Girls Track | Region will be well represented this week at state meet

Perhaps the biggest question begging answered is … can Ahry Comer of Pope County come anywhere close to duplicating her accomplishments from last week at the Du Quoin Sectional at this weekend’s state meet in Charleston?

Comer was other-worldly last week, placing first in four different running events – the 400 meters, 800 meters, 1600 meters, and 3200 meters.

It is extremely demanding physically to compete in both the 1600 and 3200 meters, and when you add in two faster races like the 400 and 800 – it’s an incredible feat she performed.

“Ahry has worked extremely hard this year in her training to get to the state finals in four events,” said Pope County coach James Forthman. “Her goals are definitely to do her best. She will represent Pope County well at state. If she runs her best, she will do well. We are for sure proud of everything Ahry has done and how she does it with class.”

Emmie Gurley of Vienna is another standout performer to keep an eye on in Class 1A. Gurley won both the 100 and 200 meter dashes and also anchored the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 meter relays.

The Eagles won the 4 x 100 (Briah Johnson, Jenna Waters, Rayanna Ridley, and Gurley) and placed second in the 4 x 200 with the same quartet. Both relays qualified for state.

Vienna coach Kelsie Odom said she is incredibly proud of her state qualifiers.

“We were able to send five girls this year, whereas last year we only sent one,” Odom said. “I couldn’t ask for more as a coach. Annabeth (Webb) is our lone senior going and she has worked extremely hard to achieve this, and if she can jump her PR, I think she has a great chance of placing.”

Odom said the other four are underclassmen.

“They all have amazing chances of bringing home hardware not only as relay teams, but individually,” Odom said.  “If they go all out and try their best with the ability they have, they will go far.”

There are several others to keep an eye on in Class 1A.

Maya Rounds of Sesser-Valier won both the discus throw and shot put at the Du Quoin Sectional.

Arista Hill of Johnston City captured first place in the long jump and also qualified in the 200 meter dash. Nahla Williams of Cairo was a qualifier in the 100 meters.

Desiree Dockery of Hamilton County qualified in the 100 and 200 meters, as well as the long jump.

Kendal Bleyer of Pinckneyville placed first in the triple jump at the sectional and was also a state qualifier in the long jump.

Vanessa Teel of Pinckneyville qualified in the 400 meters and ran legs on both the 4 x 400 and 4 x 800 relays, which each placed first.

Destiny Hooker of Fairfield won both the 100 and 300 hurdles.

Emma Chick of West Frankfort and Keeli Lee of Fairfield each qualified in the pole vault and Ellee Green of Du Quoin and Annabeth Webb of Vienna both qualified in the high jump.

Lilly Kirkpatrick of Sesser-Valier qualified in the shot. Jacqueline Dill of Pinckneyville qualified in the triple jump. Ashlyn Rager of Carmi-White County qualified in the discus.

Macie Tosh of Goreville also qualified in the 100 and 300 hurdles.

Maggie Kellerman of Du Quoin qualified in both the 1600 and 3200 meters and ran a leg of the 4 x 400 relay, which qualified.

Du Quoin coach Shane Boyett is also pleased with his state qualifiers.

“Our athletes have had a great season,” he said. “Ellee Green, Issy Phillips, Ava Gregory, and Maggie Kellerman are all ranked in the middle of the pack in their individual events.”

The Marion Wildcats, who placed third as a team at last week’s Mascoutah Sectional, have more team depth at the state meet than any other 2A school in Southern Illinois.

Brenna Stearns qualified in both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, as well as the 4 x 100 relay. Bailey Williams qualified in the long jump and 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relays.

Lily Harris qualified in the pole vault as did McCayla Rowatt.

Kaydence Kelly, Isa Greer and Jazmeen Ankrom also qualified.

“I think we always try to set the bar high for state,” said Marion coach Michelle Tate. “Obviously, it’s tough to get into the finals, but I know that our girls have that as a goal.

“Bailey, I think, has a great chance of making the long jump finals. Having that experience from last year should really help her in that event,” Tate added. “I think Brenna is in a good place for the 300 hurdles and both our relays have room to improve. We have three freshmen going to state, so this will be a great experience for them to have. No matter what happens, we are very proud of all of their accomplishments this year.”

Herrin qualified three athletes for the state meet. Karli Mann qualified in both the triple jump and 200 meter dash. Loreal Tucker qualified in both the shot put and discus throw, and Ellary Blakey qualified in the 800 meters.

“Karli ranks second in the triple jump and I expect her to do well at state,” said Tigers coach Dusty Mallow. “She has placed the previous two years. Loreal is probably our next best chance to place in the discus. She is definitely capable of making the finals.

“Ellary always steps up in the big meets,” Mallow added. “I expect her to do well at the state meet.”

The Mount Vernon Rams will lean heavily on sprinter and jumper Kamaree Pollard this weekend. Pollard was the champion at Mascoutah in the 100 meter dash and also ran anchor legs on both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relays that placed first. Moreover, she qualified for state in the triple jump.

Joining Pollard in the 4 x 100 relay are: Tiara Johnson, Tarrah Sneddon and Saryah Dixon. Joining her in the 4 x 200 relay are: Dixon, Johnson, and McKenzie Delatore.

Anna-Jonesboro qualified senior Brodie Denny in the 1600 meter run and the 4 x 800 meter relay team of Raegan Jones, Zoe Jones, Kenzie Miller and Denny, which continues to set school-record times.

The quartet captured first-place honors in the Mascoutah Sectional last week with a sizzling time of 9 minutes, 50.29 seconds.

“It’s going to be super competitive this year at state,” said Anna-Jonesboro’s Matt Denny, who coaches the distance runners. “It’s like head coach (Mike) Eudy and I talked about last night. The field is as deep as its been in a while in the 2A distance events.

“It’s going to take very good performances just to get to Saturday and even better ones to earn a medal,” Denny said. “We feel our kids are as ready as they have been all year.”

As for Denny’s daughter and her chances of placing in the 1600 … ”I just hope she has enough gas left in the tank after our relay to medal,” Matt Denny said.

Others to keep an eye on in Class 2A include: Kaylee King (discus) and Gabby Shires (100 hurdles) from Harrisburg; India Harris (shot put) and Miah Gilmore (1600 and 3200 meters) from Murphysboro; Molly Robertson (3200 meters) from Carterville and Gemma Kinkade (long jump) from Benton.