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IESA began the state series in track
and field for boys in 1932, and this will be the 73rd year for the
boys. The state series for girls began in 1972, and this will be the
33rd year for the girls. A total of 241 member schools entered the
Class A state series this year, and 87 percent of the schools
entering athletes in the qualifying sectionals advanced at least one
qualifier to the state meet.
Competition for both girls and boys will be in 14 events for
seventh-graders and 14 events for eighth-graders, making a grand
total of 56 events. Preliminaries and finals are conducted on the
same day in the respective field events, which are spread over the
two days. In the 100-meter dash and hurdles, preliminaries and
semifinals will be on Friday and the finals on Saturday. Timed
finals are the format in all other running events. The best times
from all the heats or sections in a respective running event
determine final places in that event.
Six field events will be contested
Friday, beginning at 1 p.m. The running events get under way at 3
p.m. Friday. Competition on Saturday begins at 9 a.m. in four field
events, the finals in the 100 and hurdles, and the remainder of the
running events. The complete time schedule for the weekend is
available at www.iesa.org. From
the home page, click on "Track and Field" in the box at the top of
the page, then click on "Class A Schedule." [Click
here to go directly to the schedule. To download Adobe Reader for the PDF
file, click here.]
Single-session tickets will be on
sale at the stadium each day. Tickets are priced at $5 for adults
and $2 for students K-8 and seniors.
Here is a look at each of the four
meets within the state meet:
7A girls
Assumption Central A&M, East St.
Louis Jackson, Neoga and Tuscola East Prairie have the firepower to
battle for the 7A team title, which was won by Bloomington Holy
Trinity with 47 points in 2004.
Assumption Central A&M is led by
standout Lauren Adcock. She is seeded second in the long jump with a
sectional mark of 15-9, first in the 800-meter run in 2:32.7, fourth
in the 1,600-meter run at 5:45.8, and she is a member of the
first-seeded 4x400-meter relay at 4:29.3.
East St. Louis Jackson features
Alexis Fennoy, who is seeded third in the 100-meter hurdles, fourth
in the long jump at 15-5 and is a member of the top-seeded
4x100-meter relay at 55.0. East St. Louis Jackson also has Shanelle
Scott in the shot put (28-10) and discus (86-6), and the school has
a 4x400-meter relay team seeded 13th.
Neoga's Olivia Mintun is seeded
third in the shot put (29-6) and first in the discus at 92-2. She
also is fourth-seeded in the 100-meter hurdles at 16.9 and runs a
leg on the fifth-seeded 4x100-meter relay.
Tuscola East Prairie features
Raechel Buckner. She is seeded first in the long jump at 16-0, is
second seed in the 200-meter dash at 27.6 and runs a leg on the
seventh-seeded 4x400-meter relay.
In the distance events, there could
be some great competition. Molly Dahlquist of Peoria St. Mark posted
the top qualifying time in the 1,600-meter run at 5:41.8 and the
ninth-best time in the 800-meter run. Rachel Lahood of Peoria
Heights St. Thomas has the second seed in the 1600 at 5:45.2 and
ranks 13th in the 800. Erica Webster of Colchester West Prairie is
third-seeded in the 1,600 at 5:45.5 and fourth in the 800 at 2:37.1.
Mary Francis Leake of Lexington ranks fifth in the 1,600 at 5:46.7
and third in the 800 at 2:37.0.
8A girls
Last year's 7A team champion
Bloomington Holy Trinity looks to wear the favorite's cap heading
into the 2005 meet. Bloomington Holy Trinity took the 2004 7A crown
with 47 points and has at least one qualifier in 11 of the 14
events. Last year, Walnut Bureau Valley North and Champaign St.
Matthew tied for the 8A team title with 32 points each.
Bloomington Holy Trinity's Jennifer
Monk and Alexis Atkins qualified third and fourth, respectively, in
the high jump and first and second in the 100-meter hurdles. Atkins
also qualified seventh in the 400-meter dash in 1:03.3. Monk won the
7A hurdle title last year in 15.93. The Saints' relays also are
strong. The 4x100 comes into the state final with the No. 2 seed
time of 54.10. The 4x200 is ranked fourth at 1:56.8, and the 4x400
is the sectional leader at 4:24.6. Erie could challenge Holy Trinity
in the 4x100 and 4x400, while Media Southern comes into the 4x200
with the sectional best mark of 1:53.7.
Every one of the 11 individual event
champions from last year's 7A state meet has qualified for this
year's 8A competition.
Media Southern's Miriam Ruitzen, who
played in the post and led her school to third place in the 8A state
basketball tournament in December, is a contender for two individual
titles. She won the 7A high jump at 4-10 in 2004 and posted the best
sectional mark in the high jump with Megan Krampe of Sigel St.
Michael's at 5-1. She has the top seed time in the 400-meter dash at
1:02.0. She also runs a leg on the top-seeded 4x200 relay.
Last year's 7A 400-meter champion
Leeann Michl of Newton St. Thomas returns in the 400 this year and
is seeded sixth at 1:03.2. She took the 7A title in 2004 with
1:02.82, a fully automatic time.
Another contender for two individual
titles is Catlin's Hannah Wilkins, who is seeded No. 1 in both the
shot put (33-9.5) and discus (106-0). She will face a challenge from
defending champion Kelsi Hoey of Tuscola East Prairie in both
events. Hoey took last year's 7A shot put title with a toss of 31-1
and qualified fifth for 8A at 31-7.5. Hoey won the 2004 discus with
a mark of 101-7 and is seeded fourth in 8A at 100-5.
Meanwhile, Neoga's Jaimee Roy will
take aim on three individual titles. She is the leading qualifier in
all three events and also runs a leg on the school's 4x200-meter
relay. In the long jump, she went 17-4.5 in the sectional. In the
100-meter dash she posted 12.8 in the sectional, and in the
200-meter dash she posted a time of 26.7. She will be challenged in
the sprints by Macey Black of Pleasant Hill and Molly Ellis of
Rockford Christian. Ellis went 12.9 in the 100 and 27.2 in the 200.
Black posted a 13.0 in the 100 and 26.8 in the 200.
In the long jump, last year's 7A
champion Mandi Pranger of Carrollton GS won with a leap of 16-0 and
comes into the 8A state final seeded fourth at 16-1.25. In the 100,
Pranger is seeded No. 3 at 2.9, and 7A champion Kayla Heal of
Sparland Midland is seeded No. 6 at 13.0. In the 200, 7A champion
Pranger is seeded No. 3 at 26.9. She won the 7A event in 2004 in
27.48.
[to top of second column in this article] |
 Rachael Brewer of Tuscola East
Prairie is gunning for the 800- and 1,600-meter run titles. She
posted a 2:28.3 in the 800 for the best sectional seed and ranks
third in the 1,600 at 5:39.7. Bloomington Holy Trinity's Kelly
Curran, a qualifier in both events, could score pivotal points for
the Saints in these events. She comes into the meet with the
fourth-best 1,600 seed and No. 22 in the 800. Last year's 7A
champion in both events is Kortney Ellingboe of Hamilton. She took
the 800 in 7A at 2:39.39 and is seeded fifth in 8A with a sectional
mark of 2:33.4. Ellingboe won the 7A title in the 1,600 in 5:36.1
and is the No. 1 seed at 5:31.7.
Chelsea May of Newton St. Thomas
took the 7A pole vault with a mark of 7-6. She is seeded third in 8A
with a vault of 7-3 in sectional, finishing second in that meet
behind teammate Megan Ochs, the No. 1 seed at 7-6.
7A boys
It's a wide-open chase for the 7A
team title, with Lexington boys a slight favorite to take the crown,
on the basis of having strong qualifiers in five of the 11
individual events and two relays. Kewanee Wethersfield is defending
champion, taking the 2004 title with 32 points. Hopkins Park Lorenzo
Smith has a top-ranked relay and well-placed qualifiers in four
individual events.
Lexington is led by T.J. Stinde and
Ben Snyder. Stinde posted the best 800-meter seed in 2:20.1, and
Snyder is seeded third at 2:21.0, along with Ryan Van Fossen of
Metamora St. Mary's. Stinde was one of six high jumpers qualifying
for the state meet with a 5-2 mark in the sectional. Stinde also is
seeded eighth in the 400-meter dash. Snyder is eighth-seeded in the
110-meter hurdles at 17.6. They both run legs on the 4x400-meter
relay that posted a 4:07.5 in the sectional, more than five seconds
faster than No. 2 seed Stewardson-Strasburg. If the title is on the
line in the meet's final event, that could be an advantage to
Lexington.
Hopkins Park Lorenzo Smith has the
No. 1 seed in the 4x200-meter relay at 1:46.8. Kwamaine Robinson and
Brandon Brewer lead Lorenzo Smith. Robinson is No. 14 seed in the
long jump at 16-9 and No. 10 seed in the 200-meter dash at 26.2.
Brewer is the No. 5 seed in the 200 at 25.7 and is No. 8 seed in the
100-meter dash at 12.3.
Ryan Van Fossen of Metamora St.
Mary's is the leading qualifier in the 1,600-meter run with a 5:07.0
in the sectional. Mitchell List of Easton Illini Central posted a
5:08.2 No. 2 seed time in the 1,600 and the No. 5 seed time of
2:23.9 in the 800. Another challenger in the distance races is Van
Fossen's teammate Ryan Donnelly, who ran 5:11.0 in the sectional in
the 1,600 and 2:25.0 in the 800.
The sprint titles could go to
Heyworth's Jase Wilson, the leading scorer and rebounder on the
Hornets' second-place team in the Class 7A state basketball
tournament. Wilson, a 6-footer, posted the leading qualifying times
in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. His physical stature should
help him through all the races necessary to score points in the
sprints. Wilson qualified as the No. 2 seed in the high jump at 5-6.
He also runs a leg on the school's 8A 4x100-meter relay, which is
the No. 1 seed in this year's meet with a time of 48.0. That time is
faster than the current 8A state record time of 48.20. Heyworth also
has Ben Asmus, the No. 8 seed in the 1,600-meter run at 5:19.2, in
its 7A point potential.
Another performer to keep an eye on
is Elmwood's Bailee Ricketts. He's seeded third in the high jump at
5-6, eighth in the long jump at 17-2 and third in the 110 hurdles at
17.1.
8A boys
In the 14 events in the 8A state
meet, only one school has more than one No. 1-seeded individual
qualifier or relay.
That school is Peoria Heights
Christian, and the athlete leading the qualifiers in the 100-meter
and 200-meter dash events is Adam Trantham. He will face challenges
from Tyler Best of Peoria Limestone Walters and Corey Wiley of
Earlville Harding. Best is seeded No. 3 in the 100 and 200. Wiley is
seeded No. 4 in the 100 and No. 2 in the 200. Last year's 7A
champion in the 100, Matt Pyse of Erie, took the title last spring
in 12.31 and is seeded No. 2 in the 8A 100 at 11.6.
Effingham St. Anthony won the 2004
team title with 40 points, the same total that Newton Central
produced to win in 2003. There is no clear-cut favorite for the 2005
team title. Peoria Heights Christian, Bloomington Holy Trinity and
Lewistown Central appear on paper to be the top contenders.
Peoria Heights Christian has
individuals in six events and one relay in the state meet.
Bloomington Holy Trinity has individuals in six events and two
relays, with the 4x200 seeded first and the 4x400 seeded second.
Lewistown Central has individuals in four events and a pair of
relays seeded No. 4, the 4x200 and 4x400.
Fisher's Colten Unzicker and Media
Southern's Layton Housman are aiming to capture a pair of individual
titles, but only one can succeed. Unzicker is the No.1 seed in the
400-meter dash at 54.9. Houseman is the No. 1 seed in the
1,600-meter run at 4:56.9. Unzicker is seeded No. 2 and Housman No.
3 in the 800-meter run, behind Jon Webster of Wyoming Stark County.
Last year's 7A champions in all three events are in their respective
races this year. In the 400, D.J. Hovis of Cowden-Herrick won 7A in
57.98 and is seeded sixth in 8A at 55.6. In the 800, Chase Brinkley
of Paris Crestwood took the 7A crown in 2:12.15 and is seeded No. 4
in 8A with a sectional mark of 2:14.0. Brinkley led Paris Crestwood
to the Class 7A basketball state championship and poured in a
title-game-record 35 points along the way. In the 1,600, Delavan's
Kody Nelson won in 7A at 5:01.64 and is the No. 2 seed in 8A at
4:58.0.
Last year's 7A champion Scott
Mammoser of Newton St. Thomas qualified for the pole vault from the
sectional with a vault of 11-6. The 8A state record is 11-9.
Mammoser won 7A with a vault of 10-4.
Four other 7A state champions made
it back in their events in 8A. Greenfield's Sean Berry won the 7A
discus last spring in 134-7 and is the leading qualifier in 8A with
l51-4. Caleb Corzine of Assumption Central A&M took the 7A 110-meter
hurdle title in 17.21. He is the leading 8A qualifier at a sizzling
15.2, more than a second ahead of the 16.4 recorded by No. 2 seed
Alex Montoya of Elmwood. Wes Vaden of Bushnell-Prairie City won the
7A shot in 2004 and is rated No. 3 in 8A with a sectional mark of
42-1.5. Last year's 7A long jump champion Corey Simpson of New
Berlin JHS comes in as the No. 17 seed in 8A with a sectional mark
of 17-9 after taking the 7A title a year ago with a leap of 17-2.
The leader in the 8A long jump is John David Draminski of Kewanee
Wethersfield with a dazzling 20-3.
[IESA
news release] |
