CHARLESTON - Local athletes had good performances as Father McGivney Catholic finished fourth in Class 1A, Cahokia was third in Class 2A and both Alton and Edwardsville got on the board in Class 3A in the finals of the IHSA girls state track and field meet, held Saturday at O'Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
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Here's a roundup of the day's activities:
CLASS 3A
Kaitlyn Morningstar of the Tigers came in third in the IHSA Class 3A discus with a toss of 43.79 meters. This was the third time Morningstar had placed in the discus at state, a phenomenal feat.
Morningstar was sixth in the state in the 3A discus as a junior and seventh as a sophomore. Morningstar will leave a legacy as only two others in Edwardsville girls' history - Aailyah Covington and Emmonnie Henderson who returned home with state track and field medals three years in a row. She was the Tigers' lone medalist.
Huntley won the state team championship in Class 3A with 62.5 points, with Mt. Prospect Prospect second at 52 points, Chicago Kenwood was third at 45 points and both Naperville Neuqua Valley and Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge tied for fourth with 42 points each. O'Fallon tied for 17th with 13 points, Alton tied for 33rd with eight points, Edwardsville tied for 37th with seven points and Granite City tied for 54th with four points.
Jaliyah Shepherd of Chicago Kenwood won the 100 meters with a time of 11.70 seconds, with Alton's Rayna Raglin coming in sixth at 12.01 seconds, while in the 200 meters, Zawadi Brown of Neuqua Valley won with a time of 23.85 seconds. Allison Ince of Normal Community won the 400 meters with a time of 55.18 seconds, then won the 800 meters at 2:10.40. Anna Hardin of Arlington Heights Hersey took the 1,600 meters at 4:53.14, while the 3,200 meters went to Grace Schrager of Carol Stream Glenbard North at 10:15.81, with O'Fallon's Ellie Bush coming in at 11:01.07.
In the hurdles races, Daisha Brunson of Hoffman Estates Conant won the 100 meters at 14.16 seconds, while Abrielle Artley of Evanston won the 300 meters at 43.25 seconds. In the relay races, Chicago Kenwood won the 4x100 meters at 47.13 seconds, with O'Fallon's team of Kortni Cash, Sydni Daniels, Haeli Tart and Jaliah Pelly were third at 48.20 seconds. Neuqua Valley won the 4x200 meters with a time of 1:39.77, with the Panthers' team of Daniels, Tart, Clark and Pelly coming in fourth at 1:41.42, while Normal Community took the 4x400 meters at 3:53.83. The 4x800 meters went to Mt. Prospect at 9:07.46.
In the field events, the shot put was won by Dawson Wright of Evanston, who came up with a throw of 13.19 meters, while Emily Sykes of Granite City had a toss of 11.91 meters and Edwardsville's Dallas Jenkins came up with a distance of 11.10 meters. Ally Panzloff of Huntley won the discus throw with a toss of 48.73 meters, with Kaitlyn Morningstar of the Tigers coming in third at 43.79 meters, Sykes was sixth at 39.97 meters and Jenkins came in 10th at 37.27 meters. Rylee Lydon of Prairie Ridge won the high jump, going over at 1.75 meters. while Kaylea Lacey of Alton tied for eighth, clearing 1.55 meters, while in the pole vault, the champion was Kali McHale of Naperville Central, going over at 3.88 meters. Huntley's Alexandria Johnson won the long jump with a leap of 5.96 meters, with Raglin finishing seventh at 5.50 meters and Lucy Klumpp of Granite going 5.17 meters. Dominique Johnson of Huntley took the triple jump, going 12.35 meters, with Zay Hoover of the Tigers having a distance of 10.21 meters.
CLASS 2A
In IHSA Class 2A, East Alton-Wood River's Gina Truax was one of the bright points of the meet with a seventh-place finish in the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.09. More on Truax's accomplishment in a feature story to follow.
Kankakee won the Class 2A championship with 66 points, with Geneseo finishing second at 58 points, Cahokia was third with 42 points, Normal University came in fourth at 36 points and Sandwich rounded out the top five at 35 points. East St. Louis tied with Tolono Unity for 15th with 19 points each, while Triad came in 33rd at 7.5 points and East Alton-Wood River tied for 54th with three points.
The Comanches' Kayda Austin was a double state champion, winning the 100 meters at 11.85 seconds and the 200 meters at 24.23 seconds, with teammate Keymora Hayes finishing fourth at 25.00 seconds. Kankakee's Naomi Bey-Osborne won the 400 meters at 56.20 seconds, while Becca Heitzig of Lincoln took the 800 meters at 2:08.48. Tatum David of Olney Richland County won the 1,600 meters at 4:49.73 and the 3,200 meters at 9:53.96, with Civic Memorial's Hannah Meister having a time of 11:58.91.
In the hurdles races, Emmi Scales of Arlington Heights St. Viator Catholic won the 100 meters at 13.51 seconds, with Hayes finishing fourth at 14.71 seconds and in the 300 meters, Scales also won with a time of 42.61 seconds.
In the relay races, Kankakee won the 4x100 meters at 47.72 seconds, with Cahokia's team of Austin, Kelviona Johnson, Hailey Tucker and Hayes coming in sixth at 49.00 seconds and East St. Louis' team of Ka'maya McClain, Sydney Jones, Baily Graham and Armoni Glenn were seventh at 49.05 seconds. In the 4x200 meters, the state champions were Kankakee at 1:41.78, with the Flyers' team of Jones, Glenn, Graham and Ambrasha Lampley fourth at 1:44.09. Kankakee made it three in a row with a win in the 4x400 meters at 3:57.65, while the Flyers' team of Kamillah Tugle, Graham, Glenn and Zhakeya Hawkins were sixth at 4:05.40 and Rochester won the 4x800 meters at 9:33.45.
In the field events, Claire Allen of Sandwich won the shot put with a throw of 13.08 meters, Tenisa Ferrell of Cahokia had a toss of 9.94 meters and Triad's Abby Kestering coming up with a distance of 9.75 meters. Allen also won the discus throw, coming up with a distance of 42.29 meters, with Ferrell finishing ninth at 32.33 meters. Annie Wirth of Geneseo won the high jump, going over at 1.69 meters, with Makenna Witham of Triad coming in second, going over at 1.65 meters, while Chelsea Wetzel of Dunlap won the pole vault, finishing in a three-way tie with Jocelyn Crum of Lake Villa Lakes and Nicole Grimes of Lisle Benet Academy, all going over at 3.72 meters, Wetzel winning on the fewest misses rule. Wirth took the high jump, going 5.66 meters, with Hayes coming in fifth at 5.44 meters and Janiyah Brown of East St. Louis came in sixth at 5.40 meters. Abby Venhaus of Columbia won her school's first-ever state individual track championship by going 11.56 meters in the triple jump, while Brown came in eighth at 10.92 meters.
CLASS 1A
Elena Rybak's second state title in the IHSA Class 1A Girls Meet was the highlight for the area in that part of the meet. She blazed a time of 5:03.07 for the 1,600 meters.
McGivney had good performances overall in finished fourth in Class 1A. Winnebago won the team championship with 50 points, with Seneca second at 48 points, Tuscola was third at 43 points, the Griffins were fourth at 39 points and Henry-Senachwine rounded out the top five with 36 points. Carlinville scored six points in finishing in a tie for 40th and Carrollton was tied for 60th with two points.
In the individual results, Kaylin Moreland of Macon Meridian won the 100 meters at 12.22 seconds, while Lia Patterson of Tuscola won the 200 meters with a time of 24.96 seconds. Ahry Comer of Golconda Pope County took the 400 meters at 56.85 seconds, while McGivney's Lilly Gilbertson was fourth at 58.61 seconds, and in the 800 meters, the state champion was Comer at 2:12.65, with Kaitlyn Hatley of the Griffins second at 2:16.81. Marshall's Molly Ferrell won the 3,200 meters at 10:50.90.
In the hurdles races, Cambria Geyer of Fremont won the 100 meters at 14.23 seconds, while Patterson took the 300 meters at 43.67 seconds. In the relay races, Rockford Christian won the 4x100 meters with a time of 49.48 seconds and also won the 4x200 meters at 1:43.85, with Carrollton's team of Abby Flowers, Trinity Jones, Mabry Robeen and Calle Field finishing eighth at 1:48.81. The 4x400 meters was won by Seneca, who had a time of 4:02.53, with the McGivney team of Gilbertson, Hatley, Jane Cummins and Rybak finishing third at 4:04.26 and Winnebago won the 4x800 meters at 9:22.77, with the Griffins' team of Hatley, Cummins, Gilbertson and Rybak placing second at 9:35.35.
In the field events, Amanda Gustafson of Winnebago won the shot put with a throw of 12.05 meters, with Carlinville's Hannah Gibson finishing in a tie for 14th with a toss of 10.60 meters. Laney Laster of Henry-Senachwine won the discus throw with a distance of 39.65 meters, with Gibson coming in fourth at 37.56 meters. Kara Wessah of Newark and Aubry Phillips of El Paso-Gridley tied for first in the high jump, both clearing 1.67 meters, with Wessah winning the championship on the fewest misses rule, while McGivney's Mia Range tied for 13th, going over at 1.50 meters.
In the pole vault, the state champion was Mya Strahm of Elmwood, who finished in a multi-way tie with six other athletes, winning on the fewest misses rule, while Anna Bruno of Seneca won the long jump at 5.50 meters, with Marquette Catholic's Sammy Hentrich tying for 20th at 4.73 meters and Kelsey Hutchins of Sherrard won the triple jump, going 11.41 meters, with Hentrich tying for 22nd with a jump of 10.01 meters.
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