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ILXCTF Illinois Distance Digest - January 19, 2023

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ILXCTF - Mike Newman   Jan 19th 2023, 5:32pm
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2 - David and Heitzig again ready to do special things in Class 2A

 

By Michael Newman

 

It was the quiet road that Tatum David of Richland County took to lead her to the end of a successful track season.

 

David missed most of her sophomore track season and junior cross country season at IMG Academy in Florida in 2021 due to injury. She moved back to Richland County before the start of last track season. Having not run competitively in almost a year, David opened her season running 5:14.59 for the 1 Mile Run in Louisville at the beginning of February.

 

She kept a low keyed approach to her season working on her fitness. That included running under 60 seconds for 400-meters and 2:13 for 800-meters at her conference meet at beginning of last May. She also ran 4:49 at a home invitational on April 21 and four days later running 10:25 at a meet in Herrin.

 

She had a little hiccup heading into state. She underestimated her pace on a steamy night at her sectional 3200 at Tolono Unity ended up running 11:35 (70 seconds slower than her season’s best) to win the race. David had to wait a couple of days before she found out that she would race in the second section of the 3200 at state. David did come back to run 4:54 to win the 1600 at the Tolono Sectional.

 

Her three races at Charleston were special. She again ran 4:54 to easily win her heat running the fastest prelim time on Friday morning.

 

Then came the finals on Saturday. In a fantastic Class 2A 3200 Meter Run race, David ran 10:04.02 becoming the fifth fastest female high school runner ever to win her second overall state championship in the 3200 Meter Run. She came back in running 4:47.52 to win the state title in the 1600 Meter Run.

 

She had a remarkable race 10 days later at the HOKA Festival of Miles. Her time of 4:42.15 won the High School Championship race. She ended up as the 1 fastest for the season in the country. She returns this season with the fourth fastest time nationally. Even more importantly, that time made her the second fastest Illinois runner ever for 1600/ 1 Mile.

 

Her cross-country season included winning the 2A State Championship for the second time, qualifying for both National Meets where she finished eighth at the Nike Cross Nationals. An ear infection forced her to withdraw from running in the Champs Nationals the following week.

 

The sky is the limit for this future student/athlete at the University of Virginia which she will start to attend this fall. It will be interesting to see what races she chooses to step into. Perhaps a national meet indoors. Then we will see what she chooses to run at state and then after that.

 

Katelynne Hart’s Illinois State Record of 4:39.57 for the mile is within reach as well as the 9:52.00 that Hart ran in the 3200 Meter Run. She is a good decision maker on what she runs. The focus will be running at her best in May and beyond.

 

Another state record from Heitzig?

The indoor season for Becca Heitzig of Lincoln started later than most other Illinois runners. Heitzig is one of the stars for the Lincoln Girls Basketball team that made it to the 3A Sectional finals where the Railsplitters lost to Mahomet-Seymour.

 

One week after her basketball season was over, Heitzig was back on the track racing. She ran 2:18.66 to win the 800 Meter Run at Illinois State. Her indoor season ended amazingly so by winning the 3200 Meter Run at the Illinois Top Times 2A meet in 10:45. She came back to finish third in the 400 Meter Dash. That is a testament of the distance range that this junior has.

 

Her focus last outdoor season was in the 800 Meter Run. She was undefeated in five races that she was in at that distance before state including winning the high stakes Distance Night in Palatine.

 

Similar to Tatum David, Heitzig save her best for the state meet. She had the second best prelim time in the 800 Meter Run behind Colleen Zeibert of Rochester. Heitzig ran 2:09.99 to set a new Class 2A State Meet record in claiming her first state title. She came back to run a 56.74 anchor split to get Lincoln to second-place in the 4x400 Meter Run. Heitzig came back at HOKA Festival of Miles to improve on her personal best down to 2:09.90 to finish fourth in that race.

 

Heitzig’s improved strength will take her places this spring. The junior finished third in the Class 2A State Meet last November. Her cross-country season had her placing third in any of her races.

 

She will defend her 800 title this May. We could see her step down to the 400 Meter Dash where she has the seventh fastest returning time. That state split time should be remembered. Her times should drop down even more, and she is only a junior. Clayton’s state meet record could be in danger from Heitzig that is Allison Ince doesn’t get it first.

 

Class 2A Notes / Thoughts

Where in most of the other classes in both Boys and Girls where we will be searching for new state champions, it will not be the case here. There is a good group of freshmen that could be difference makers. We will look at them in future articles.

 

Tatum David should be the favorite in the 3200 Meter Run if she chooses to defend her title. Three other runners that were all-state in 2022 are back. Mia Kotler of Latin School ran 10:28 to finish fourth last year and should be healthy this track season. The sophomore missed most of last cross-country season due to an injury. She ran in the three state series meets last fall ending up finishing fourth in Peoria.

 

Louisa Diamond of Benet Academy enters this season with the third fastest returning time in the 3200 Meter Run where she finished seventh last May in  the event. Diamond earned all-state honors last cross-country season by finishing 22nd in the 3A State Meet race. Sophomores Zoe Carter of Normal University and Ellen Anderson of Latin School finished ninth and tenth last year. Anderson missed last cross country season due to injury. She hopes to bounce back this spring. Jolene Cashmore of Johnsburg and Hanner Meiser of Civic Memorial had super cross-country seasons. Cashmore did not have her best race but will be a difference maker this spring. The same holds for Meiser who finished fifth in Peoria. She will be surprising people in May in either this event or the 1600 Meter Run.

 

The story is the same in the 1600 Meter Run where Tatum David is the defending champion and the only runner back that has a sub-5 time. Kotler, Diamond, and Meiser all were all-state in this event. Carter and Emma Smith of Dixon also made last year’s finals and could be difference makers in this distance.

 

Mabry Bruhn of Monticello is a runner to keep an eye on in both of these distances. Bruhn stood up in a big way last fall finally getting the Class 1A State title at Detweiller Park. Bruhn ran 11:22.74 for 3200-meters and 5:12.54 for 1600-meters. We should see those time take a considerable drop during this track season. Bruhn ran in the 800 Meter Run last year finishing sixth. Does she choose this distance in 2023?

 

The 800 Meter Run could be open in this event with just seven runners back that have run under 2:20. 11 of 12 runners were underclassmen in last year’s state finals which should make this event interesting.

 

Becca Heitzig is the 2A State record holder in the event and will be the runner that everyone chases at this distance. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester finished second behind Heitzig last spring. She could be the one runner to push the Lincoln junior.

 

Isabella Orozco of Aurora Central Catholic finished third last year and could get her time under 2:14 this spring. Gabrielle Walker of DePaul Prep made a step up in this event and finished fifth. Bruhn, Mia Menendez of Fenwick, Brodie Denny of Anna-Jonesboro, and Brooke Zeibert all were all-state last May.

 

Tatum David has the second fastest time back in this distance (2:12.43). We will watch her progress in the event this spring. A time near 2:10 during that time could give her a chance to think about a possible distance triple in Charleston. It’s farfetched but something to keep an eye on.

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