2023 IHSA State Track & Field Championships - Class 3A Girls Meet Storylines

By Michael Newman

Ince: The quest for a repeat, and more

Allison Ince of Normal Community has a different goal heading into the Class 3A state meet. She will look to defend her titles in the 800 Meter Run and the 400 Meter Dash. Repeating those two titles would be great. Doing something with her teammates at the Big Blue Oval would be special.

Normal Community has a chance to leave Charleston Saturday evening with a state trophy. If everything works out as planned, the Ironmen could claim a state title. Most of it will have to do with the success from Ince.

The junior ran a 2:07 anchor leg last week at the Bloomington Sectional to give her team the win in a spectacular 9:12.57, the second fastest time in the state. It places Normal in position to go after the state title in the event challenging two time 4x8 champion Prospect. The meet will end with Ince anchoring the 4x400m Relay. Normal has the fastest time in the state (3:51.75) ahead of Hinsdale Central by almost six seconds followed by Plainfield North , Prospect and Belleville West.

Ince will be the big favorite in the 800 Meter Run. It is obvious as she has run the state’s best time ever (2:03.17) at Arcadia in April. She has run eight of the top nine times ever in this distance for an Illinois runner. With a team title at stake, going after a meet record is something that we will not see from her. A win will be more important than a record on this day. The field is not as deep. #3 ranked runner in the state Catie McCabe did not run in this event at her sectional rather focusing on the 1600 Meter Run. Lily Ginsberg and Meg Peterson of Prospect, Annika Swan of St. Ignatius Prep, and Praise Oyebanji of Mundelein should be Ince’s chief competition.

Ince came from behind in last year’s final to win the 400 Meter Dash. Ince ran a personal best of 54.91 this season and almost has a second advantage ahead of Rylee Lydon of Prairie Ridge, the 2021 champion in the event, ran 55.48 last week at Huntley and could be Ince’s top competition in the finals. Katelyn Lehnen of Chatham-Glenwood finished second behind Ince last week at Bloomington. Her conference meet time of 55.76 makes her the only other runner under 56 seconds heading int Friday’s preliminary session. Angela Alozie of Homewood-Flossmoor and Chaleica Booker of Oswego look to be runners that could be the top runners to chaise after the big three.

Do we see an epic 4x8 Saturday morning?

A similar scenario to what we might see Saturday morning in the finals of the 4x800m Relay happened 12 years ago in the 2012 IHSA State Meet. Wheaton-Warrenville South won the state title running a new 3A State Meet record (8:59.03) as well as the fastest time ever for an Illinois team. Glenbard West finished two behind in second-place timed at 9:00.72. Coincidentally, Prospect ran the fifth fastest time ever (9:06.18) to finish third.

Prospect has been the queens of this race winning the state title for the past two seasons. They demonstrated that they could do something special after running 9:04.68 to set an Illinois indoor best at the Mustang Relays on March 6. The Knights using the same quartet (Meg Peterson, Hailey Erickson, Lily Ginsberg, Cameron Kalaway) ran 9:01.47 three weeks ago at New Trier. They moved up to #3 all-time. They would like to go higher.

Wheaton-Warrenville South was pushed by the two schools to set the record in the 2012 race. This year, it should be Normal Community in this race with Lily Cavanaugh, Abigail Ziemer, Megan Metz, and Ince pushing after the win.

The Normal race at sectional changed the whole scenario of what could happen this weekend. Prospect should advance to the Saturday finals making a few substitutions to keep some runners fresh. If they were just going for the win, we might have seen a different lineup. Now, Prospect may need their “A” lineup in order to get the state title. They may need to break the meet record to accomplish that. If Normal is within five seconds of Prospect entering the anchor leg with Ince, it could be an exciting finish.

Barrington will be among the teams to challenge for a top five finish along with Washington, Downers Grove North, and Naperville Central in pursuit. York, Oswego East, along with Chatham-Glenwood, Edwardsville, and Maine South might challenge in that top five mix.

Lydon’s possibilities for 4 all-state performances and perhaps some titles

Rylee Lydon has earned five all-state medals in the two IHSA State Meets she has competed in for Prairie Ridge High School. They include a state championship in the 400 Meter Dash as a sophomore in 2021 and a state title last year in the High Jump. She has unfinished business on the High School level before she starts attending Texas A&M this fall.

Lydon could almost double her state medal haul during Championship Saturday. She could add a fifth medal if her team finished among the top three in the state final standings. It starts in the High Jump where she will be defending her state title. Lydon cleared 1.72m for her win at Huntley last week. Baelyn Zitzmann of Lake Zurich cleared the same height at the Lake County Invitational and should be the one athlete to push Lydon in this meet.

The Huntley Sectional produced seven qualifiers in the Long Jump. It pushed Lydon and Alexandria Johnson of Huntley to the top two marks in the sectionals and in state. Johnson jumped 6.25m (US #8) to win the event. Lydon jumped 6.02m (US #19) to finish second. Elissa Perkins of Plainfield East jumped 5.98m during the season and could challenge both of these athletes for the win.

Lydon has the second fastest time in Class 3A in the 400 Meter Dash and will be a threat to Ince in this final. The loss of Ana Liese Torian in the 110 Meter Hurdles could put the Prairie Ridge senior in contention for the win in that event.

Schager looks again for the 3200 title

It was a quick decision for Grace Schager of Glenbard North to decide on running just one event at last year’s state meet after winning the 3200 Meter Run and finishing second in the 1600 Meter Run. Schager chose to run in the longer of the two distance. That decision led to Schager winning the 3200 Meter Run, her first state title, last year in Charleston.

We could see a similar decision in this year’s meet for the University of Notre Dame signee. She did run 10:19 to win the 3200 Meter Run in March at Top Times. Schager did have a successful double in that meet running 4:53 to finish second in the 1600 Meter Run. Schager and her team had not made the decision on what she could do. We will find out on Friday afternoon if she is on the line for the 1600 Meter Run preliminary heats.

Schager has two state titles to her credit now. It could be her toughest challenge for a state title after pulling away last May for the 3200 title and running on her own last November at Detweiller Park. Rachel Soukup of Prairie Ridge pushed Schager most of the way at Top Times before Schager pulled away for a three second win. Soukup dropped her personal best down to 10:20.07 to win last week at Huntley. Schager enters this meet with a 10:03.27 best run at Arcadia in April. An under 10-minute time could be in Schager’s reach. Anna Harden of Hersey ran 10:27.23 to win at the Mid Suburban League Championships and should be a factor in this race. Bria Bennis of York, Liv Phillips of Naperville Central, Breanna Burak of Huntley, Catherine Sommerfeld of Lyons Township, Katherine Klimek of York, and Veronica Znajda of Prospect all have times under 10:44. Any one of these runners could finish in the top five.

The 1600 Meter Run is wide-open even if Schager decides to compete in it. Harden and Schager have the fastest times in the state (indoors or outdoors). The two runners will be doubling back most likely from the 3200 Meter Run. Scout Storms of Barrington has been the hot runner in this event with the 3A state’s fastest time outdoors of 4:53.88. She has gone undefeated and could be tough to beat in this race.

The one runner that could win the title in this race is Catie McCabe of Hinsdale Central. The senior has been running at her best even though she has not run against some of the top fields in the state. She ran 2:12 for 800-meters in her conference meet, 4:57 the week before at the Tiger Invitational. Her sub 58 second speed from the 4x4 along with controlling the dialogue of a race could make her the favorite. It will take a sub 4:50 time to win this race. Either McCabe or Storms could accomplish that.

Juliet Frum of Glenbrook North and Sophia Ramirez of Washington have sub-five times and could surprise up front if they get to Saturday. Hailey Erickson of Prospect, Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich, and Soukup all could be factors in the finals if they get to that point.

Torian’s sectional mishap opens door in hurdle races

One of the most frustrating things to see is an injury or mishap in a race ending the opportunity to qualify for a state meet especially if you are the pre-sectional favorite. Such was the case for defending hurdle state champion Ana-Liese Torian of Homewood-Flossmoor. Torian clipped a hurdle in her 110 Meter Hurdles race at the Thornton Sectional forcing her to the track and out of the race. Torian came back to win the 300 Meter Hurdles but with only a 47.21 time. Torian comes into the state meet ranked 23rd out of 28 sectional qualifiers.

My hope is Torian is back healthy to compete in the 300 Meter Hurdles. She currently is #6 (44.82) in Class 3A.

There are a number of athletes ready to step to the top of the podium on Saturday. Daisha Brunson of Conant could just be the one athlete to accomplish that. The freshman ran 14.59 at her conference meet a week ago and is one of six athletes that has run 14.9 or faster. Brunson ran 14.76 last week to have the top sectional mark. Abrielle Artley of Evanston Township ran a personal best of 14.85 to win at the Glenbrook South Sectional. Rylee Lydon ran 14.95 last week and will be a threat for the win. The event is wide-open with Corynn Holmes of Moline, Aisha Kazeem of Palatine, and Nickiya Shields of Danville all having chances to win.

The 300 Meter Hurdles opened up this week with five runners under 45 seconds for the event. Artley’s 43.82 time at Glenbrook South makes her the favorite in the event. Elyssa Chandler of Hinsdale Central dropped her personal best to almost two seconds to 44.54 makes her someone to watch out for. Kazeem and Shields are running their best at the right time. Keep an eye on them this weekend.

Class 3A Miscellaneous Notes

There is usually a favorite in the sprints in Class 3A when we get to the state meet. This year, we really cannot say that. It is wide open with a number of athletes able to claim that they will win the state title in both the 100 Meter Dash and 200 Meter Dash. The surprise of them all could be Mariyah Robinson of Simeon. The freshman has run under 12 seconds in the 100 Meter Dash in her last two meets. Her best of 11.92 to win at the CPL Championships puts her #2 in the state. Asia Thomas of Kenwood has been one of the top runners in the sprints all season. She finished second behind Robinson in the sectional race last week but does carry the event’s fastest time of 11.86.

Katelyn Lehnen of Chatham-Glenwood won the 60 Meter Dash at Illinois Top Times and then pulled up due to an injury. The defending 3A champion in the 200 Meter Dash did not race for a month but appears ready for prelims in Charleston this Friday. Lehnen ran a triple of 12.02, 24.88, and 56.74 last week proving she is ready to roll. Zawadi Brown of Neuqua Valley has the top sectional time of 24.41 to win last Friday at Lockport. Thomas, DeAnranay Chism of Belleville East, Charlotte Deines of Prospect, and Robinson all could challenge for the win in the 200 Meter Dash. There is no clear favorite in the event.

Brown is the anchor for Neuqua Valley that ran a state leading best of 1:40.62 just ahead of O’Fallon who ran 1:40.93 to win at Bloomington. It is going to take a time in the 1:39’s to win this state title. Lake Zurich, Huntley, Belleville East have the talent to accomplish that.

Homewood-Flossmoor ran 47.01 to edge Kenwood (47.08) at the Thornton Sectional. Torian was in the lineup for the Vikings in that race. O’Fallon, Huntley, and Belleville East all have times under 48 seconds.

Alexandria Johnson is one of the top athletes in the nation in the Long Jump. She should be the heavy favorite in the Triple Jump after jumping 12.34m to win her conference meet. Her sister Dominique Johnson, Elissa Perkins of Plainfield East, and Jahnel Bowman of Plainfield South could be athletes to push Johnson longer. Asha Pierre-Antoine of Lincoln-Way East jumped a personal best of 11.59m in her sectional and continues to improve with every meet. Keep an eye on her to surprise in this event.

Both weight events to be wide-open. Amaya Hendrickson of Hoffman Estates has the best mark of 13.11m in the Shot Put. Courtney Clabough of Yorkville will be in contention for the win after a personal best of 12.91 at the Moline Sectional. Ally Panzloff of Huntley leads all qualifiers in the Discus with her 44.15 throw at her conference meet. Reese Garland of Oak Park-River Forest and Kaitlyn Morningstar of Edwardsville both achieved personal bests in their sectional meets. They both will challenge for the state title.

Illinois Top Times champion Joscelyn Dieckman of DeKalb will be the favorite in the Pole Vault having cleared 3.89m this outdoor season. Kait McHale of Naperville Central has the best outdoor clearance of 3.97m. AJ Burk of Lake Zurich has cleared 3.85m and will also be challenging for the win.