two runners I expect to see doubling is Ali Ince of Normal Community and Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest. Their race last year was memorable. It might not be as fast as we saw last fall. It could be just as memorable between these two fantastic runners.

There are three other all-state runners back besides Ince and Welin. There are nine runners back that ran under five minutes. We have not seen that kind of depth to start a season. Catie McCabe of Hinsdale Central finished fourth last year and leads that pack. Katrina Schlenker of Batavia, who finished sixth, and Naomi Ruff of South Elgin, who finished ninth, also have the talent to earn all-state honors again. Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich, Brooke Berger of York, and Rachel Soukup of Prairie Ridge were all under five in that state race. All three improved last fall. All three could put up some fast times this spring.

Aly Negovetich was all-state in the 3200 but missed the top nine in this race. We saw what she did in the fall. Her time could dramatically drop in this distance. Bella Domier of Grayslake Central, Sophia McNerney of Downers Grove South, Caroline Schoen of Homewood-Flossmoor, and Katelyn Winton of York are some of a large group of runners that could be ready to take the next step up in this event.