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2007 IESA Class A State Track and Field Meet This Weekend

A total of 2,461 athletes from 223 schools will converge at Corwin Clatt Stadium in the EastSide Centre at East Peoria Friday-Saturday (May 11-12) for the 22nd Annual Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Class A State Final Track and Field Meet.

IESA began the state series in boys track and field in 1932. This will be the 76th year for the boys. IESA began the state series in girls track and field in 1972. This will be the 36th year for girls. A total of 236 member schools entered the 2007 Class A state series and 94 percent (223) of the schools entering athletes in the qualifying sectionals advanced at least one qualifier to the State Final Meet.

There are 14 events in each of the classes. There will be a grand total of 56 events. Preliminaries and finals are conducted on the same day in the respective field events which are spread over the two days. In the 100-meter dash and hurdles, there will be preliminaries and semifinals on Friday with the finals on Saturday. Timed finals are the format in all other running events. The best times from all the heats or sections in a respective running event determine final places in that event.

Field event competition begins Friday at 12:30 p.m. The running events will get under way Friday at 2:30 p.m. Competition Saturday begins at 9:00 a.m. with the finals in the 100 and hurdles, and the remainder of the running and field events. The complete time schedule for the weekend, and the complete event-by-event listing of qualifiers, can be found on the IESA Web Site www.iesa.org. From the home page, go to the Track and Field icon in the box on top of the home page then click on Class A Schedule and/or Class A Qualifiers. Also visit the FanZone icon on the home page for information regarding the meet that spectators should know.

Single-session tickets will be on sale at the stadium each day. Tickets are priced at $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for students K-8 and seniors. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. Friday and at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

This year, for the first time in IESA track and field history, the athletes winning medallions will be recognized on the infield after the conclusion of their event. The time schedule has periods for presentation of the medallions to the individuals and relay team members built into it.

Here is a look at each of the four meets within the State Final Meet:

Class 7A Girls

Lexington's Kaley Ummel is the top seed in both the 800 and 1600-meter runs, and the Minutemen will be out to defend the Class 7A girls team title. Lexington won last year's meet with 45 points and has more proven performers than workhorse Ummel.

In the 800-meter run, Ummel posted a time of 2:26.71 in the sectional and is the top seed by nearly four seconds. Kaitlyn Corzine of Assumption Central A&M is seeded second with a 2:30.29. In the 1600, Ummel's sectional time was nearly 10 seconds faster than No. 2 seed Haley Briggs of Agrenta-Oreana. Ummel is at 5:18.20 and Briggs is at 5:28.0.

Others in the Lexington stable are Caitlin Kelley and Sydney Freed. Kelley is in the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump. Freed is the No. 3 seed in the 400-meter run. Lexington's 4 x 200-meter relay is the No. 4 seed and is anchored by Freed. Taylor Winterland and Maggie Hayes join Kelley and Freed on Lexington's No. 3 seeded 4 x 400-meter relay.

The only defending champion in the Class 7A Girls meet is Heyworth's Cassidy Strohl, who won the 400-meter dash last year as a sixth grader in 1:04.66. She is the No. 1 seed in this year's meet with a time of 1:02.30. The top three seeds in the 400 all came from the same sectional. Strohl beat Lexington's No. 3 seed Freed (1:04.09) and No. 2 seed Reanna Fink of Mansfield Blue Ridge (1:04.03) in the sectional.

Paris Crestwood has Katy Spesard in the shot put and discus and she is seeded No. 2 in both. Spesard tossed the discus 97-0. Whitney Walker of Glasford Illini Bluffs is the leader at 100-11. Walker is the No. 10 seed in the shot put at 27-3. Spesard threw the shot 32-3 in the sectional behind leader Olivia Herzog of Findlay Okaw Valley (33-5.5), who is third-seeded in the discus at 93-5. Paris Crestwood also has the No. 1 seeded 4 x 200-meter relay and the No. 4 seed 4 x 400-meter relay. The 4 x 200 relay includes Jennifer Woodyard, Nique Tyler, Emily Tuner and Leslie Cates. Brie Tyler replaces Emily Turner on the 4 x 400-meter relay.

Altamont's Johanna Haywood could score points in three individual events. She is the No. 4 seed in the 100 with a time of :3.10. She is No. 6 seed in the 200 with a time of :28.05. She is seventh-seeded in the long jump at 14-7.

Class 7A Boys

Defending champion Carthage and Wood River Lewis & Clark appear to be the teams to beat on paper. Carthage has top-seeded Kayden Guymon in the 400-meter dash and two powerful relays. Wood River Lewis & Clark has Isaac Morckel in the long jump, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and the lead runner in the 4 x 100-meter relay.

Carthage took the seventh grade boys team title in 2006 with 38 points. Guymon posted a 400 meter time of :55.73 in the sectional for the No. 1 seed, and he is seeded third in the 200-meter dash running :25.29 in the sectional. He also runs a leg on the No. 2 seeded 4 x 400-meter relay and is joined on that team by Nick Dispel, Jack Bastert and Spencer Kirkenslager. In Carthage's fourth-seeded 4 x 200-meter relay, Evan McGaughey and Zach Boyer replace Guymon and Driskell. Boyer is the No. 2 seed in the 800-meter run with a 2:18.91.

Morckel is the No. 1 seed in all three of his individual events. He posted a 17-05.5 in the long jump, :11.70 in the 100-meter dash and :24.90 in the 200. The Wood River Lewis & Clark 4 x 100 relay is the No. 9 seed from the sectionals.

Terry Yelm of Kewanee Wethersfield finished second in the 200-meter dash last year with a time of :26.52. He comes into this year's meet in the 200 with the No. 6 seed of :25.90.

In the distance races, Walker Herzog of Findley Okaw Valley is the No. 1 seed in both the 800 and 1600. Herzog posted a time of 4:54.68 in the 1600 and 2:17.68 in the 800. Oliver Moews of Bloomington Holy Trinity has the No. 3 seed in the 800 (2:19.80) and the No. 3 seed in the 1600 with a 5:12.10.

The defending champion in the pole vault, Mitchell Mammoser of Newton St. Thomas, returns. He won in 2006 with a mark of 9-1 and is the No. 1 qualifier from the sectional this year at 10-5.

Class 8A Girls

Tremont, Kewanee Wethersfield and Peoria St. Mark appear to be the teams in the thick of the chase for the eighth grade girls team title, and each has at least one standout to score points. But Tremont and Peoria St. Mark's points will be scored in the same events.

Molly Dahlquist of Peoria St. Mark is the No. 1 seed in the 800 and 1600-meter runs and is on the No. 8 seeded 4 x 400-meter relay. Her time in the 800 in the sectional was 2:27.97 and her time in the 1600 was 5:28.0. Tremont has both Hannah Booker and Jamee Holmes in the two distance races. Booker won both the 800 and 1600 in the seventh grade meet last year. This time around she comes into the state meet with the No. 7 seed in the 800 (2:35.80) and the No. 3 seed in the 1600 (5:39.90). Holmes has the No. 14 sectional time in the 800 (2:39.70) and the No. 2 seed in the 1600 (5:35.60).

Kewanee Wethersfield will counter with Sarah Peach in the long jump and 100-meter dash, and the top-seeded 4 x 200 and 4 x 400-meter relays. Peach has the No. 1 sectional time in the 100 with a :12.70 and in the long jump with a mark of 15-11.50. She also runs a leg on two of the relays. In the 4 x 200, Wethersfield has Peach, Cassidy Horsley, Shelby Steger and Tessa Swedman, and posted a time of 1:53.10 in the sectional. In the 4 x 400, the same quartet ran a 4:24.40 in the sectional.

Emily Clay of Bloomington Cornerstone Academy guns for her third pole vault title in a row. She won the seventh grade title in 2005 as a sixth grader with a mark of 7-11. Last year she won the seventh grade title in 9-4. She comes into this year's state meet with a sectional best mark of 9-6, which is 18 inches higher than No. 2 seed Maura Cummins of Newton St. Thomas. Clay also advanced to state this year in the high jump with a leap of 4-9. There are 18 pole vaulters in the eighth grade girls event.

Many of the seventh grade champions from a year ago return this year. Natalie Turner of Toulon Stark County returns in the shot put. She won last year with a toss of 28-4.5 and is the No. 15 seed this year at 28-9. Aubrey Franklin of Walnut Bureau Valley North took the seventh grade 100-meter hurdles title last year in :16.87 and has the No. 1 sectional time of :16.40 this year. Kaley Wakey of Herscher JHS won the discus last year with a throw of 87-2 and she is No. 3 ranked this weekend with a sectional mark of 96-10. Tiffany Mohr of La Harpe won the seventh grade high jump title in 2006 and is in the 400-meter dash this year where she is No. 3 seed with a sectional time of 1:01.85.

Five members of the IESA Scholar Attitude Award presented by State Farm class of 2007 have qualified for 8A girls meet competition this weekend. They are Hannah Booker of Tremont in the 800, 1600 and 4 x 400 relay; Tessa Copple of Elmwood in the 1600; Kelsey Davis of Heyworth in the 4 x 100 relay; Audra Krusz of Lincoln Carroll Catholic in the 100, long jump, 4 x 100 relay and 200; and Anne Rauschert of Bushnell-Prairie City in the high jump, 100 and 4 x 100 relay.

Class 8A Boys

Powerhouse Carthage is the team to beat based on sectional performances. The Blueboys have three No. 1 seeds in individual events and the No. 1 seed in two of the three relays. Carthage has had a monster 2006-07 school year and is using the nucleus of its state champion Class 2A baseball and basketball teams to make its run at the 8A track and field title.

Carthage's Cody Carson, who scored 52 points in three state basketball tournament games, is the top seed in the 800 and 1600-meter runs. He posted a time of 2:11.21 in the 800, nearly four seconds ahead of No. 2 seed Cody Busic's 2:15.00. In the 1600, Carson was last year's seventh grade champion in 5:00.54. He posted a time of 4:49.31 in the sectional and his time is almost eight seconds faster than the 4:57.06 of No. 2 seed Alec Wasson of Lexington.

The Blueboys' Ser Whitaker, a standout hitter on the baseball team and a forward on the basketball team, has the No. 1 seed time in the 100-meter hurdles with a :16.06. Last year's seventh grade hurdle champion Dekoda Thomas of Fisher, posted a :17.25 in the sectional and is the No. 12 seed.

Carthage's 4 x 200-meter relay team of Whitaker, Drake Schmudlach, Erick Klein and Zane Schmudlach went 1:42.28 in the sectional. Lewistown Central posted a 1:42.90 for the No. 2 seed. The Blueboys' 4 x 400-meter relay team includes Whitaker, Drake Schmudlach, Klein and Carson and went 3:54.14 in the sectional. The No. 2 seed is Lewistown Central with a 3:57.70. The Schmudlachs were big contributors to both the Carthage baseball and basketball teams.

Last year, Justin Wienke of Tuscola East Prairie took the seventh grade shot put with a toss of 45-08. This year he is the No. 1 seed coming off a 54-00.5 performance in the sectional. Wienke also won the discus last year but is not in the event at the state meet.

John Delaney of Buffalo Grove St. Mary's won last year's seventh grade 100 in :12.24. He qualified as the No. 11 seed this year with a time of :12.00. The 100 leader is Dontez Pendleton of Hopkins Park Lorenzo Smith with an :11.60. Delaney is also a member of the Buffalo Grove St. Mary's top-seeded 4 x 100-meter relay. He is joined on that relay by Ryan Cappis, Tommy Miller and Brandon Waters. The relay went :48.70 in the sectional.

In the high jump, Bryn Price won last year in seventh grade with a jump of 5-5 and is the No. 1 seed this year coming in from the sectional with a mark of 6-0. Brad Connor of Bloomington Holy Trinity is second-seeded at 5-10.

Ross Darby of Bismarck-Henning won the 2006 seventh grade 400-meter dash in :57.08 and is fifth-seeded this weekend with a :56.50 in the sectional.

Three members of the IESA Scholar Attitude Award presented by State Farm class of 2007 have qualified for 8A boys meet competition this weekend. They are Will Cross of Hartsburg-Emden in the 800 and 1600; Nathan Fathauer of Catlin in the 800 and 1600; and Kurtis Weber of Carrollton GS in the 100, 200 and long jump.