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Girls-
Jaloni Wiley (Jr., Homewood-Flossmoor) has propelled herself into the national spotlight after tossing the ball 46'0.75" several days ago in a low-key meet. She is currently ranked #16 in the country and will have an excellent opportunity to move into the top 10 nationally and all-time in the state. It will take just 47'2.50" to get the job done. There to push her will be Leijla Maljevic (Jr., Evanston), who has tossed the iron ball 40'4.50" this winter.
Dominique Johnson (Sr., Huntley) is the state's premier dual-threat long/triple jumper and ranks among the national leaders. Johnson will contest the LJ first, where she ranks #1 in the state and #16 in the country, leaping 19'8.75." Could we see a 20' clearance on meet day? Johnson will double back in her favorite event, ranking #2 in the country at 42'5."Johnson is already the state's all-time best indoors.
Naomi Bey-Osborne (Sr., Kankakee) appears to be back and ready to close out her indoor campaign. The future U of Illinois star warmed up in the 400m several weeks ago at her conference championship in 57.77. Her coach, Marques Lowe, said, "It was an easy 57." He believes that, with all things equal, his pupil could drop a time somewhere in the 55-second range. The unheralded Alaina Steele (So., Lincoln-Way East) dropped a 57.28 PB last weekend and could threaten Bey-Osborn's title hopes. They are expected to duel in the final event of the evening, the "showstopper."
The distance arena will not be lacking as some of the premier performers are on the scene. In the day's first entree, the 3200m, "Sunny" Sundara Weber of Sandwich and Annika Swan of Chicago St. Ignatius will meet in the battle of juniors. Weber has run well at Gately, posting a PB of 10:18.23 for the two-mile. Swan, who anticipates running in the prestigious Arcadia Invite, must get within 10:15 to run in the championship section. Allison Shutler (Fr., St. Ignatius) and Kyla Babb (Jr., Westmont) will be looking to provide depth, if not a role of spoilers. Weber, Babb, and Shutler are slated to compete in the 1600m. Weber is ready
Erin Hinsdale (So., Wheaton St. Francis) ranks #2 in the state for the 800m. She is within striking distance of Emily Stecky's time of 2:13.02. Look for a strong challenge from Lily Hodneland (Sr., Hinsdale Central) and a deep field that possesses nine performers under 2:20.
Plainfield North is entered in all three relays and will be the favorite in two of them. Let's start with the 4x800. The Cats enter with the fourth-best time in the state, running 9:24.78. They were without one of their top runners at the DGS Mustang Relays earlier in the season. If pushed, we could see a time close to 9:10.
The next event for Plainfield North is the 4x200, where they appear to be at their best. Earlier in the month at the Mustang Relays, anchor senior Lauren Dellangelo used a blow torch to run down Prospect to the sounds of a rock concert in 1:40.63. North Central College's flat track was favorable on that day. We will see how fast the Tigers can roll on the autobahn-like Gately track.
