Girls State Track Meets To Begin Today

Effingham St. Anthony athletes competing in the Class A State Track Meet are, left to right, Abby Weis, Anna Sophia Keller, Kristin Slaughter and Sara Ragland.

The area is full of talented athletes and will be well represented at the Class A and Class AA Girls State Track Meets Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Stadium in Charleston.

There will be girls from Effingham St. Anthony, Teutopolis, Newton, Neoga and Cumberland competing in 11 running events and six field events in Class A.

The Class A preliminaries will be held Thursday with field events beginning at 10 a.m. and running events at 11 a.m.

Competing in Class A are:

100 Hurdles -- McKendra Barthelme (Newton), Makenzie Hill (Neoga)

300 Hurdles -- McKendra Barthelme (Newton)

100 -- Alex Haarman (Newton)

400 -- Taylor Johnson (Newton)

800 -- Abby Weis (Effingham St. Anthony), Sarah Carr (Newton)

1600 -- Anna Sophia Keller (St. Anthony), Abby Weis (St. Anthony)

3200 --  Anna Sophia Keller (St. Anthony), Sarah Carr (Newton)

400 Relay -- Teutopolis (Morgan Mette, Julia Greuel, Nikki Wellbaum, Julia Hardiek)

800 Relay -- Teutopolis (Julia Hardiek, Julia Greuel, Anna Hartke, Morgan Mette)

1600 Relay -- St. Anthony (Sara Ragland, Abby Weis, Anna Sophia Keller, Kristin Slaughter), Teutopolis (Kara Weichman, Savannah Grimes, Rebecca Habing, Morgan Mette);

3200 Relay -- Teutopolis (Emma Repking, Savannah Grimes, Shanna Niebrugge, Kara Weichman)

High Jump -- Anna Hartke (Teutopolis)

Long Jump -- McKendra Barthelme (Newton)

Triple Jump -- McKendra Barthelme (Newton)

Pole Vault -- Kristin Slaughter (St. Anthony), Elise Hemmen (Cumberland)

Shot -- Grace Hartrich (Newton)

Discus -- Courtney Hadra (Newton)

Keller from St. Anthony is the returning champion in the 1600 and 3200. Keller has the top time in the state at 5:01.25 minutes in the 1600 while teammate Weis is listed with the ninth best time at 5:27.62. Keller also has the top time in the 3200 at 10:41.60.

St. Anthony's Slaughter has the top height in the pole vault at 12 feet.

Newton's Barthelme is listed with the top distance in the long jump at 17 feet, 6 1/4 inches. She also has the second best time in the 100 hurdles in 15.33 seconds.

 In Class AA, three Effingham High School athletes will be competing. The AA meet preliminaries will be Friday with the field and running events both starting at 9 a.m. The afternoon will be for Class 3A athletes.

Competing for the Hearts will be Camryn Heuerman in the 100 hurdles, Shayna Phillips in the 800 and the 1600 relay team of S. Phillips, Miranda Fox, Kaylee Phillips and Kiyah Kuhlman).

S. Phillips has the 10th best time in the 800 in 2:19.58 minutes.

Saturday's finals for all three classes will begin  at 10 a.m. with field and running events.

History will be made at the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Girls Track & Field State Finals this weekend.

For the first-time in state history, the IHSA will crown a Combined Team State Champion, which is determined by combining the scoring by wheelchair student-athletes with the traditional team scoring system.

“This marks another positive step in the IHSA’s quest to provide participation opportunities for high school student-athletes in Illinois,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “It will be a historic occasion that both the IHSA, and the schools who are fortunate enough to win these trophies will be incredibly proud.”

The IHSA will continue to conduct its traditional awards ceremony in Class 1A, Class 2A and Class 3Aon Saturday by presenting the top three scoring teams (first, second, third) in each class with trophies.

It will also take the team scores across all classes and add the points scored by their respective wheelchair student-athletes. These results will determine the IHSA Combined State Champion, runner-up and third-place winners.