Sauk Valley girls track and field athletes to watch at state

IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet

The basics: Class 1A preliminaries take place Thursday, with Class 2A prelims Friday. The finals take place Saturday at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium in Charleston.

Advancing: The top nine finishers, plus any ties for ninth, advance to Saturday’s finals in each event. The high jump and pole vault are run as finals only. The 800 meters, 1,600, and 4x800 relay have 12 entries in the finals.

Here are some of the athletes and events to watch in 1A and 2A from the Sauk Valley area.

Class 1A

Emma Randecker, West Carroll, sr.: Randecker is the defending state champion in the 100-meter dash. She also took second in the 200 and fifth in the 400 last year. She has the top times in the 100 (11.73) and 200 (24.22) this season in 1A.

Bree Schneiderman, Forreston, so.: Schneiderman posted the third-best times in 1A this season in the 100 (12.05) and 200 (25.10) at the sectional meet. She ran in three events at state as a freshman, competing in the 100 and 200 and taking ninth with Forreston’s 4x100 relay.

Elaina Allen, Newman, so.: Allen will look to medal in a sprint event or two again as she posted top-10 times in 1A in the 100 (12.30) and 200 (25.59) this season. She took seventh as a freshman in the 100 and 12th in the 200.

Jillian Hammer, Oregon, fr.: Look for Hammer in the hurdle events, as she posted the fourth-best time in the 100 hurdles (15.28) and seventh-best time in the 300 hurdles (46.65) this season in 1A.

Kylie Smither, Fulton, sr.: Smither’s best throw in the shot put, 11.96 meters, was 10th best in 1A this season. She was sectional champion and won the event at seven of her eight meets this season. She is looking for her first state medal in the shot put.

Fulton relays: The Steamers look to make some noise in the relay events after their 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 won sectional titles. Paige Cramer, Brooklyn Thoms, Haley Smither and Miraya Pessman’s season-best time of 50.09 was seventh best in 1A this season in the 4x100. Smither, Thoms, Cramer and Pessman ran a 1:47.80 at the sectional in the 4x200, which was eighth best in 1A this season. Peighton Stretton, Jordin Rathburn, Jessa Read and Thoms will compete in the 4x400.

Class 2A

Anessa Johnson, Sterling, jr.: Johnson is coming off a personal record of 16.00 in the 100 hurdles and took second in the 300 hurdles (47.85) at the sectional. Her PR in the 300 hurdles is 46.93. She also qualified in the 4x100 with Nia Harris, Alivia Gibson and Taah Liberty.

Ariel Hernandez, Rock Falls, sr.: She took 13th at state in the 3,200 last season with a time of 11:33.12. She ran an 11:46.20 at the sectional, and her season best is an 11:43.25.

Abby Ryan, Sterling, jr.: Ryan hit a PR of 1.59 meters in the high jump at the sectional to qualify for state her first time. Just three athletes jumped higher at the sectional, and five others hit 1.59. Sterling sophomore Kaelee Varden also qualified in the event with a jump of 1.54.

Pole vault: The event features two area competitors in first-year vaulter Ryleigh Eriks of Rock Falls and Sterling’s Presley Winters. Winters broke through to qualify for state with a vault of 2.97 after falling short last season. Eriks will try to ride the momentum of hitting a 2.97 to PR at the sectional.

Discus: Sterling freshman Kendall Barajas and Rock Falls junior Kayla Hackbarth are competing in the event. Hackbarth was 18th at state last season with a throw of 31.32 meters. Her PR is a 33.94, and she threw a season-best 33.46 at the sectional. Kendall threw a PR of 34.56 to qualify in her first event.