Preview: 6 IHSA Class 1A Girls Sectional Distance Meets to Watch

By Michael Newman

There are so many storylines in each of the 14 Class 1A Sectionals to watch for. We will dig deeper in those events in next week’s state meet previews. Instead, we narrow it down to six sectionals where there are some interesting races that could come about in the distance events. Here are the six sectionals in this classification to keep an eye on. Sectionals are listed in alphabetical order.

State Qualifying Standards: 800 – 2:28.15 | 1600 – 5:36.90 | 3200 – 12:26.55 | 4x8 – 10:35.51

Aledo (Mercer County): 5/14 – Cheyenh Smith of Toulon (Starck County) is ranked #14 in Class 1A and will lead the field in the 800 Meter Run with a 2:21.04 seed time. Bethany Sennett of Princeville is four seconds under the qualifying standard is a good choice to qualify. Mya Hill of Elmwood and Ellison Heineke of Lowpoint-Washburn have season’s best within a second of state qualifying and could both advance. Three runners are under the state standard in the 3200 Meter Run led by Heineke’s seed time of 11:54.44 from indoors. She has run 12:00 outdoors. Emalyn Miller of Mercer County is under qualifying and should advance. Sevin McTavish of Warsaw is near qualifying and could also make it to state. There are seven runners that are under the 1A standard of 5:36.90 in the 1600 Meter Run. Dusti Smith of Stark County put her in contention to contend for a 1A state title after running 5:04.29 (1A #5) in winning last week at Lincoln Trail Conference. Alyssa Higgins of Knoxville is well under qualifying time and is close to a lock of making it to state in this event. Heinecke, McTavish, and Sennett all have season bests under qualifying but also doubling/tripling back from other events. If they qualify in those events, will they run in this event? Elmwood’s Bristol Schmidgall and Taylor Forney are under standards and might make it to Charleston with good race on Wednesday. Stark County, led by the Smith sisters, and Elmwood are solid choices to qualify for state in the 4x800 Meter Relay.

Lena-Winslow: 5/15 – Abigail Baumann of Rockford Lutheran is the class of the field in this sectional. The junior should advance to the state meet in two distance events. She is ranked at 1A #5 in the state in the 3200 Meter Run this spring and will win this meet. Her seed time is 67 seconds ahead of Giselle Moret of Harvest Christian Academy. Moret has a good chance to make it to state in her freshman season. Ashlynn Robinson of Winnebago, Riley Fritz of Rockford Christian, and Liseli Sanchez of Harvest Christian are all within 10 seconds to the 12:26.55 qualifying standards and will need personal best races to advance to next week. Baumann is a big choice to make it in the 1600 Meter Run. Her 5:11.30 seed time is 22 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Moret, Fritz, and Hayden Poole of St. Edward just ahead of state qualifying. Good races by all three could get them to Charleston. Fritz and Morgan Capriola of Winnebago are the top seeds in the 800 Meter Run. Emma Moore of Rockford Lutheran is within two seconds of qualifying with Natalie Forward of Rockford Christian two seconds behind Moore. Could we see four runners advance in that event from this sectional? Winnebago and Lena-Winslow are more than 30 seconds ahead than the rest of the field and should advance to the state meet in the 4x800 Meter Relay.

Lewistown: 5/15 – The 3200 Meter Run should be a competitive race Thursday in this meet. Delavan’s Annabelle LaFary and Elyse Brinkmeyer are the top two seeds and should make it to the state meet. Maggie Zimmerman of Petersburg PORTA is close to 10 seconds ahead of the time standard and will make it to state with an average race. Verity Nowark of El Paso-Gridley has not run the time standard in this event withing five seconds. She could advance. LaFary has an indoor seed time of 5:14 in the 1600 Meter Run. She has run 5:22 outdoors but should advance in her second event. Zimmerman along with Kiley Knapp of El Paso-Gridley and Drew Robison of Delavan will all challenge to qualify in this race. There are four runners in the 800 Meter Run. Abigail Wolters of Pleasant Plains lead the field with a 2:18.33 (1A #6) seed time on May 6 at the Sangamo Conference Meet. LaFary has a 2:21 seed and could make it to state if she decides to compete in it. Haven Miller of El Paso-Gridley is five seconds faster than the time qualifier and should make it to Charleston. We could also see Natalie Schuman of Greenview also make the state trip. Three teams are solid choices with Pleasant Plains, Delavan, and El Paso-Gridley all under the qualifying time in the 4x800 Meter Relay. The next closest teams are 90 seconds behind these three quartets.

Newton: 5/13 – The one storyline that could be something to keep an eye on is if defending 3200 Meter Run State Champion Isabella Keller of St. Anthony races in this meet. Keller has not run since she ran some impressive times in January when she ran 10:35.71 in the 3200 and 4:55.85 in the 1600. She has not run a race since those meets. It is hard to say if she will run on Wednesday. The fact she is entered in those events looks promising. Aubrey Denning of St. Anthony will win the 800 Meter Run as her time of 2:16.26 is ranked third in Class 1A.  Adrienne Koester of Teutopolis and Mya Friese of Strasburg-Steardson are just at state qualifying and will challenge for a state trip. Denning is the solid favorite to make it in her second best her 5:04.25 is among the top 10 in Class 1A. Keller should make it in if she races. Otherwise, Layna Marshall of Newton or Meila Robey of Louisville North Clay could be the other runners to make it to the state meet. Keller being 100% for this race plays a factor in the 3200 Meter Run. A healthy Keller should advance. Marshall and Brooke Koelm of Louisville North Clay are the top two seeds in the race both having run under the qualifying standard outdoors. Newton is 79 seconds ahead of the entries in the 4x800 Meter Relay. Only four schools are entered in this event.

Riverton: 5/15 – Elana Rybak of Father McGivney struggled at the end of cross-country season. She did not run indoors. Her coach James Helton mentioned in January that Rybak will not run indoors but would be back for state. Rybak has shown outdoors that she is ready to defend her title in the 800 Meter Run and will challenge for her fourth state title in the 1600 Meter Run. She will run in three events in this sectional. One of them will not be in the 4x800 Meter Relay. She is not on the team’s relay card. Rybak ran 2:12.39 last week at her conference meet which was the fastest time in Class 1A entering sectional competition. Teammate Jane Cummins has run 2:22.01 this season and should make it to state in this event. Jenna Arena of Auburn is within two seconds of state qualifying and might advance to state. Rybak has a 4:56.50 (1A #3) and has the fastest seed time by 60 seconds in this sectional. Her teammate McKenzie Jones leads the pack that should only qualify two runners at Riverton. Cummins should win easily in the 3200 Meter Run as she is two minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Caitlyn Travis of Litchfield is another minute ahead and should advance to state. None of the teams in this sectional has run faster than the 10:35 in the 4x800 Meter Relay. Father McGivney, Auburn, and Carlinville have the top three times entering this meet/

Tuscola: 5/15 – There should be three great distance races in this meet. Three of the top four runners in Class 1A are in this field in the 3200 Meter Run. The field is led by Class 1A XC Champion Kate Foltz who has run 10:34.46 this season and has the fastest Class 1A time. Molly Farrell of Marshall is running great this outdoor season with a 10:41.08. Ellie Emberson of Fisher dropped her personal best by over 20 seconds at her conference meet last week with a 11:09.59 time (1A #4) and could be a factor in that race. Kayla Clark of Casey-Westfield is at the qualifier and could also advance. The 1600 Meter Run is loaded with five runners in this sectional having run under 5:20. Farrell ran 4:52.74 to win at St. Joseph-Ogden and should advance and win this race. Foltz and Madeline Fox of Marshall have season’s best under 5:10 and will challenge for the win. Tessa Bowers of Shelbyville and Emberson should also make it to state. Lily Woolery of Shelbyville leads the field in the 800 Meter Run coming in with a 2:14.78 (1A #2) best time. Fox at 2:16.98 (1A #4) will be Woolery’s chief competition. Shelbyville’s Aly Douglas is under 2:20 and should also make state. Woolery, Douglass, and Bowers should be part of Shelbyville’s field in the 4x800 Meter Relay and are the clear favorite in this field 50 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Arthur-Lovington, Urbana University, and Casey-Westfield are close to qualifying within five seconds. At least one of these teams should get the auto qualifier.