Folders |
Preview: 10 Storylines to Follow at the IHSA Girls State Track & Field ChampionshipsPublished by
Preview: 10 Storylines to Follow at the IHSA Girls State Track & Field Championships
By Michael Newman
Team Previews – Class 3A | Class 2A | Class 1A Athletic.Live IHSA State Track Results
The 2025 IHSA Girls State Track & Field Championships beginning Thursday with the 1A Preliminaries, 2A and 3A prelims on Friday, and then the finals Saturday. When all is said and done, this could be one of the best Girls State Meet that the IHSA has conducted. It should be one for the ages.
Here are 10 storylines you should keep an eye on this weekend.
Prospect goes for fifth straight title in the 3A 4x800 Meter Relay The streak of Prospect winning the 4x800 Meter Relay started on Saturday, June 12, 2021, when the quartet of Cameron Kalaway, Hailey Erickson, Lily Ginsberg, and Audrey Ginsberg ran 9:13.29 to win this event for the first time seven seconds ahead of Naperville North. Five years later, the Knights again are the topic of conversation. Instead of asking if Prospect can win this relay again, some are asking who is the team that will stop that streak.
The Knights ran a 3A #5 of 9:25.54 in April and have not put their top quartet together until this weekend. We might not see their top group until Saturday. We expect to see Mary Laba, Ireland Wildhart, Veronica Znajda, and Meg Peterson lined up on the track Saturday. Laba, Znajda, and Peterson have run under 2:15 in the open 800 with Wildhart not too far behind. Prospect was challenged once this season indoors at the Mustang Relays in March. Prospect did run 9:10.63 to win the race but by less than two seconds ahead of St. Ignatius College Prep (9:12.00). The Wolfpack ran their top two runners Annika Swan and Allison Shutler on that team. Neither runner ran last week but are on the relay card for this weekend. Downers Grove North, Plainfield North, Lincoln-Way Central, and York are among the teams that will try to prevent Prospect winning their fifth.
St. Francis has not rune their full lineup this season after setting the meet record 9:12.80. They did it with Alicen Sheldon, Elena Mamminga, and Erin Hinsdale (all freshman then) and Margaret Andrzejewski. We might not see Mamminga in the quartet as she qualified in the 3200 Meter Run but who knows. Rockford Boylan enters this weekend with the 2A best time of 9:29.13. They could be the toughest competition to St. Francis. Five teams to watch include Rochester, DePaul Catholic Prep, Eureka, Tolono Unity, and Sherrard.
There are four teams that have run under 10 minutes in Class 1A. Pleasant Plains leads the way running 9:40.20. Stark County is within five seconds of Pleasant Plains. Shelbyville might be the team to beat especially with Lily Woolery, Aly Douglass, Tessa Bowers, and Ava Corley in their lineup. Cambridge and Delavan are two teams also to watch for in Class 1A.
Rybak returns with “Ince-like” triple in Class 1A Meet We saw Ali Ince try to qualify for the state meet in the 800 Meter Run, 400 Meter Dash, and 1600 Meter Run before her anchor leg for Normal Community in the 4x400 Meter Relay in her sophomore year in 2022. Ince ran her prelims on Friday afternoon and would have less than 24 hours to recover.
Elana Rybak of Father McGivney will be attempting this triple on Thursday during the Class 1A preliminary session. Rybak did hot run during the indoor season letting he a cross-country injury fully recover. She sees to be running great again and why we will see her defend her title in the 800 Meter Run and defend her three titles in the 1600 Meter Run. Her time in the 400 Meter Dash last week is the fourth fastest in Class 1A.
Ince was not successful on the triple but did win the 400 Meter Dash and the 800 Meter Run in the finals. Ince said after the meet that her legs started to cramp up in the 1600 Meter Run prelims. She shut that race down so she could get ready for her teammates in the relay.
Rybak will have at least 25 minutes to rest between the end of the 800 and the 400. She will have at least 35 minutes to recover before the first heat of the 1600 Meter Run. Rybak will have at least 20 minutes rest after the 1600 and before the 4x4.
Who replaces Ince and Heitzig as 2A/3A 800 Meter Champions? We ended a memorable era in the 800 Meter Run last year with Ali Ince moving on to the University of Oregon and Becca Heitzig of Iowa State University. Ince during her time in high school as she won all four years running that event including setting the state meet a year ago. Heitzig set the Class 2A State Meet record in 2023 on her way to win three state times.
The question to be asked as we head into this weekend is who steps into the champion’s spot at the top of the IHSA State podium?
Thoughts in Class 2A revolved around freshman Klarke Goranson of Manteno who had convincing wins at Illinois Top Times and then in the Mile at Distance Night in Palatine. In the same meet in the 800 Meter Run, Emily Stecky of DePaul College Prep ran 2:09.58 to run the fastest time in the state. Goranson ran 2:12.43 in her sectional race last week. There are three other runners that have run under 2:15 in this event including Ashlyn Denney of Tolono Unity, and St. Francis’ duo of Margaret Andrzejewski and Erin Hinsdale who all could challenge for the win. Remember, Hinsdale ran a 2:11 split last year in the 4x8 before coming back to finish second in the open 800. In the end, all eyes will be on Goranson and Stecky.
There are three runners in the Class 3A 800 Meter Run that are in the 2:12 or under range. There are There are 10 more runners that qualified for this state meet that are all in the 2:14 range. Absolutely amazing. Annika Swan of St. Ignatius College Prep leads Class 3A with a 2:11.06 best followed by Lola Satre-Morales of Naperville Central (2:12.53) and Meg Peterson of Prospect (2:12.61). All three runners most likely will be doubling back from the 4x800 Meter Relay.
Lindsey Wenz of Plainfield North, Mary Laba of Prospect, Mia Forystek of Lincoln-Way Central, Ava Gilley of Downers Grove North, and Sophia Galiano-Sanchez of York most likely will be running earlier on Saturday in the relay if their teams advance to the final. Natalie Nahs of Minooka, Lily Hodneland of Hinsdale Central, Emma Berres of Naperville North, and Madison King of Joliet Central all will be running fresh on Saturday if they make the finals. The fresh runners could be the most dangerous. 13 runners within four seconds of each other makes it tough to choose just one favorite.
Johnson’s final attempts at O’Brien Field leaves her legacy in the horizontal jumps It helped that Dominique Johson of Huntley had a sister Alexandria Johnson that paved the way for her in the horizontal jumps. Alexandria Johnson is now at Arizona State University after winning three state titles in the Long Jump and five medals overall in the three years she competed in high school (She lost her freshman season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020).
Dominique steps into the spotlight at O’Brien Field for the final time in her high school career where the East Stands by the jumps pits are her home. Johnson has medaled at state in both the Long Jump and the Triple Jump in three state meets with state titles in the Triple Jump the past two years. Does she get an allusive title in the Long Jump where she finished third last year.
Johnson jumped a state leading 20-3 last week on her home track. Kyla Motley of Shepard and Sherrie Emmons of Rich Township also have gone past 20 feet this year and could be two of the many athletes to keep an eye on. The Huntley senior is on her own planet with the top mark in the United States (43-3} and is more than four feet ahead of the rest of the qualifiers field by more than four feet. After this weekend concludes, she is off to southern Florida to attend the University of Miami.
Who leaves Charleston as queen of the sprints? Why is this state meet one for the ages? One reason can be that 11 runners have run under 12 seconds in the Class 3A 100 Meter Dash something that we have never seen even before the state meet takes place, One runner that is missing is Katelyn Lehnen who recently graduated from Chatham-Glenwood and would have been a runner to watch this weekend. Lehnen won the state title in 2024 and would have defended her title if not for her knee injury that ended her basketball career and all this track season. Good things will be ahead for Katelyn at the University of Illinois.
Angelina Bullocks of Whitney Young has run under 11.4 this season with a best of 11.33. The IHSA State record is 11.41 set by Alex Anderson and Morolake Akinosun 21 and 13 years ago which could be threatened this weekend. Mariyah Robinson of Homewood-Flossmoor ran 11.46 last week at the Lockport Sectional and could be the chief competition for the former CPL rivals. Rayna Raglin of Alton ran under 11.6 last week and could be the surprise in Class 3A even though she won Illinois Top Times in March.
All eyes will be on Sophia Schardan of Troy Triad in Class 2A. The junior displayed her talents indoors with significant winds at Illinois Top Times. She has a best of 11.62 and is a quarter second ahead of the rest of the qualifiers. She is also in position to go after the Class 2A record of 11.48 set by Charday Crawford set in 2012. Brooklyn Homes of Marian Catholic and Symone Holman of Joliet Catholic ran under 12 seconds last week and will challenge for the title. All three of these runners are juniors meaning we will be telling this story again a year from now.
Seven of the top ten performances on the Class 1A rankings were all performed at last week’s sectional meets. Emima Randecker of West Carroll is the defending state champion in this class having run 12.11. She has run 11.73 earlier in the year and ran 11.95 last week. That time equals the state meet 1A record from Courtney Sockwell who ran that time twice in 2016 and 2017. Saylor Barry of Mendon Unity is a hot runner to watch running 12.00 last week in her sectional. She ran indoors for the first time this year and won the 60 and the Long Jump at Illinois Top Times. That gained strength could be a difference maker.
Sirois and the 3200 Meter Run Mia Sirois of Barrington after her race at the Circuit Chicago at the end of January asked what the best Illinois High School time in the 3200 Meter Run. Tatum David set both that record and the IHSA State Meet Record in 2023. Her all time best came in a solo effort at the Herin Invitational where she ran 9:48.94 to win by more than three minutes. Her state meet record is 9:53.96.
Sirois will be running in this race and the 1600 Meter Run in this meet. She is the big favorite in the Class 3A State Meet with the record of 10:12.96 set by Katelynne Hart in 2018 most likely falling. Sirois has run under 10:10 five times during this year and finished second at the Nike Indoor Nationals in March. I think the times will come during the post-season races. It would be nice if the state record falls which it could. There are several runners that night push the Barrington sophomore include Allison Shutler of St. Ignatius College Prep and Maya Ledesma of Minooka. Macy Ermitage of Downers Grove North, Ali Londrigan of Chatham-Glenwood, and Nia Ortega of Downers Grove South have run under 10:50 and will lead the next pack.
It is a shame that they cannot merge all three state races together at this distance. It could be a great memory but that is why we have meets like Distance Night in Palatine during the season. The scenario is the same in the Class 2A race as it might be in Class 3A. It should be Sundara Weber of Sandwich against the rest of the field. Weber put her face in the national spotlight when she ran 10:02.13 at Arcadia in April. She is the class of the field and might approach David’s record at state. She is 37 seconds ahead of Zoe Carter of Normal University, which is a good bet to finish in the top two. Izzy Bing of Mundelein Carmel, Sydney Gertsen of Montini, and Emaline Foster of Prairie Ridge are some of the runners to watch for in this race.
The first race at state in the 3200 Meter Run could be the most competitive. Kyla Babb of Westmont has only run 11:24.77 outdoors waiting for this weekend. The junior could be the one to beat having run 10:23.84 at Gately Park at the end of March. There are four more runners that have run under 11 minutes. Defending 1A champion Isabella Keller ran her first race of the year last week at the Newton Sectional and ran a 10:53.05 rustbuster. Katie Foltz of Tuscola has best 1A time of 10:34.46 and will be in the front. Molly Farrell of Marshal has run 10:41.08 and is peaking at the right time. Klaire Eigner of Maroa-Forsyth was 10 seconds behind Farrell at Palatine and will be a threat in this race.
Robinson and her chase for the 400 Meter Dash State Meet Record A performance that was thought nearly untouchable in IHSA annuals could be in reach this weekend. Alexandria Anderson ran at Morgan Park when she set the IHSA State Meet Record of 52.63 in the Class 2A state race in 2005. Mariyah Robinson transferred from Simeon to Homewood-Flossmoor and first ran a meet for her new school last March. She was all-state five times in her freshman and sophomore years at Simeon. Robinson in last year’s state meet finished third in the 100 Meter Dash and the 200 Meter Dash. She ran 55.23 to finish second in last year’s final.
Her sectional race last week at Lockport in the 400 Meter Dash displayed her strength running 53.55 less than a second behind the time set by Anderson 20 years ago. Two runners could push Robinson in Saturday’s final. Alaina Steele of Lincoln-Way East ran 54.53 almost a second behind Robinson in that sectional and could be the athlete to watch for. Naomi Bey-Osborne of Kankakee ran 55.11 last week at Rock Island and might challenge for the win.
Patterson looks to take her team back to the top This weekend will be the final high school time that Lia Patterson of Tuscola will compete at the IHSA State Meet for the fourth and final time. She has already earned 12 medals in her three meets including 2 state championships in the 300 Meter Hurdles, once in the 100 Meter Hurdles and the 200 Meter Dash, and once as a freshman in the 4x200 Meter Relay.
Patterson will defend her titles in both hurdle races before going to Ball State this fall. Her chief competition will come from Lily Bosnich of Peru St. Bede. The junior ran 14.63 in her sectional at Taylor Ridge. She has run under 15 seconds in her last three races. Patterson has run 14.77 at her conference meet and has also gone under 15 seconds three times. The Tuscola senior has the best Class 1A time in the 300 Meter Hurdles (44.06). Bosnich ran 44.27 last week and is the closest to the defending champion. Patterson again will be in four events. Their team in the 4x200 Meter Relay is ranked #3. Her time of 25.01 in the 200 Meter Dash is second fastest in Class 1A trailing Emma Randecker of West Carroll who ran 24.22 last week in her sectional.
Do we see double winners in the 1600 Meter Run? All three races in the 1600 Meter Run should be barn burners especially with the excellent weather conditions expected on Charleston. There are several opportunities to see double winners in all three classes.
Elena Rybak is a three-time defending champion in this event but will be running her third race of the day after the 800 JMeter Run and the 400 Meter Dash. She comes us in with a 4:56.50 season’s best ranked third in Class 1A and monster speed at the end just in case this race becomes tactical. Molly Farrell and Kyla Babb will be both coming back from running the 3200 Meter Run. Both runners have run 4:52 this outdoor season. Aubrey Denning will be in the 800 like Rybak and ran 5:01.84 on this double last week. Her teammate Isabella Keller ran 5:06.41 last week. She finished second in this event last year.
There are two runners in the Class 2A race that will be the focus up front. Sundara Weber will be in the 3200 Meter Run earlier in the meet. Klarke Goranson will be doubling back from the 800 Meter Run. Weber finished second in this event last year and has the fastest time in Class 2A (4:46.29). Goranson ran 4:51.07 to win at Palatine last month. Reese Kohnle of Rockford Boylan and Brooke Zeibert of Rochester will be doubling back from the 4x8 and the only runners in Class 2A that have run under five minutes.
There are a ton of factors that could determine the winner in the Class 3A race. Annika Swan ran 2:14.86 / 5:01.61 double last week in her sectional races. A question is if she will run also in the 4x800 Meter Relay on Friday and Saturday. She has the fastest time in the state at Arcadia (4:44.94). She finished second in this race last year. Mia Sirois most likely will win the 3200 Meter Run. She ran 4:54.33 last week off the double and could be a threat to win. Ali Londrigan will also double back from the 3200 Meter Run along with Maya Ledesma. Scout Storms of Barrington, Marlie Czarniewski, Veronica Znajda, and Alexa Novak should all be doubling from the 4x8 and all have run under five-minutes.
Racing in a different roar 2024 was a different year for both state meets with some extraordinary circumstances. The weather caused a delay at the end of the prelims on Friday in the 4x400 Meter Relay. We also won’t have to put up with the 17-year Cicada which hit East Central Illinois for both weekends. No flying bugs this season. No screeching or buzzing sometimes louder than the crowd. Weather both weekends should be acceptable as of now. So, enjoy the experience. Graduated seniors, enjoy your final state meet on the Big Blue Oval. More news |