Mahomet-Seymour Advances Nine to State in Class 2A Girls’ Track and Field Sectional
By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour secured nine state-meet qualifiers on Thursday (May 9) in the 17-school Class 2A girls’ track and field sectional meet at Charleston.
Junior Kara Carney (four events), senior Lauren Burr (three events), freshman Evelyn Hillard (three events), freshman Anniston Huff (three events) and sophomore Madalyn Marx (three events), were five of the Bulldogs’ stalwarts.
Carney advanced in one individual event and as part of three relays.
Marx won two individual events and anchored one first-place relay.
Burr, Hillard and Huff were all part of three qualifying relays.
The Bulldogs’ other individual qualifiers included senior Ava Boyd (fifth in the 1,600 meters in 5:22.01) in her second outdoor meet of the spring. She returned to action, from an injury, less than a week before the sectional after a 6 ½-week layoff.
Kelsie Fuoss placed eighth in the pole vault, but at 9 feet, 7 inches, hit the state-qualifying standard.
Marx won both the 200- and 400-meter races each by nearly a half-second.
Her time in the 29-runner 200-meter dash (26.42 seconds) was .48 ahead of the runner-up.
In the 27-entry 400-meter sprint, Marx was timed in 58.33 seconds, providing her a winning margin of .46.
Carney won the 300-meter hurdles (46.91 seconds) by .42. The event had 22 entries.
Carney joined Marx on the 400-meter relay along with Lauren Burr and Evelyn Hillard. Their time was 49.65 seconds.
Sharing the baton on the 800-meter relay were Carney, Anniston Huff, Hillard and Burr. Their cumulative time was 1:46.75, which placed them 2:06 ahead of the runner-up.
The M-S 1,600-meter relay featured Hillard, Burr, Huff and Carney. They stopped the clock in 4:04.74 and won the race by 1:30.
The qualifying 3,200-meter relay consisted of Chloe Bundren, Emma Frazier, Taylor Mills and Huff. Their final time was 10:13.55.
Eight other M-S non-state qualifiers garnered top-10 finishes, including fourth-place Emily Anand (12:09.34 in the 3,200 meters).
Other Bulldog leaders were: Burr (fifth in the long jump at 16 feet, 3 inches), Kendyl Petro (sixth in the shot put at 31 feet, 10 inches), Hannah Martin (seventh in the triple jump at 33 feet), Adelyn Boyd (eighth in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.89 seconds), Bundren (eighth in the 800 meters in 2:26.94), Petro (ninth in the discus at 96 feet, 5 inches) and Morgan Waisath (10th in the 800 meters at 2:33.11).
In the team chase, Tolono Unity took home the championship trophy (139 points), followed by Mount Zion (117 points) and third-place M-S (85 points).
The M-S state-qualifiers will return to action on Friday (May 17) in the semifinals at Charleston. Those that qualify for the finals will return to Eastern Illinois University on Saturday (May 18).
