IHSA State Track & Field Championships – 2A Girls Preliminary Recap

A different spin for the distance events; three times still lead the way heading to Saturday’s finals

By Michael Newman

Charleston, Ill – Becca Heitzig of Lincoln was sitting inside the clerks tent waiting for the start for the prelims of the 2A Girls 800 Meter Run at Friday morning’s first preliminary session. “ I was looking around and did not see her,” Heitzig said. “That was the first time I knew.”

People around the clerk’s tent knew that Tatum David of Richland County was not in the the line setting up for the final heat of the event. Then fans could tell that David was not on the starting line. Then the announcers in the booth realized it 100 -meters into the race.

It was a surprise that David was not running. The week before at the Rantoul Sectional David ran 2:05.29 to win the sectionals with Heitzig running 2:08.04.

It was a hard decision for her.

“I wanted to get a good 800 Meter Run in before state. The sectional race was it, dropping my personal best down seven seconds,” said David after the preliminary session was concluded. “I felt good about that race. I made my decision on Wednesday evening and started concentrating on the 3200  and 1600.

The decision changes a runner going after three wins to two runners going after state meet records. Heitzig will try to break her own State Meet Record in the 800 Meter Run, perhaps the overall record before Ince gets a chance to do it in Class 3A. David could go after State Meet records in the 3200 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run.

Colleen Zeibert of Rochester, who finished second in the event last year, ran the fastest prelim time of 2:16.51. Lulu Ton-That of Northside Prep ran 2:18.53 to finish second. Heitzig was under control in the second heat easily winning with a 2:18.76 time.  Mia Menendez of Fenwick won the third heat with a 2:17.46 time. Gabrielle Walker of DePaul College Prep ran 2:17.64 to finish second.

David in the final heat of the 1600 Meter Run was in a situation that she was not used to. Other runners were right with her with two laps to go. “She was looking around throughout the race,” Benet Academy’s Louisa Diamond said. “It just was not once. She was looking around to see who was near her.”

“ I was just trying to stay loose throughout the race. The decision was to go from 300 to 500 meters left,” David added. “I felt like going with 500-meters to go.”

That she did. She passed the first 800 in 2:37, ran 2:23 for the second half of the race including 66.9 for the final lap to win that heat in 5:00.39. Diamond finished second (5:07.22) ahead of Zoe Carter of Normal University (5:13.51) Sundara Weber of Sandwich led the first heat from the start running 5:05.62 to win that heat. Sofia Munoz of Mt. Zion ran 5:13.19 to finis second. Munoz also qualified in the 800 earlier in the meet. Heitzig also qualified in her second event running 5:11.95 to win with Ava Boyd of Mahomet-Seymour placing second (5:14.78).

Each of the favorite teams heading into this meet had some hiccups but still have the qualifiers to bring home a trophy. Geneseo leads all team with 10 qualifiers. Defending state champion Kankakee along with Normal University and Mt. Zion are next with nine qualifiers. Tolono Unity, with eight qualifiers, and Cahokia, with seven qualifiers, are teams that are in the hunt for a trophy.

Here is a look at some of the 15 other events that took place on Friday morning.

Track Events

4x800m Relay – Four teams separated themselves from the rest of the field in this event setting up a great final on Saturday morning.  Rochester led all qualifiers in this relay running 9:44.72 to win the third heat. It was close throughout between the top seeded Rockets and Lakes Community. Colleen Zeibert pulled away from Lakes’ Madison Perez to take home the win. Lakes ran 9:48.00 to finish second. Morton flexed their muscles in Heat 2 running 9:45.98 to capture a heat win. Dixon (9:57.81), Payton Prep (9:57.83), and Waterloo (9:57.84) were the next three places. Tolono Unity was in control in the first heat running 9:50.70 to claim the win. DePaul College Prep ran 9:58.94 to finish second ahead of Mt. Zion (9:59.44).

4x100m Relay – Kankakee made a statement in this relay running 47.42 (IL #3) for the fastest time out of preliminaries for the win in the fourth heat. Marian Catholic qualified (49.38) to finish second. Their time was almost a second ahead of the rest of the field. Champaign Central ran 48.26 to win the third heat ahead of Geneseo (49.24) who was the other qualifier in the heat. Three teams qualified out of the second heat. Peoria Richwoods ran 48.49 for the win ahead of Normal University (48.51) and Tolono Unity (49.17). Cahokia won the opening heat (48.85) ahead of rival East St, Louis-Senior (49.40).

100 Meter Hurdles – This will be one of the most anticipated finals in Class 2A. Defending State Champion Emmi Scales of St. Viator ran a season’s best of 14.10 (IL #3) to win the third heat of this event. Brianna Dixon of Rantoul, who was state champion in 2021, ran the same time of 14.10 (IL #2) to win the final heat. Dixon was ahead by three thousandth of a second (14.093 – 14.096).  Kennedy Ross of Lindblom ran 14.42 (IL #4) to win the first heat.

100 Meter Dash – The top three advancing runners in this event were all under 12 seconds. Kayda Austin of Cahokia led all qualifiers running 11.83 to win the fourth heat ahead of Vionche Terry of Phillips (12.15) and Ranaisha Howard-Dunigan (12.16) of Limestone. Angelina Bullocks of Westinghouse ran 11.87 to win the first heat with Neveah Lowe of Kankakee finishing second (12.15). Lena Jackson of Peoria Richwoods (11.99) and Symone Frison of Lindblom (12.05) were the other heat winners.

4x200m Relay – Kankakee ran 1:42.73 to lead all qualifiers to win the third heat ahead of Champaign Central (1:43.46). East St. Louis-Senior won the second heat (1:43.46) with Dunlap (1:44.58) and Tolono Unity (1:44.77) who also qualified. Normal University won the first heat (1:43.86) ahead of final qualifier Geneseo (1:44.81). Peoria Richwoods won the final heat (1:44.32) with Lakes Community (1:45.14) the other qualifier.

400 Meter Dash – Naomi Bey-Osborne of Kankakee ran a personal best of 56.12 to lead all qualifiers. Madalyn Marx of Mahomet-Seymour (57.00), Ellie Logsdon of Genoa-Kingston (57.22), and Kennedy Ramshaw of Champaign Central (57.44) also were heat winners.

300 Meter Hurdles – Four runners were the only ones in this heat running under 46 seconds. Emmi Scales leads the field by close to a second running 44.29 to win her heat. Kennedy Ross (45.19), Annie Wirth of Geneseo (45.32), and Gianna Huerta of Glenbard South (45.39) were the other heat winners.

200 Meter Dash – Kayda Austin led all qualifiers in this event running a state leading 24.20 to win her heat. Defending State Champion Naomi Bey-Osborne ran 24.46 to win her second heat with Angelina Bullocks running 24.57 to finish second. Syriah Boyd of Galesburg (24.95) and Keymora Hayes of Cahokia (24.99) were the other heat winners.

4x400m Relay – Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin are four seconds ahead of the rest of the field running 3:59.74 (IL #6) to win the third heat. Normal University (4:03.70), Kankakee (4:04.76), and Geneseo (4:05.00) were the other heat winners qualifying for the finals.

Field Events

Long Jump – Annie Wirth had marks in all three attempts. They were all over 18-feet. Her best of 18-7 leads all qualifiers. Keymora Hayes (17-10.25) and Paige Greenhagel (17-9) are the =x closest qualifiers.

Triple Jump – Defending champion Alice Sotelo of Sterling sets in good position to win another state title after a good preliminary round on Friday. Sotelo improved in each round with her best of 37-3.75 coming on her final attempt. She Has over a foot lead ahead of Abby Venhaus of Columbia (36-3.50) and Angela Gersch of Richmond-Burton (36-0).

High Jump – Nine athletes qualified for the finals of the High Jump all clearing 5-2.25. Anne Wirth, Brianna Dixon, and Molly Grohmann are some of the notable qualifiers.

Pole Vault – Chelsea Wetzel of Dunlap lead all qualifiers with a 11-02.50 clearance. It will be a 16 athlete final with the remaining qualifiers all clearing 10-2.75.

Shot Put – Claire Allen of Sandwich has a definite edge ahead of the rest of the field in the Shot Put by almost three feet. The senior had a 42-11 put in the second round to give her the advantage.. Madelyn Bishop stands in second after Friday with a 4-0.50 best. Alice Mihas of Latin School had a great day as she stands in third with a 39-1 best.

Discus – Alice Mihas was rolling on this day especially when she moved to the Discus ring. The senior threw 132-0 (IL #7) to have the lead after the preliminary round. Olivia Marshall of Geneseo is more than 10 feet behind Mihas standing in second place. Tiana Foreman of Burlington Central threw 116-1 on her final attempt and is in third place.