Morgan Park finishes second behind three relay wins; Robinson sets new 2A meet record in Triple Jump; Gilbert and Liz defend distance titles; Team effort in 1-2 finish by Rosary’s Martin and Ronzone in the 1600;

By Michael Newman

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Charleston, Ill --- Cahokia won their second straight state championship Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Field behind the efforts of Mariya Hudson and Raynesha Lewis. Morgan Park, behind three relay wins, finished second with 52 points. Springfield Southeast and Normal University each shared third place scoring 32 points. Kaneland finished fifth one point behind the two third place teams.

It looked bleak for Cahokia after prelims with only Lewis and Hudson only qualifying. However, Lewis did qualify in three events while Hudson had the fastest prelim times in the 200 and 400. There was still sun at the end of the horizon for the Lady Comanches.

It was the Long Jump that boosted Cahokia. Lewis was fifth after the prelims of the event. She jumped a season’s best 18-10 ¾ to overtake prelim leader Madison Meyer (Carterville HS) to capture the state championship. Hudson finished third giving Cahokia a quick 17 points to jump out to the lead. Lewis was the prelim leader in the 100 Hurdles. Imani Carothers (Brooks College Prep) was even with Lewis until the final hurdle. Carothers edged Lewis by nine hundredths of a second for the win (14.46 – 14.55). The rest of the spotlight belonged to Hudson.

The Cahokia sophomore only had the fifth fastest time heading to the finals of the 100 Meter Dash. “My coach told me that there were 4 athletes that were seeded ahead of me in the finals. He asked me did he think any of them were better than me, “ Hudson said. “I told him no. He told me then to go out and win the race.”

With the spotlight on pre-race favorites Dominique Lewis (Centennial HS, Champaign) and Anna Sloan (Trinity HS, River Forest), Hudson moved up on them from Lane 3. She pulled even with the duo at 80 meters. It took a look at the finish line photo to determine a winner. Hudson won the race (12.02) only three hundredths ahead of Lewis (12.05). Sloan was another three hundredths back in third.

The 400 may be the best of the events that Hudson runs in. It showed in the finals. She went under 55 seconds for the first time running 54.71 (IL #2) and winning by more than two seconds ahead of Deven Bax (Lincoln-Way West HS, New Lenox). Hudson got a good start in the 200 Meter Dash finals having the lead as the athletes came off of the north turn. Lewis made a move on her with 65 meters to go. Hudson held that off winning the race (24.64) ahead of Lewis (24.83). Sloan edged Tyjuana Eason (Kankakee HS) by nine thousandths of a second to place third.

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Morgan Park showed their relay strength winning three of the four relays. They started off with great handoffs in winning the 400 Meter Relay (47.92). Anna Sloan anchored Trinity to a second place finish (48.56) ahead of Kankakee (48.88) and Kaneland (48.96).

The Mustangs dominance showed in the 800 Meter Relay. Jada Laye gave her team the lead with a good opening leg. The lead continued as Morgan Park ran a season's best 1:40.74 (IL #4) to win the championship by close to two seconds ahead of Rich South (1:42.53). Morgan Park had second place clinched by the time they got to the 1600 Meter Relay. Just like the other two relays, the team from the south side of Chicago was the class of field. They ran 3:57.33 for their third win of the day. It was a close finish as Kaneland (3:59.65), Rich South (3:59.77), and Springfield Southeast (3:59.85) all went under four minutes to finish second through fourth.

The other relay win went to Montini Catholic in a race they have coveted to win for a long time. Early in the race, it did not seem like it would happen as Rosary opened up a two second lead on the rest of the pack. A strong third leg by Emma Makowski gave the lead to the Broncos the lead heading into the final 800 Meters. Gianna Salzbrunn ran a 2:22 anchor to hold off Rosary for a three second win.

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Maryjeanne Gilbert (Notre Dame HS, Peoria) defended her state championship in the 3200 Meter Run. She took the lead 250 meters and never looked back. By the time Gilbert got to the mile in 5:07, she already had a 23 second lead. She held on the last mile to finish in 1);34.13. Freshman Miranda Krusiwyk (Dunlap HS) finished 36 second s back in second place followed by Vivian Overbeck (Vernon Hills HS).

Rosary’s Emily Martin and Madison Ronzone used a team approach in the 1600 Meter Run. Ronzone took the pace out quickly with her teammate Martin and Kara Martin (Herrin HS) followed closely behind. Gilbert went out conservatively staying in the middle of the pack. With 600 meters to go, Gilbert realized that the Rosary duo was not coming back to the pack and started to move to the front. Martin took off at the bell lap away from her teammate opening up a 10 meter gap. That was as much as a cushion that Martin needed. She crossed the line running a personal best 4:56.51. Ronzone followed also with a personal best (5:00.14). Gilbert finished third.

Karina Liz (Aurora Central Catholic HS) had her sights set on Courtney Clayton’s IHSA Meet record of 2:07.04. The 400 that she ran 56 seconds in Friday morning’s prelims looked like it took a little out of here. It showed as she passed the 400 in a quick 64 seconds. The remaining pack was three seconds back. As she came around the final curve, there was strain on her face as she pushed with everything that she had. The record was out of reach but she still had the satisfaction of winning a second state championship. Her 2:15.55 winning time was off her seasonal best by four seconds. It was still good enough for the win by four seconds ahead of Rachel Hickey (LaSalle-Peru HS). Liz came back to finish fourth in the 400.

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Jaimie Robinson (DeLaSalle Institute, Chicago) made news on Friday’s prelims by setting a new 2A meet record in the Triple Jump. She bettered that on Saturday upping the 2A meet record to 40-0 improving it by an inch and a half. Vicky Gruzka (Notre Dame HS, Peoria) finished second with a 38-9 ¾ jump.

Jamari Drake (Springfield Southeast HS) and Christina Macnab (Providence Catholic HS, New Lenox) both cleared 5-7 in the High Jump finals. It was Drake who captured the title on fewer misses. Kassadee Ifft (Prairie Central HS, Fairbury) won the Pole Vault clearing 12-6. Freshman Akiyah Welter (Monticello HS) cleared 12-3 to finish second.

Cassidy Osborne-Butler (Mt. Zion HS) improved on her prelim best with a 44-2 ¾ put in the finals. It was enough to capture the state championship in the Shot Put. Latavia Maines (Centralia HS), also a sophomore, also improved throwing 43-9 ¼ to finish second. Ellie Alexander (Chatham-Glenwood HS) ended her high school career winning the Discus with a 131-6 throw. She won by almost two feet ahead of Emily Kauffman (Mahomet-Seymour HS).