Road to Charleston - A view of the 2023 IHSA 2A Girls Sectional Distance Events

By Michael Newman

The top distance event sectional by far in Class 2A and perhaps throughout the three state classes will take place Thursday at Rantoul. It makes sense when you have all three defending state champions in those distance events. Tatum David of Richland County is a big favorite in the 3200 Meter Run and 1600 Meter Run after running state all time bests in those two events. Becca Heitzig of Lincoln is the defending champion in the 800 Meter Run setting the Class 2A State Record in last year’s state meet.

The two runners will face each other in two events. Heitzig and David have the top two Class 2A  fastest times in the 800 Meter Run. Both will come back in the 1600 Meter Run again with the two runners having the state’s fastest times in Class 2A.

11 Sectionals will take place in Class 2A on Wednesday and Thursday. Here is a view of each of those sectionals focusing on distance events.

Class 2A State Qualifying Times

4x8 – 10:13.80; 3200 – 11:47.40; 800 – 2:25.60; 1600 – 5:26.30

Wednesday, May 10

Hillcrest – This is not the roughest of all distance sectionals in Class 2A. We should, however, see some close races. None of the runners in the 800 Meter Run have bests under the state qualifying time of 2:25.60. Three runners will be racing after the two auto-qualifying spots. Jadie Chavez of St. Laurence (2:29.35) has the top seed time ahead of Ella Heinen of Joliet Catholic and Sorin Olinger of Agricultural Science. Claire Blotnik of Joliet Catholic is the only distance runner in this sectional that has a time under state qualifying standards. Blotnik’s 5:23.49 is the fastest time in the 1600 Meter Run by almost 20 seconds. Chavez is next with a 5:41.10 time. No one else is within 15 seconds of Chavez. There are only seven runners entered in the 3200 Meter Run. Madeline Bitunjac of Agricultural Science has the top time (12:27.04) by almost one minute. Blotnik is expected to anchor Joliet Catholic’s quartet in the 4x800m Relay. They enter with a 10:34.89 best and almost 45 seconds ahead of Agricultural Science, St. Laurence, and Evergreen Park.

Kankakee – Normal University heads east to this sectional and could get multiple qualifiers out of this meet. There are four runners that are under the 3200 Meter Run standard of 11:47.40. Zoe Carter of Normal University leads the field with a season’s best of 10:50.63 (2A #4). Natalie Bierbaum could be close to her teammate in this race. She has not run the entire outdoor season with her best of 10:57.64 when she finished second at Illinois Top Times. If Bierbaum is healthy, she could advance to state. Joy Dudley of Morris ran 11:08.11 (2A #7) at Distance Night in Palatine and could push Carter for the win. Audrey Heil of Metamora is under the state qualifying standard. She could make it to Charleston with a good race in this sectional. There are three runners under the standard with two more runners close in the 1600 Meter Run. Carter leads the way with a 5:10.45 (2A #6) time. Taygen Beyer of Morton could contend for the win. Dudley and Heil could go under the 5:26.3 standard. Bierbaum could be in that mix too if she is healthy. The top four runners in the 800 Meter Run are within two seconds of each other led by Avery Braker of Morton (2:22.23). Anna Bieber of Olympia, Sophie Krueger of Morton, and Lana Alcorn of Normal University will all be in the mix for the win in this event. Krueger and Beyer will be part of Morton’s quartet in the 4x800m Relay. The Potters time of 9:46.31 comes from their time indoors. They have a best 9:55.55 outdoors (2A #5). Normal University will be in the hunt for the win having run 9:57.35 (2A #6) this season. Olympia is within seven seconds of the state standard. A good race gets them to Charleston.

Richmond-Burton – Lulu Ton-That of Northside Prep will be the runner to watch in the 800 Meter Run in this sectional. The sophomore has already run 2:16.21 (2A #5) this season and will be the favorite in this meet. Becca Runyan of Lakes is six seconds behind Ton-That and should lead the pack challenging for second. Keira Bogott of Woodstock and Madison Perez of Lakes could make it to Charleston with races under their seasonal best. Izzy Bing of Carmel Catholic is the top seed in both of the other distance races. Bing (11:23.12) is over 30 seconds ahead oof Alexia Spatz of Richmond-Burton and Paige-Elicia Caruth of Lakes in the 3200 Meter Run. It should be closer in the 1600 Meter Run with Bing and Madison Twarling of Lakes within a second of each other. Lakes finished second in the 4x800m Relay in last year’s state meet. The Eagles will start their drive to a state as the favorite in this sectional. Lakes enters this meet with a 9:54.40 (2A #3) best. Carmel Catholic has a gap of 20 seconds behind Lakes and 20 ahead of the rest of the pack. The Corsairs should make it to the state meet in this event.

Ridgewood – Two of the Class 2A distance runners in the state will be featured in this meet. Louisa Diamond of Benet Academy ran a personal best of 10:44.95 (2A #2) at Glenbard North at the end of April. Colette Kinsella of Nazareth Academy achieved a personal best of 11::02.26 (2A #6) at the East Suburban Catholic Conference Meet last Wednesday. The two runners should be the runners that will be the automatic qualifiers in the 3200 Meter Run. Bella Daley of Fenwick, Chiara Surtz of Rosary, and Sydney Gersten of Montini all have times under the qualifying standards and should make it to state with good races. The talent in the 1600 Meter Run is deep with as many as seven runners advancing out of this sectional. Kinsella enters with the top time of 5:05.02 from the indoor season. Diamond is next with a 5:09.94 (2A #5) best from Distance Night in Palatine. Cecilia Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic, Gersten, Daley, Surtz, and Delilah Helenhouse of Benet Academy all have shots to advance to Charleston. Three runners qualifying in the 800 Meter Run from this sectional are a possibility. Isabella Orozco Of Aurora Central Catholic leads this group at 2:18.43 (2A #7) followed by her freshman teammate Hilby at 2:19.04 (2A #8). Mia Menendez of Fenwick ran a strong race at Illinois Top Times running 2:20.30. She should also make it to state with an under qualifying time. The top five teams in the 4x800m Relay are within 10 seconds of each other. However, none of these teams have run under the 10:13.80 state standard. Fenwick and Rosary have both run 10:27 this season. Benet Academy has a 10:31 best. They will be the teams to keep an eye on up front.

Thursday, May 11

Chicago University – This sectional, held at St. Ignatius College Prep, looks to be a meet where just the top two finishers in the distance events will advance to the state meet. Lucia Muthu of Chicago University leads the field in the 3200 Meter Run with a 12:24.16 best time. Cristin Moreno of Hancock leads the pack behind Muthu in this eight runner field. Muthu is also the top seed in the 1600 Meter Run. Her time of 5:34.77 is more than 20 seconds ahead of the rest of the field with only three runners entered that have run under six-minutes. Samantha Soto of De La Salle is the top seed in the 800 Meter Run (2:34.19). Chicago University and De La Salle look to be the teams to advance out of the 4x800m Relay.

Civic Memorial – Rochester ran a Class 2A leading 9:30.38 time last week in the Central State Eight Conference Meet. The Rockets are more than 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Three more teams with Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, Troy-Triad, and Highland are possibilities to all make it to state. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester finished second in last year’s state meet in the 800 Meter Run. Zeibert has run 2:12.5 this season (2A #3) which is more than eight seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Payton Frey of Highland with a 2:20.88 best (2A #10) leads the field behind Zeibert. Maggie Fleischli of Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and Brooke Zeibert of Rochester could also have a shot of making the Charleston trip. Hannah Meiser of Bethalto Civic Memorial should be the big favorite in the 3200 Meter Run. Meiser’s season’s best of 11:23.02 is more than 40 seconds ahead of Riley Doyle of Roxana and Eris Nelson of Belleville Althoff Catholic. Meiser looks to be the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run seeded at 5:13.94. Vivian Rahmel of Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and Ashley Zeibert of Rochester along with Kennedy Bowman of Troy Triad could all be state qualifiers in this event.

Galesburg – Dunlap could have the advantage in this meet having the top seed time in all three individual events. Saniya Mathew of Dunlap enters this sectional with the top seed in both the 800 and 1600 Meter Run. Mathew’s seed time of 2:22.21 is five seconds ahead of Jaide Flowers of Galesburg. Flowers has a five second advantage ahead of the rest of the field. Mathew has a seed time of 5:19.52 in the 1600 Meter Run. She is 15 seconds ahead of Michaela Pilgrim of Bartonville Limestone and Olivia Knowles of Canton. Abby Tudeen is an overwhelming favorite in the 3200 Meter Run. Tudeen ran 11:20.08 (2A #10) at Morton Distance Gala at the end of April. She is more than a minute ahead of the rest of the field. Peoria Notre Dame at 10:06.72 and Dunlap at 10:10.61 are the top teams in the 4x800m Relay.

Latin School – This meet, held at Hope Academy, should have some top individual performances. Only eight runners are entered in the 3200 Meter Run. Mia Kotler of Latin School is the big favorite in this race with her 10:46.13 time (2A #3) leading the way. The sophomore is more than 80 seconds ahead of Grace Moller of DePaul College Prep and Ellen Anderson of Latin School will challenge for the second state spot. It could be close in the 1600 Meter Run. Kotler at 5:06.72 is the top seed and will be pushed by Josephine Dziedzic of Payton Prep who has a seed time just 10 seconds behind Kotler. Gabrielle Walker of DePaul Prep is the favorite in the 800 Meter Run. Walker’s time of 2:14.06 (2A #4) is 10 seconds faster than the field led by Kiala Colbert of Westinghouse Prep and Abigail Arseneau of DePaul Prep who could both qualify. DePaul Prep ran 10:00.98 (2A #7) and has a 44 second advantage ahead of Payton Prep in the 4x800m Relay. Both teams should get to state in this relay.

Mascoutah – We could see a number of multiple runner qualifiers in this sectional’s three distance events. Brodie Denny of Anna-Jonesboro has a 5:11.43 2A #8) season’s best and will be the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run. We could see four qualifiers total in this sectional with Angelynn Kanyuck of Waterloo, Molly Robertson of Carterville, and Danielle Mudd of Waterloo should all challenge for second. Three runners could make it to state out of the 3200 Meter Run. Miah Gilmore of Murphysboro could be challenged by Cameron Crump of Waterloo and Carterville’s Robertson for the win. The 800 Meter Run will be wide-open led by Ellary Blakey of Herrin and Mariah Cramer of Mascoutah as the top two seeded runners. Three teams are expected to qualify for state in the 4x800m Relay. Anna-Jonesboro’s time of 9:55.25 (2A #4) makes them the slight favorite ahead of Mascoutah (10:01.17, 2A #8) and Waterloo (10:10.79). All three teams are under the 10:13.80 qualifying standard.

Rantoul – This sectional meet is so deep in talent especially with defending state champions Tatum David and Becca Heitzig leading the way. David doubled in the 3200 and 1600 in last year’s state meet. Her improvement in the 800 Meter Run this year has her adding this race to her state meet. Consider last week at the Little Illini Conference Meet David ran 10:26.69, 2:12.73, and 4:40.38. There could be five runners that qualify for state in the 3200 Meter Run. David’s all-time state best of 9:48.94 is more than 70 seconds ahead of Mabry Bruhn of Monticello (11:01.40, 2A #6) and Erica Woodard of Tolono Unity (11:16.34, 2A #10) lead a talented field behind David. Mt. Zion’s Ellie Fritzsche and Renee Ballard are both under the state qualifying standard and could also advance to Charleston. The 800 Meter Run field is red-hot led by Heitzig and David. We could see up to nine runners advance to state in this event. Sofia Munoz of Mt. Zion has a best of 2:18.17 (2A #6) followed by Bruhn at 2:20.30 (2A #9) who will be doubling back from the 3200 Meter Run. Tolono Unity’s Camryn Reedy and Mackenzie Pound, Lexi Lord of Clinton, Camille Mavis of Mt. Zion, and Jessica Larsen of Effingham are runners to watch for qualifying. David’s state leading time of 4:40.38 heads the field in the 1600 Meter Run. Heitzig has run 4:53.0 (hand-timed) during the season and could push David if she needs to. There are four runners under 5:15 that could qualify for state in this race if they choose to compete on Thursday. Ava Boyd of Mahomet-Seymour leads the pack having run 5:11.77 (2A #9). Munoz will be coming back from the 4x8 and 800. This would be Bruhn’s third distance race if she is in this event. Woodard will be doubling back from the 3200. Tolono Unity is the favorite in the 4x800m Relay with the second fastest time in Class 2A (9:34.32). Defending state champion Mt. Zion is a good bet to qualify in this event along with Clinton.

Sterling – The focus athlete in this sectional should be Sundara Weber of Sandwich. The freshman ran 10:50.11 indoors to win at Illinois Top Times. Weber ran 10:51 in an early season outdoor meet at the beginning of April and is currently ranked #5 in Class 2A. There are five runners almost one minute behind Weber and within 10 seconds of each other led by Avery Engle of Galena and Nina Fiore of Belvidere North. We could have only the two auto qualifiers advance to state or as many as five runners making that Charleston trip. Weber again will be the favorite in the 1600 Meter Run having a 4:59.25 (2A #4) outdoor best. Eight runners are between 5:26 to 5:34 led by Engle and Abigail Burke of Burlington Central. None of the eight runners have gone under the 5:26.30 state qualifying time but are close. Hannah Steinmeyer of Dixon leads the field in the 800 Meter Run with a 2:21.67. She is four seconds ahead of the field led by Reese Kohnle of Rockford Boylan and Arianna Pedrin of Galena. Rock Falls, Dixon, and Sterling Newman are within two seconds of each other in the 4x800m Relay. Rock Falls is the top seed at 10:10.56. All three teams could advance to the state meet.