Girls Conference Week Previews: Wednesday Conferences

Girls Conference week is upon us and we will be breaking down each conference meet here with this series of articles this week. Today is our first major day of conference meets so take time to view our wednesday conference previews.

ESCC

The East Suburban Catholic Conference features some strong names in distance that will get your attention. Benet Academy will look to run away with the team win with stars like Keira Jenke and Delilah Hellenhouse scoring big points in distance events. Jenke ran 2:12 indoors which leads the 800 field by over 10 seconds. She will be a key scorer for the Redwings, as she could also score big points in the 400 and 4x4. Hellenhouse will have a more difficult time, because she has to compete with Izzy Bing of Carmel. Bing ran 10:49 at the Lake County Invite and was 10:47 indoors. Bing and Hellenhouse will both likely double with a 1600, so I would expect a slow start with a fast finish in both races. Benet controls the field events as well, as they are one of two teams that does pole vault. Even given that, they have 2 or 3 girls in place to score big in every single field event. Marian Catholic is the only other team who is present, with Autumn Price and Taija Scott expected to score big in the long jump. The sprints will be dominated by Marian Catholic, they have Brooklyn Holmes and Autumn Price who will be big time runners in the 100 and 200. Symone Holman of Joliet Catholic will lead on both for the win. She has a 12.23 and 24.93 which are the fastest PRs in the field. Even in sprints, Benet has girls that can place in scoring positions. 

MSL

In a normal year, this would be one of the closest conference meets of the week. This year, it will be an absolute blowout. Prospect has one of the strongest teams in the state and they are expected to win almost every single running event. They lead the field in every single relay, with the possible exception of the 4x2. They are only running 1 of their varsity 4x2 runners, but I would still bank on them getting the win in that event. The Niebrugge sisters will dominate the 100 and 200, with Daisha Brunson of Conant, and Aisha Kazeem of Palatine being their only competition. Samantha Skowronski and Dajana Skolimowska are two top runners in the 400, they will be split up by Hazel Nadal of Rolling Meadows. When you move up to distance, it becomes a Prospect vs Barrington face off. Veronica Znajda will look to take the 800 title, but she will be tailed by Abby Lewis of Barrington and Iya Repple of Schaumburg. Meg Peterson is the top seed in the mile, but she has strong comp from Mia Sirois and Scout Storms of Barrington. Sirois is set to run the 4x8, 3200, and 1600, which is a ridiculous triple. She will still be present in the mile, but I don’t see her having the energy for a win. Sirois will be joined by her teammate Victoria Tarara in the 3200, but Madeline Bialko of Hersey will put herself in the mix to score the Huskies some points. The Prospect representatives, Ireland Whildhart and Samantha Lobacz, will need an exceptional race if they want to put themselves in a top 3 situation.  

Mid Illini

The Mid-Illini will showcase some of Illinois' top tier mid-sized schools in the Peoria area. Nyameye Maison of Morton will be the mid-distance name to watch here. She will look to take home the 400m and 800m crowns. Sophia Ramirez of Washington will have a big event load with her being entered in the 4x800m, 800m, and 1600m. The girls HJ looks to be led by Samantha Yeh of Dunlap who will be the favorite in the event, but watch out for Aubrey Hurckes of Washington, Madeline Kammerer of Dunlap, and Naomi Roth of Metamora. The girls pole vault also will be an event of note with Violet Weinman of Metamora, Grace Pauli of Limestone, and Sophia Pauli of Limestone. All of them have the ability to win. 

SAC

Kankakee is set to steamroll this conference meet. Naomi Bey Osborne headlines their impressive sprint squad. She ran 55.95 at the JJK invite and is the top seed in the field by a margin of 4 seconds. She also has the fastest 200 in the field with a 25.16. Kankakee’s relays will be another big factor in their team scoring since they are top 10 in the state in the 4x1, 4x2 and 4x4. It will be hard for any other team to disrupt them from winning all three sprint relays. Kankakee has yet to run their girls in any open 100s or 200s, but I would expect them to put girls in the top 3 with ease. In the field, watch for Sherrie Emmons of Rich Township to take home several wins. She jumped an insane 20’ 1” in the long jump which should lead to a win for her. If she jumps in the 18s however, Tamryn Farmer of Crete Monee could snipe her with an 18 footer of her own. However, Emmons will most likely win the high jump as well, her mark of 5’ 7” sits 8 inches above second place. She could also make a run at a triple jump title, her PR of 35’ 1” sits right behind Lailah Robinson of Bloom Township. A triple crown is very doable for her, it would lead to a great team performance by Rich Township. 

WSC Gold

The gold division of the WSC has a couple serious athletes this year that should put up some big time marks here. One of the most interesting athletes you’ll see in track will be competing for wins in the hurdles, the shot put and the high jump. Tori Robinson-Thomas of Proviso East is set to demolish the shot put with a PR mark of 38 feet. She also will vy for a win in the high jump where she is seeded second at 5’ 3”, just .75 behind Erin Parker of Addison Trail. She will then head over to hurdles and compete with Kennedy Ruff of Hinsdale South for both the 100mH and 300mH. Ruff will be solid competition against Robinson-Thomas, she runs 14.95 and 45.05 which is right with Robinson-Thomas. In the distance, Nia Ortega of Downers South will look to dominate both the 1600 and the 3200. She runs 5:07 and 10:48 which is far above the rest of the field. Amelie Ojeda of Willowbrook was a demon during cross country, with a 16:40 3 mile. Her season bests are not quite on par, but she could be up with Ortega if everything goes right. 

Southwestern Conference

Belleville East will show off their scoring capabilities here in a big team win. They have the top seed in two of the three sprint relays, with 1:39.75 in the 4x2 and 3:53 in the 4x4. They will have girls like Lyric Jones, Cassidy Willis, Kamryn Durrah, and Gabrielle Peppers will contribute all over these relays. The only 4x1 team that stands ahead of them is Alton, and they are separated by .11 seconds. The reason Alton can run 47.5 is due to Rayna Raglin, who is the fastest 100m runner in this meet. Raglin ran a smoking 11.71 at the O’Fallon Girls Invite during April and she is over .3 seconds faster than anyone else. She is expected to win the 100, 200 and contribute to a 4x1. In order for the Alton 4x1 to win, they need Naveah Bryant. She is a unit in their 4x1 and they won’t be able to compete without her. Bryant primarily runs the 300mH in 43.65 which has her seeded second in that event. Sophia Shapiro of Edwardsville is seeded first with a 43.37, it will be a close battle between her and Bryant. Shapiro is also expected to dominate the 100mH with a blistering seed time of 14.10. She is IL #1 in the 100mH, it’s going to be hard for anyone to challenge her here. 

SIRR

The field events at the SIRR Conference Championships have some unbelievable talent. In the shot put, Makayla Gajewski of Nashville will thrash the competition. She threw a craterous 42’ 5” at a tri meet for an IL #3 mark. She was undefeated last season, wrapping up her season with a 1A state title. She has not lost in the shot put this season either, and she won’t break the streak here. In the high jump, Amaryllis Miles of Murphysboro has a similar gap on everyone else. She hit a skyscraping 5’ 7” at the Murphysboro Red Devil Invite for an IL #3 mark. She was the 2A top times champ in the high jump with a mark of 5’ 6” and no one at SIRR is anywhere near her. In the long jump, Emma Behrmann of Nashville will look to take a spacious win. She hit 18’ 4.5” at the O’Fallon Girls Invite and she leads this field by over a foot. She will also compete in triple jump, where her and Miles of Murphysboro will duke it out for a conference title. Miles has a mark of 37’ 2” which is just ahead of Behrmann’s 36’ 10”.

SPC

The powerhouse program that is Plainfield North is going to blow the SPC out of the water. They have the top seed in 8 out of the 12 running events, and they have girls positioned to score in events without the top seed. They are notably loading up the 4x1 with Kaiya Bradshaw, Aniya Poindexter, Lauren Dellangelo, and Taylor Mclain. This squad ran 1:38 last week in the 4x2, they should be able to get under 47 seconds in the 4x1 as well. The only place PN is lacking is the distance, but don’t be fooled, they will still score huge. Maya Ledesma of Minooka is the main reason PN can’t rack up all of the wins. Her 4:59 and 10:29 are formidable times to go against in the distance. PN will counter her with the Czarnewski twins, Elsie and Marlie should be able to tire her out that way she can only get 1 of the 2 wins. The 800 is the hardest event for PN to score in, with Natalie Nahs of Minooka and Madison King of Joliet Central both with 2:14s. Both of them are formidable racers and they should go 1-2. The field is more open to other teams, but Courtney Clabough of Yorkville will shut down the throws. She throws a catastrophic 42 feet in the shot put, which is her PR from last year. So far this season, she’s thrown 39’ 11”. That mark will easily secure her the win, so will her 132’ in the disc. 

Chicagoland Christian

Chicago Christian is the favorite here, but it will close between them and Wheaton Academy. Kiara Holmes is the fastest sprinter in the field with a 12.75 and 26.34, she is seeded first in both by generous margins. Distance is mostly dominated by Chicago Christian, with Kihra Moes being the top seed in both the 1600 and 3200. The top mark that we’ll see from the field comes from high jumper Bella Potempa of Timothy Christian. Her 5’ 0.5” leads the field by about 2 inches, expect her to take home the win. 

Black Diamond

Ayva Rush of Vienna is the top sprinter here. Her 1:01 400 and 27.55 200 make her the most formidable dual threat in this meet and she will score big points. Ella Sager of Fairfield will double in the 3200 and 1600, both are very winnable for her. She has PRs of 12:06 and 5:34 respectively, she will be by herself in both events. In the throws, you’ll see a big time shot put from Maya Rounds of Sesser Valier. She threw 38’ 7” last season and will likely win both the shot and the disc.

Gateway Metro

The 1A powerhouse team of Father McGivney is going to walk this conference like a dog. Elena Rybak is the star of the show. Her 2:13 and 4:56 put everyone else to shame, she will win both events by a lot. Lily Gilbertson will dominate the sprints for McGivney, with PRs of 12.22, 25.40 and 57.43. She is unchallenged in all of those events, it’s an easy 30 points for Gilbertson. Mia Range will take the biggest mark in the field events. She jumps 5’ 2” in the high jump and will score even more points for McGivney.