ILXCTF.com 2022 IHSA Girls Track & Field Previews - 1A Sprints/Hurdles

By Michael Newman [email protected]

We entered the 2021 track & field season not even knowing who Tuscola’s Alyssa Williams was. Williams moved to the United States from Jamaica in 2018. She missed her first two seasons of track. Her freshman year she was sidelined with an injury. Her sophomore season was sidelined just like anyone else by the COVID-19 pandemic.

She jumped into the spotlight last season culminating with winning three individual titles in the Class 1A State Meet in June. Williams also helped her Tuscola teammates in the 4x200 Meter Relay finishing sixth in the state finals. Williams will be the reason of why Tuscola could challenge for a state trophy at the end of May.

Williams is a well-rounded athlete having played on Tuscola’s football team last fall and making contributions to it. She grew up around track & field in Jamaica and has said publicly that this sport is her first love. Alyssa Williams was a surprise at last year’s state finals. This spring she could steal the spotlight in Charleston.

Here is a look at the three sprint events and two hurdle events that are on the IHSA schedule for Class 1A.

100 Meter Dash

Notes – The movement of Belleville Althoff from Class 1A to Class 2A for the next two years takes a good group of their sprinters up a class. There is room for athletes in this event to step up with four all-state athletes coming back. The one sprinter that might be hard to overtake is Tuscola’s Alyssa Williams. The senior was dominant last spring culminating by running 12.10 to win in the state finals. She could have eyes on going under 12 seconds in her senior campaign.

Maria Lambert of Aurora Christian appears to be Williams’ closest competition having finished fourth in 2021 but with a seasonal best of 12.48. Kaitlyn Vahling of Teutopolis and Megan Becker of Bloomington Central Catholic were all-state last season and could close the gap.

Bre Close of Hoopeston Area started off last year running 12.54. She did not have her best race in Charleston finishing 17th. This junior could be someone to watch for this season.

Juniors Teagan Morley of Pleasant Plains and Jaela Pierson of Peoria Heights could be challenging this year for top five finishes. Kate McCann of Wilmington, Alonda Shelton of New Berlin, and Taylor Jones of Downs Tri-Valley are some of the other athletes to watch for in this event.

400 Meter Dash

Notes – This could be the toughest of the three sprint events in this classification. Four all-state athletes are back from 2021 along with three other athletes that finished in the top 12. All eyes should be on Megan Becker in this one lap event. The senior from Bloomington Central Catholic chased down defending state champion Nariah Parks in last year’s finals to claim the title for her own. Becker has some great times in all three sprint events. This distance is her best.

Only two athletes in this event are back that ran sub-60 seconds in 2021. Nakeita Kessling of Henry-Senachwine, who finished fifth last year, and Lindley Johnston of Stark County, who finished eighth in Charleston, are the two runners that could challenge Becker by the time we get to state. Brooke Oakley of Warrensburg-Latham finished seventh I 2021 with a best of 1:00.24, should go under 60 seconds by May and could be the runner to challenge the defending champion.

Laney Hemrich of Newton, Lauren Althaus of Amboy, and Cate McDaniels of Westmont all finished in the top 12 and could challenge for top five finishes. Junior Cambria Geyer of Tremont just missed sub 60 last year (1:00.03) and could be the surprise in this event. Gabrielle Alongi of DuQuoin finished in the top 15 along with Geyer and could be someone also to keep an eye on.

200 Meter Dash

Notes – This event is wide-open for someone to step into the top three at state. It is hard to see anyone overtaking defending champion Alyssa Williams in this event. Williams is ready to take the next step into the top realm of sprinters in this state. She should go under 25 seconds How far below that mark will be something to watch for as this season progresses.

There are three other athletes that are back and that are all-state. The closest is Kaitlyn Vahling. Grace Nelson of Altamont is a star in the hurdles. She finished eighth last year and could be the athlete to challenge Williams. Maria Lambert placed in this event along with the 100. She will again be a factor in this event. Megan Becker along with Halle Nugent of Kankakee McNamara finished in the top 12 last year. Both should finish higher in 2022.

100 Meter Hurdles

Notes – Four all-state athletes are back from the 2021 state meet. All four athletes earned those honors as freshmen or sophomores. This is a young group. Six athletes are back that ran under 16 seconds. Grace Nelson of Altamont leads this group having run 14.86 to finish second as a freshman. Cambria Geyer of Tremont also was under 15 seconds (14.91) as she finished third just behind Nelson. These two athletes should challenge for the state title in May.

Elly Jones of Amboy, who finished sixth, and Shelby McGee of Salt Fork, who finished seventh, should be the chief competition for Nelson and Geyer. Newark teammates Megan Williams and Kiara Wesseh should challenge for top five state finishes. Campbell Schrank of Winnebago, Jalynn Wood of DuQuoin, and Katie Cox of Pittsfield are some of the many athletes to watch as this season progresses.

300 Meter Hurdles

Notes – Grace Nelson is one of the favorites in the shorter of the two Class 1A hurdle races. She is even a bigger favorite at this distance as the defending champion. Nelson has the fastest time of all the returning athletes by over two seconds. The sophomore could go under 44 seconds in this campaign and could win all four state championships in this event by the time she graduates. She is the top hurdler regardless of classification. Let us see how fast she will go.

This is an extremely tough event behind Nelson with five other all-state athletes returning. Katie Cox finished third at state and could be the closest to Nelson. Cadi Hu of Urbana University, Maci Tosh of Goreville, Elly Jones of Amboy, and Nikkie Shaffer of Pleasant Plains all earned all-state honors last year and will be in the mix for it again this spring.

Ellie Ten Eyck of Pittsfield, Shelby Corbett of Kankakee McNamara, and Lillian Arnettis of Maroa-Forsyth are some of many runners to watch out for during this seasonal campaign.