After talking it over with other coaches, Manteno girls track coach Steve St. John said his best guess is that the last time the team sent as many as five athletes to the state meet was in the late 1980s.
Not only will the Panthers send five athletes to the state meet in Charleston this week, three are sophomores.
Two are freshmen.
“Our future is bright,” St. John said. “It should be a good next couple of years.”
But this year shouldn’t be too bad either.
Sophomore Klarke Goranson won the 800-meter race in 2 minutes, 15.53 seconds and the 1,600 in 5:18.53 at the Class 2A Hillcrest Sectional on May 14 to qualify for state in both events.
Freshman DeLanie Monroe won the 3,200 in 12:36.76 while sophomore teammate Lyla Nevel took second in 12:49.27 to also qualify.
In the field events, freshman Olivia McElroy won in the high jump at 5 feet, 2.5 inches and sophomore Sophia Most won the discus with a 131-4.75.
Big things could be in store for Goranson, who finished second in the state in the 800 and third in the 1,600 last year. She is knocking on the door to being the first individual in school history to win a state championship.
“I look forward to seeing her at state against top competition to see what she can do,” St. John said. “It’s hard for her being an elite runner and in a lot of meets, she is just running against the clock.”
Most is also a threat to being home another medal after finishing seventh in the discus last season.
McElroy also has a shot at being on the podium as her sectional jump would have placed her fourth in the state in 2025.
In Class 3A, Crete-Monee’s Tamryn Farmer qualified in the long jump with a fifth-place finish of 18-0 and Ayomide Olanrewaju qualified in the triple jump with a fourth-place finish of 36-9.25 at the Bloom Sectional.
In Class 1A, Beecher’s 4×800 relay team of sophomore Raina McKay, freshman Maeve McDermott, sophomore Madison Smith and freshman Rachel Imig took first at the Seneca Sectional with a 10:17.37.
Imig was fourth in the 1,600 with a 5:31.15, which was good enough to qualify.
Peotone senior Celeste Richards was second in the 800 at 2:28.67.
The Class 1A state meet starts May 21, with 2A and 3A prelims on May 22. Finals in all classes are set for May 23.
First meet at Crete
Crete-Monee hosted its first track meet in its new facility – the Southland Athletic Conference Meet for boys.
For the Warriors, Jayden Franklin won the 300 hurdles with a :39.82 while Derrin Couch was second at :40.25.
The Warriors won the 4×200 relay in 1:28.45.
Dorian Patterson won the long jump with a 21-10. Joseph Jones claimed the shot put with 51-8.25.
Hofmeister is the master
Crete-Monee’s Thorben Hofmeister was the Southland Athletic Conference singles tennis champion.
He and second-place finisher Jaelen Norris were named all-conference and the Warriors were the team champ.
Warriors doubles players Ammar Ghaben and Caleb Godlewski took second place and were also named all-conference.
Tough tourney for Manteno
Manteno’s softball team played three state-ranked teams in the Rockridge Tournament and lost 8-4 to Riverdale, 4-3 to the Ridgewood coop and 2-0 to Rockridge.
Aubrie Goudreau, Mia Shedwill and Lanie Young each drove in runs for the Panthers (20-9) against Riverdale, while Hannah Stritar and Maddy Delya drove in runs against Ridgewood.