By Michael Newman

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Here is a look at each of the 3A Girls Sectional Meets that took place across the state on Thursday and Friday.

Friday

LaGrange Lyons Township Sectional

Results

Highlights – Host Lyons Township won their sectional rather easily scoring 177 points. The Lions qualified 15 including all four of their relays. Emma Haugen had a big evening on the final time on her home track winning three events. The defending 3A High Jump state champion cleared 5-5 to win that event. Haugen also jumped 35-7 to win the Triple Jump and ran 15.26 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles.

Sahain Lopez (Morton HS, Berwyn-Cicero) won both the 3200 Meter Run (11:38.77) atern Springs with a double win. She ran 12.53 to win the 100 Meter Dash, then came back to run nd the 1600 Meter Run (5:24.78). Tanayea Kimbrough (Proviso West HS, Hillside) also left Western Springs with two wins. She ran 12.53 to win the 100 Meter Dash, then came back to run 25.82 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

O’Fallon Sectional

Results

Highlights – Host O’Fallon put themselves in position for a trophy at next weekend’s state meet winning their own sectional scoring 109 points. Bloomington scored 56 and Normal Community scored 52 for second and third place. The Lady Panthers qualified 13 to next Friday’s state prelims including all four of their relays. Miya Dorsey (Belleville East HS) could be one of the big stories next weekend in Charleston. She won both hurdle races at this sectional meet Friday evening. She won the 100 Meter Hurdles (15.07) just ahead of Edwardsville’s Autumn Harris. She came back later in the eveing to run the state’s fastest time (43.21) in winning the 300 Meter Hurdles. She won by more than a second ahead of LaJarvia Brown (Alton HS). 8 athletes qualified for the state meet in that event.

Brown also had a good met winning both the Long Jump (17-11 ¾) and the Triple Jump (38-10 ½). She will be the favorite next week in the Triple Jump as well as being in contention for a top medal in the Long Jump. Another big event qualifier was the 200 Meter Dash when seven athletes punched their ticket to Charleston. Jezel Martin (Bloomington HS) ran a fast 24.65 to win the event by more than a second ahead of Belleville West’s Ni’Jia McNamee (25.42). Earlier in the evening, McNamee won the 400 Meter Dash (57.78).

Bloomington will be among the front runners in the sprint relays. They ran the state’s third fastest time (47.47) in winning the 400 Meter Relay ahead of O’Fallon (47.96). The two teams faced off again in the 800 Meter Relay with the same result. Bloomington once again ran the state’s third fastest time (1:40.86) to win the race by more than a second ahead of host O’Fallon (1:41.88). That event also was tough as seven teams will make the trip to the state meet by running faster than the qualifying standards.

Palatine Fremd Sectional

Results

Highlights – Barrington won this tough sectional Friday night scoring 104 ½ points. Warren Township (88 points) and Palatine (63 pints) finished second and third. Barrington put themselves in good position for next week’s state meet qualifying 13 including all four relays. Warren qualified six to Charleston with three of them coming from the legs of Brittny Ellis. The two time state champion in the 400 Meter Dash is one step closer to the sprint triple by qualifying in all three sprint events. She ran 12.16 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Barrington’s Nina Hodges (12.51). She ran 54.87 to easily win the 400 Meter Dash by almost five seconds. Ellis’ third win came when she ran 24.46 to win the 200 Meter Dash again ahead of Hodges (25.30). She was also a part of Warren’s winning 400 Meter Relay (48.74) as they edged Palatine (48.77) by three hundredths of a second.

The distance races were the showcase events in this sectional. Palatine ran a state best 9:11.95 to hold off crosstown rival Fremd (9:13.62) to win the 3200 Meter Relay. Palatine’s time is currently ranked #5 nationally. Kelly O’Brien, who anchored Palatine’s winning 3200 relay, ran 4:57.54 to win the 1600 Meter Run almost five seconds ahead of Ayako Higuchi (Fremd HS, Palatine). The meet was deep in quality with 8 athletes qualifying for the state meet.  Jocelyn Long (Barrington HS) ran 10:52.63 to win the 3200 Meter Run by fifteen seconds ahead of Kortney Schardt (Lakes HS, Lake Villa). Danielle Griesbaum (Lakes HS, Lake Villa) won a close 800 running 2:16.84 just ahead of Avryl Johnson (Libertyville HS).

Cheyenne White (Waukegan HS) will be among the top jumpers next weekend winning both the Long Jump (18-7) and the Triple Jump (38-3).  Barrington ran a fast 1:42.01 to win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of Palatine (1:43.10) and Fremd (1:45.19). Barrington concluded the meet by winning the 1600 Meter Relay (3:55.38). Fremd  (3:58.87) led three other qualifiers in that event.

St. Charles North Sectional

Results

Highlights – Batavia edged St. Charles East 93 ½ - 86 ½ to win the team championship. Batavia was led by a double win by Hannah Schlaman who won the 100 Meter Dash (12.65) and the 200 Meter Dash (25.81). Schlaman was also a part of Batavia’s 2 winning relays. Batavia ran 48.61 to win the 400 Meter Relay ahead of St. Charles East (49.06). The margin was closer in the 800 Meter Relay as Batavia edged West Aurora by five hundredths of a second for the win (1:43.73 – 1:43.78).

St. Charles East captured the other two relays. The Lady Saints ran a season’s best 9:23.91 to win the 3200 Meter Relay ahead of Schaumburg (9:28.74), Hoffman Estates (9:32.40), St. Charles North (9:33.79), and Geneva (9:34.12). St. Charles East concluded the meet also with a win. They ran a season’s best 3:54.06 to win the 1600 Meter Relay by over four seconds ahead of Geneva (3:58.98).

The distance events were strong in this sectional. Gabby Juarez (Streamwood HS) ran 10:48.11 to win the 3200 Meter Run eight seconds ahead of Batavia freshman Emma Stephens (10:56.35). An astounding 11 runners qualified in the 1600 Meter Run led by the 5:01.41 time of Torree Scull (St. Charles East HS) she won the race by three seconds ahead of Juarez (5:04.37) and another two seconds ahead of Audrey Ernst (St. Charles North HS).

Hannah Schilb (St. Charles North HS) won both the Long Jump (17-7) and the Triple Jump (38-4 ½). The sophomore could place in the top five at next week’s state meet. Metea Valley swept the weight events. Defending 3A champion Courtney Morgan had a 41-0 performance to win the Shot Put. Teammate Holly Julifs threw 126-7 to win the Discus ahead of Morgan by almost five feet (131-8).

Thursday

Carol Stream Glenbard North Sectional

Results

Highlights – Prospect scored 95 points and qualified 10 to next week’s state meet in winning the sectional team title. Wheaton-Warrenville South scored 85 points to finish second also qualifying 10 for Charleston. Brooke Wilson was the only double winner for Prospect. She pulled away to win the 3200 Meter Run (11:06.11) seven seconds ahead of second place Sydney Davis (Conant HS, Hoffman Estates). Wilson came back to win the 1600 (5:06.73) almost three seconds ahead of second place Sara Atkins (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS).

The only other double winner in this meet was Michaela Smith (Lake Park HS, Roselle) in the weight events. She led seven athletes down to Charleston in winning the Shot Put (41-5 ½). She came back to throw a season’s best 140-5 to win the Discus. The biggest surprise in the field events came in the Long Jump. Little known Emelia Burris (Fenton HS, Bensenville) jumped a personal best 18-7 ¾ to win the event by almost eight inches ahead of Allison Wahrman (Glenbard North HS, Carol Stream). Wahrman came back to win the Triple Jump (38-9 ½).

A big surprise in the relays were the performances of York in the 800 and 1600 Meter Relay. York ran the sixth fastest time in 3A so far this year (1:42.88) in winning by almost four seconds ahead of Wheaton-Warrenville South. The Dukes ended the meet winning the 1600 Meter Relay going under 4 minutes for the first time this season (3:59.67). The closest finish of the night was in the 3200 Meter Relay when only three seconds separated the first four teams. All of the four qualified. Glenbard West edged Wheaton-Warrenville South by half a second (9:32.00 – 9:32.57) to win the race. Wheeling (9:33.03) and York (9:35.48) also qualified.

Chicago St. Ignatius Sectional @ Concordia University

Results

Highlights – The big surprise perhaps this week in the 3A sectional meets was the performance of Oak Park-River Forest winning this sectional scoring 130 ½ points qualifying seven individuals and three relays to next weekend’s state meet. Their relay performances were the talk of the meet. The Lady Huskies started by running the fourth fastest 3A time in winning the 400 Meter Relay (47.81) winning by only six hundredths of a second ahead of Westinghouse. Oak Park made more noise in the 800 Meter Relay running the fastest time in the state so far this season (1:40.44) winning by six seconds again ahead of Westinghouse. They finished their relay day running a five second seasonal best 3:56.32 to win the 1600 Meter Relay by three seconds ahead of Westinghouse and Lane Tech.

The key to Oak Park’s relay success is Norma Abdur-Rafia. The junior also established herself as a favorite in the 200 Meter Dash winning the event in a personal best 24.87. Hannah Cohn (St. Ignatius HS, Chicago) also qualified in the 200 running 25.72 to place second. Cohn earlier in the meet won the 400 Meter Dash (57.51).

Grace Cronin (Fenwick HS, Oak Park) established herself as the 3A favorite in the 300 Hurdles especially with Neuqua Valley’s Maya Neal out with a knee injury. Cronin ran the fastest 3A time (43.58) to win the event by more than three seconds ahead of Sabrina Matias (Lane Tech HS, Chicago). Earlier in the meet, Cronin ran 14.78 to win the 100 Hurdles by more than a second.

Downers Grove North Sectional

Results

Highlights – Downers Grove South qualified 10 for the state meet in winning the sectional championship with 104 points. Hinsdale Central finished second with 74 points. Part of Downers South’s success Thursday night came from the legs of Michaela Hackbarth who qualified in two individual events for state along with helping her team win the 1600 Meter Relay. In a great 800 Meter Run, Hackbarth ran the fastest time in the state this season (2:11.27) to win the race by a second ahead of Downers North’s Emma Moravec (2:12.66) who ran the state’s fourth fastest 800 time. Renee Letz (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) will also be a threat in the event at Charleston running 2:13.70 (IL #6) to finish third.

Hackbarth came back 25 minutes later to finish second in the 400 Meter Dash (57.74) behind Charlyncia Stennis (Bolingbrook HS) and her 57.47 winning time. Hackbarth anchored South’s team to the win in the 1600 Meter Relay (3:58.07) just ahead of Hinsdale Central (3:58.73) and Downers Grove North (3:58.74). The three other relays in this meet were extremely competitive. Downers Grove North captured the 3200 Meter Relay (9:22.22) on their home track winning by three seconds ahead of Lockport. Jessica Watkins ran 12.46 to win the 100 Meter Dash. Earlier in the meet, she anchored Bolingbrook to a win in the 400 Meter Relay (48.54). Hinsdale Central ran a season’s best 1:43.32 to win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of conference rival Downers Grove North. Watkins also won the 200 Meter Dash (25.53).

Lane Kadlec (Lockport HS) won both the Shot Put (40-4 ¾) and the Discus (126-3). Hinsdale Central’s freshman Grace McCabe won the 3200 Meter Run (10:57.12) four seconds ahead of Abby Kargol (Downers Grove South HS). McCabe’s freshman teammate Reilly Revord captured the 1600 Meter Run (5:14.17) by two seconds ahead of Katie Stapleton (Downers Grove South HS).

Homewood-Flossmoor Sectional

Results

Highlights – Two time defending 3A state champion Lincoln-Way East showed that they are ready to go after their third straight state championship by winning the team championship scoring a whopping 156 points. Host Homewood-Flossmoor scored 76 2/3 points to place a distant second. Lincoln-Way East put themselves in good position for next week’s state meet qualifying all four of their relay as well as 10 individuals. The scary thing is that their relays were not at full strength. They were cautious with Ololade Ayoola at this meet letting her compete in the High Jump. She showed her fitness by jumping 5-5 to finish second behind Jalen Rowe (Bloom HS, Chicago Heights) and her 5-5 clearance. Ayoola was held out of the three sprint relays.

The three sprint relays were light out for the fans that stuck it out in a rain that hit before the 100 Hurdle finals. In the 400 Meter Relay, Homewood-Flossmoor’s Antoinette Broughton had a lead ahead of Lincoln-Way East as she received the baton for her anchor leg. Lincoln-Way East’s Asia Brown caught Broughton just before the finish line winning the race by eleven hundredths of a second. Lincoln-Way East (47.31) and Homewood-Flossmoor ran the two fastest times in the state in that event this year. Lincoln-Way East built up a lead in the 800 Meter Relay as they handed off the baton to Brown for the last 200. Mother McAuley’s Briana Driver ran a strong anchor leg for her team, but it was not enough as Lincoln-Way East ran the second fastest time in the state (1:40.79) to win the event ahead of Mother McAuley (1:41.95). Bloom Township built up a lead in the 1600 Meter Relay heading into the final 400 meters of the race. Emily Karl, who finished second in the 800, made up the two second deficit on Bloom’s 400 Meter champ Kierra Griggs as the two headed into the final curve. Neither gave up in the final straight away refusing to give up the lead. It was a surge by Karl in the final 10 meters that nipped Griggs at the line to win by eleven hundredths of a second (3:56.37 – 3:56.48).

Jayla Stewart (Homewood-Flossmoor HS) set the tone for this meet in the prelims of the 100 Meter Hurdles. She won her prelim of the event by a large margin using a strong tail wind along the way. When she heard her time over the PA system (13.66), she could not believe that she had run that fast. It was a PR by almost two tenths of a second and established a new state best in the event this season. She came back in the finals to run 13.73 to win by more than a second ahead of Lincoln-Way East’s Alexis Pierre-Antoine.

Stewart had less than five minutes to recover from the hurdle race as she stepped into the blocks for the 100 Meter Dash finals. Rain was starting to fall harder as the meet schedule started to speed up. Asia Brown pulled away from an all-star field to win the 100 Meter Dash with an 11.85 personal best. Briana Driver (Mother McAuley HS, Chicago) ran 12.11 to place second as Homewood-Flossmoor’s Stewart (12.14) and Anoinette Broughton (12.15) finished 3-4. Seven athletes took advantage of the strong tailwind to qualify in that event for the state meet. Stewart and Brown came off the curve together in the 200 Meter Dash. Stewart’s final 50 meters was the difference as she won the race (24.58) a half a second ahead of Brown (25.09).

Kierra Griggs showed that she will be in contention for the 400 as she ran 56.51 to win the event ahead of Thornwood’s Kameesha Smith (57.75). Briana Driver’s first three attempts in the Long Jump were all over 19 feet. She won the event with a 19-4 ¾ performance.

Naperville North Sectional

Results

Highlights – Host Naperville North edged cross town rival Naperville Central 75-73 to win the sectional team championship. The Huskies were powered by strong performances in the distance races. Naperville North easily won the 3200 Meter Relay running the second fastest time in the state (9:20.00). They won by 12 seconds ahead of Yorkville. Judy Pendergast won the 3200 Meter Run with the fastest time in the state so far this season (10:34.55). Rachael Lau (Plainfield North HS) ran a personal best 10:40.92 to finish second. Four runners in that race ran under eleven minutes. The 1600 Meter Run was just as exciting as eight runners qualified for the state meet in that race. Naperville North’s Claire Hamilton ran 5:06.66 to hold off Emily Shelton (Minooka HS) and Caitlin Horn (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) for the win.

Skyler Bollinger (Yorkville HS) broke the Naperville North stranglehold on the distance races as she ran 2:15.96 to win the 800 Meter Run less than a second ahead of Mackenzie Callahan (Minooka HS).  Ashleigh Wilson (Minooka HS) will be one of the favorites in next week’s state meet in the 400 Meter Dash. She ran 56.57 to win the sectional title more than a second ahead of Samara Miller (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville).

It took a photo to decide the 100 Meter Dash. Natajah Simmons (Oswego HS) edged D’Jenne Egharevba (Naperville Central HS) by one hundredth of a second for the win (12.18 – 12.19). Egharevba turned the tables winning the 200 Meter Dash (25.42) ahead of Simmons (25.56) and Wilson (25.58).

It was the same scenario in the Hurdle races. Princess Shodipo (Oswego HS) ran 14.69 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles ahead of Tara Schumacher (Oswego East HS). The places were switched in the 300 Hurdles as Schumacher (45.74) finished ahead of Shodipo (46.20).

The top field event performance came in the Long Jump. Sade Akinfe (Oswego East HS) jumped a season’s best 18-9 ¼ to win the event.

Rockton Hononegah Sectional

Results

Highlights – Lauren Van Vlierbergen (Jacobs HS, Algonquin) has an interesting decision before next week’s state meet. The defending 3A 800 Meter champ won that event and the 1600 Meter Run Thursday night in Rockton. There was supposed to be a matchup between Van Vlierbergen and Cary-Grove’s Morgan Schulz in the 800 Meter Run. Schulz was forced to scratch form the event due to an injury. Van Vlierbergen went on to easily win the 800 (2:13.29, IL #5) by five seconds. She came back to win the 1600 (5:05.55) by eleven seconds ahead of Madison Romig (Grant HS, Fox Lake). The question for the Jacobs senior is too run the double that she ran in last year or concentrate on just one event.

Huntley won the team championship with 72 points qualifying five to next week’s state meet. Grant was five points behind (67) in second place. The best race of the night could have been the 3200 Meter Relay. Belvidere North ran a season’s best 9:25.50 to win by four seconds ahead of Grant (9:29.19) and Crystal Lake South (9:29.88). Macy Tramblay (Huntley HS) ran 14.72 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles by nineteen hundredths of a second ahead of Eva Burk (Cary-Grove HS).

Wilmette Loyola Academy Sectional

Results

Highlights – New Trier scored 116 points to win the sectional title ahead of host Loyola Academy’s 82. The Lady Trevians qualified nine total including winning all four relays to next week’s state meet. Their 3200 Meter Relay ran 9:28.55 to win the event by two seconds ahead of Loyola Academy (9:30.65). The two teams faced off in the 1600 Meter Relay with New Trier winning (4:01.08) by two seconds ahead of Loyola (4:03.13) and Highland Park (4:03.60).

Remy Amarteifio (Evanston Township HS) won the 100 Meter Hurdles (14.66) putting her in good position for a high finish at next week’s state meet. Mimi Smith (New Trier HS) qualified in two events winning the 3200 Meter Run (10:58.28) and then finishing third in the 1600 Meter Run. Kathryn House (Loyola Academy, Wilmette) edged Charlotte Nawor (Highland Park HS) by three tenths of a second (5:02.25 – 5:02.58). A surprise at next week’s state meet in the 800 Meter Run could be Jocelyne Mendoza (Taft HS, Chicago). The senior ran 2:15.76 to win the race by less than a second ahead of Glenbrook South freshman Emily Noone (2:16.25).