E. St. Louis Sr. have been great in the relays all season long
Date: May 16-18, 2019 (running prelims 5/17 at 9am)
Location: O'Brien Stadium; Eastern Illinois University
How to Follow: Watch Live and follow on Twitter #GTFstate19
Expect heavy action around the town of Charleston all weekend due to the state championship. But the epicenter of small class but big action track and field on Friday morning through the early afternoon. For the first time this season, the weather is expected to be sparkling for the "Northerners" as sunny skies and upper 70s and lower 80s are welcome.
Bolden will lead things off in her quest for multiple championships-
Serena Bolden has been down this road before. The senior star from Springfield Southeast has been in a position to win her first event state gold medal the several years. The two key athletes that should in her way, Imani Carothers (Brooks Prep) and Erika Furbeck (Geneseo), have since graduated. The triple jump is arguably Bolden's best event and she been very successful at it. She would eventually win the USATF Jr. Olympics title with a sizzling 41-6.75. So far this season there has not been any roadblocks in the pit, which includes the long jump where her season best is 19-9, good for the second best in the state. Bolden is ready to lead her team to another first-place trophy as she adds the 100 and 200 as ammo. Bolden is a tenth of a second better than the nearest girl at 11.74. Though she is a relative novice in the later race, the 24.98 shows the potential and a forecast of what is to come this weekend.
E. St. Louis Sr has been all business during the outdoor season-
In the history of girls track and field, the proverbial cereal box glamour look would probably not resemble many smiles for the Flyerettes. Legendary coach Nino Fennoy never allowed his girls to stray or converse with the "enemy" during the season. Nor did many media types had access to his girls until after the state championship was officially in the books. Times are different now. Kids have the upper hand on old school coaches with the power of social media savviness. The Eastside girls smile a bit more and will speak on camera during the season. 2019 has been a very good year for Coach Fennoy's collective group. The Flyerettes have an opportunity to place very high in all four relays. There is depth in the jumps, sprints, and hurdles. Veronica Sherrod (Jr.) and Maysha Vickers (Sr.) will take care of the long hurdles. They are both 1-2 in 2A. Jariah Turner (Sr) leads the charge in the 400 with a 57.09 best. They also have the potential to score very high in all four relays. It's obvious that Eastside is the team to beat.
Track and field is not a participant part for those who are in the center of attention-
Emelia Ness (Jr., Monticello) is the one to watch in the 100HH with a sectional leading 14.82. Ness also has the third best time in the 300H mark in the classification at 44.90.
Aspen Gordon (Sr., Morton) appears to be peaking at the right time in the distance realm. She ran well down the stretch as her sectional marks of 5:11.07 and 11:02.01 indicates. However, there are season times put up by Lianna Surtz (Fr., Rosary), Olivia Rosenstein (Jr., Urbana), and Jenna Schwartz (Sr., Waterloo) that make them very dangerous.
Payne Turney (Jr., Clinton) has the third-best sectional time of 2:22.28, but she is the class leader at 2:16.33. Turney won the Illinois Top Times crown and has virtually been unopposed this season.
Jayla Campbell (Sr., Rich Central) and Raven Moore (Sr., Springfield Southeast) will battle it out for the right to call themselves a champion in the 200. Please do not excuse Jessica McDowell (Sr., Normal University)
Carbondale drops fast relays: 4x100 (47.89), 4x200 (1:42.13), 4x400 (4:04.65). The Terriers are ready to show and prove this weekend.
Eureka should not be forgotten for what they have done in the 4x800 in the past state meet. With senior Emma Argo on the scene, the Hornets will be ready to sting their foes in the championship.