Bushnell-Prairie City freshman Marryn Ferguson, along with members of the Macomb High girls track and field team head to Charleston this week for the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Finals.
The event will be held at O’Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.
The Class 1A preliminaries get underway Thursday morning.
Ferguson qualified in three events.
At last week’s sectional at Farmington, she won the pole vault with an effort of 3.18-meters (10-feet, 5.25-inches), along with the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.52 seconds.
Her effort in the pole vault ranks sixth among 38 qualifiers, while her time in the hurdles is ranked seventh out of 44 competitors.
Somonauk junior Alexis Punsalan had the top mark of 38 qualifiers in the pole vault with an effort of 3.59m (11-9.25).
Oregon sophomore Jillian Hammer posted the top qualifying time in the hurdles at 15.01.
Also at the sectional. Ferguson finished fourth in the 100 with a personal best time of 12.91, earning a state berth in the event based on time.
That effort ranks 40th among 47 qualifiers.
Freshman Isabella Niebrugge of Teutopolis had the top qualifying time of 12.06.
The Class 2A preliminaries get underway Friday morning.
The Bombers had two champions from last week’s sectional competition at Metamora.
Senior Dakota Thorman won the discus with a throw of 36.63-meters (120-feet, 2-inches). That mark was the fifth-best of the 32 qualifiers in the event.
Taylorville junior Elsie Williamson posted the top qualifying mark of 41.67m (136-8).
Junior Aubrey Holthaus won the high jump with a season-best leap of 1.54m (5-0.50). She will be joined by freshman teammate Khloe Diggs, who also jumped 1.54m (5-0.50).
The MHS duo were two of 29 qualifiers with that mark. The top five jumpers all posted a mark of 1.59m (5-2.50). There were 40 qualifiers for the event.
Senior Jordan Hines finished third in the 100 (12.43 seconds) and 200meter dashes (25.71) at the sectional, but qualified for both on the basis of time.
Her time in the 100 is 15th out of 31 qualifiers with Troy (Triad) senior Sophia Schardan posting the top qualifying time of 11.93.
In the 200, Hines’s time is 19th out of 41 qualifiers with Danville (H.S.) sophomore Jamia Esther posting the top qualifying time of 24.74.
Holthaus finished fifth in the 300 low hurdles with a personal best time of 47.55, qualifying on time.
Her time ranked 12th out of 39 qualifiers for the event. Mt. Zion junior Kendall Smith posted the top qualifying mark of 44.29.
In the relays, the 4x200 quartet of sophomore Clair Thompson, Holthaus, sophomore Madison Nelson and Hines finished second in the sectional with a time of 1:46.60.
That time ranks 22nd out of 34 qualifying teams.
Danville (H.S.) posted the fastest qualifying time at 1:41.58.
The finals for all three classes are scheduled for Saturday.
More info on this year’s state finals can be found at www.ihsa.org
Marryn Ferguson
