Normal Community is in the mix to challenge Prospect for the 4x800 title, in large part to a breakout opening leg in Bloomington for freshman Lily Cavanaugh. (Photo by Carson Vittorio)
3A- Can Ali Ince Produce a QUAD of iconic moments? Can Prospect finish the 2022-2023 year Wire-to-Wire?
Picture this: Prospect, after finishing the most prolific 4x800 season in state history, hands the baton to their all-state anchor with 6:45 on the screen during the third exchange. Charging ahead, the Knights have their sights on Wheaton-Warrenville South's all-time state record of 8:59.03 from 2012. From the naked eye, it appears they have a clear path to a state title... but just about 15 seconds later, Normal Community passes the baton to Ali Ince, and she has her sights set on victory.
Such a scene probably didn't seem possible a month ago with Prospect figuratively lapping the field in this event, but an eye-popping 9:12 4x800 for Normal Community last week changed the complexion of this race for good.
Ince's choices for her event load for the Bloomington sectional were highly anticipated this year, after the 2022 season that saw Ince attempt a triple, but fall short of making finals in the 1600 where she was the defending state champion and remains the all-time state meet record holder. Adding some strong young legs to the Ironwomen squad, especially Queen Lubula and Lily Cavanaugh, the choice was made easier to drop the 1600 in favor of the early-meet 4x800.
This now sets up an interesting situation in the relay, where Prospect has been the heavy favorite for months. Prospect continues to be the favorite, but the major of error is now tighter. All eight names on the relay card are formidable, but it's the principal quartet of Lily Ginsberg, Meg Peterson, Hailey Erickson, and Cameron Kalaway that will give Prospect the best shot of holding off not just Normal Community but a surging pack that includes Naperville Central, Washington, Downers Grove North, Barrington, and Yorkville.
Prospect has a bigger prize to set their sight on: the team championship. The 4x800, 4x400, and individual distance events have always been projected to score for Prospect. But how about Charlotte Deines (Jr.), a sprinter, looking to give Prospect a boost in the two flat sprints?
Alex Johnson (Sr.) and the Red Raiders can make life difficult for other title contenders with dominant jumps performances this weekend. Laura Duffy photographs Johnson clearing 20-6 on her final attempt at the 2023 Huntley Sectional.
These points will be crucial for Prospect who will try to hold off a field led by Huntley and the twin-headed Johnson sister attack. Both Alex Johnson (Sr.) and Dominique Johnson (So.) have shown a recent propensity to pull masterful jumps out of their sleeve at the eleventh hour, and few athletes are as big favorites as Alex is in the LJ. In addition to the jumps, the sister's bolster relays that also feature Victoria Evtimov, and Breanna Burak (Sr.) will be a source of points in the 3200. But like Prospect, Huntley wouldn't be where they are without emergent points, and this comes for the Red Raiders from state leading discus thrower Allyson Panzloff (Sr.), who is set for a Discus showdown with USC-signee Reese Garland (Sr., OPRF).
Looking to redeem a 2022 state meet that saw them miss the podium is Kenwood. Asia Thomas and Jaliyah Shepherd both project to make the finals in each sprint, and the Bronco sprint relays are each title contender. Kenwood's potential point avenues are more limited, so they will have to come up big in each of these areas (Thomas elected not to contest the 400). A wildcard for Kenwood is how the team approaches the 4x400.
Prairie Ridge will be hoping to ride the momentum of just two athletes to a trophy, that being multi-event star Rylee Lydon (Sr., headed to Texas A&M) and 3200/1600 doubler Rachel Soukup (Sr., headed to Belmont). Lydon had an outstanding sectional performance, turning in the following marks: 1.72m HJ (1st in 3A), 14.95 100h (4th), 55.48 400 (2nd), and 6.02m LJ (2nd). By herself, Lydon could score as many as 30-34 points, and improvement in the hurdles has facilitated this. As the 2021 400m state champion, she will be hungry to reclaim her title from Ince, the 2022 400m champion. For her part, Soukup has been by far the best two-miler in the state not named Grace Schager or Tatum David. Soukup's 10:20 sectional 3200 shows that Schager, the 3200 favorites, will have to work hard to hold off Soukup (in the 3200, don't expect Anna Harden (Sr., Hersey) or Bria Bennis (Sr., York) to be shed so easily either). With entry in the deep 1600 field as well, Soukup could be padding Lydon's total by about 10 points.
Normal Community can be in trophy position if one of these teams falters. Ince is the odds-on 800 favorite, as well as the favorite in the 400, and makes Normal the 4x400 favorite as well. Considering the 4x800's improvement, a strong Saturday from Ince makes 38 points the floor for Normal (a ceiling of 40 points, of course).
Homewood-Flossmoor remains in the mix but has a hill to climb with Ana-Liese Torian (Sr.) failing to make the 100h final. She is still the favorite in the 300h but hasn't looked the part yet this outdoor season. The same applies to the Viking relays, who are the leaders in the 4x100 but must flip a switch in the 4x200 and 4x400 if the 40-point total is going to be within reach. Angela Alozie (Sr.) should also be scoring points in the loaded 400.
These six schools have the best shot of hitting the 40-point mark, which looks to be a bare minimum in 3A in order to win a trophy. There is a strong second tier of schools that project to score at least 20 points, led by Neuqua Valley. The Wildcats have posted a few state-leading sprint relay marks throughout the season, and are bolstered by Zawadi Brown's (Sr.) individual prospects in the 100 and 200. They have a host of other qualifiers, particularly in the field, that can help as well. Keep an eye also on Hinsdale Central, who can hit close to 30 on the strength of Catie McCabe (Sr., 1600), Elyssa Chandler (Sr., both hurdles), and the 4x400. The other schools that hope to break the top 10 are Barrington, Moline, Lake Zurich, O'Fallon, Belleville East, Plainfield East, Hersey, and Glenwood.
Scout Storms (So.) and Anna Harden (Sr.) lead a crowded 3A 1600 field.
Notes on Individual Races and Other Storylines -
- The 3A 1600 has been one of the best events for either gender over the past few years, and this year's field is particularly deep with no clear favorite. But if one has to be installed, point to Scout Storms (So., Barrington), who has remained undefeated at the distance in-state this season. Also billed to assist her Fillie teammates in the 4x800, Storms is seeking a redemptive performance after a trip in the 1600 preliminary ended her 2022 state meet early. Her DNIP Mile victory was won over the likes of Schager, who will be returning from a 3200 double, Harden, and Juliet Frum (So., Glenbrook North). The news of McCabe scratching the 800 showed that the fourth-place finisher from 2021 is focusing her efforts on the 1600. Throw in star freshmen Annika Swan (Saint Ignatius), Sophia Ramirez (Washington), Abby Lewis (Barrington), Prospect point hopefuls (Erickson and Kalaway), and 4:50-veteran Brooke Johnston (Sr., Lake Zurich), and all of the favorites will need to be buttoned-up during the prelim to even make it to Saturday.
- The absence of Torian from the 100h opens the door for a surprise winner, whoever it may be. Is this the passing of the torch to Daisha Brunson (Fr., Conant), #1 sectional seed, in her freshman year? Long hurdle specialist Abrielle Artley (Sr., Evanston) is not as dominant over 100h but is now thrust into the mix. But can they hold off Lydon? How a trifecta of emerging names, Nickiya Shields (So., Danville), Corynne Holmes (Sr., Moline), and Aisha Kazeem (So., Palatine)?
-A notable non-q is Belleville East in the 4x200. The spotlight shifts to the two 1:40 squads this year, O'Fallon and Neuqua Valley. But a gaggle of trophy contenders are in the mix, too. Homewood Flossmoor, Prospect, and Huntley all have stakes in this relay. But the team that has shown flashes above all has been Kenwood, whose 1:41 season best dates back to the early indoor season. Do they rise above the rest?
-The Pole Vault will be a continuation of a back-and-forth battle between conference rivals Joscelyn Dieckman (Jr., DeKalb) and Kait McHale (Sr., Naperville Central). Both have cleared 13' this season. But in this event, you can never count on anyone who makes it to Saturday out, and some of the vaulters that may join them in the later jumps are Makenna Skoczylas (Sr., Lockport), AJ Burk (Sr., Lake Zurich), Claudia Ifft (Fr., Bloomington) and Jaiden Knoop (Jr., Lincoln-Way East).
-The 100 and 200 are wide-open with all of the state's elite sprinters right in the thick of the mix. The one returning champion is Katelyn Lehnen (So., Glenwood) trying to defend her 200 title. Her fitness is developing after a brief outdoor season due to injury, and it showed a bit as she took runner-up in the sectional 200 to breakout star DeAndranay Chism (Jr., Belleville East). Chism's 24.54 was better than all sectional results besides Zawadi Brown (Jr., Neuqua Valley). In each sprint, these runners will try to surpass Asia Thomas and Deines, both of whom have team trophy hopes on their backs. Another potential champion: Mariyah Robinson, Simeon freshman. She is the one sub-12 performer from sectionals and proved her mettle by challenging and/or defeating Thomas on consecutive weeks.