CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) - Sophomore Mariya Hudson won three individual titles and scored 37 of Cahokia’s 61 points, leading it to a second consecutive Illinois High School Association Class 2A championship Saturday.
Junior Raynesha Lewis won the long jump and contributed the remaining 24 of Cahokia’s points.
The Comanchees were 10 points ahead of the runner-up, Morgan Park High School.
“We had two outstanding athletes preform at a high level at the right time,” Cahokia’s head coach Roscoe Dowell said.
Cahokia’s team endured many injuries this year, including a literal growing pain for Hudson. One of her legs was growing faster than the other, making running difficult.
Lincoln-Way East also defended its title Saturday, winning a third consecutive 3A championship. Its 4x100-meter relay took second at 47.59 seconds. Sophomore Ololade Ayoola also finished second clearing 5 feet 6 inches in high jump.
Lincoln-Way East coach Angelo Brown attributed the team’s success to a strong team effort. He chuckled and said he’s glad this season is finished. Brown said there were times during the season when the team was not confident that it would have the “fire power” needed to be competitive enough to take the state title again.
“We just continued to press on and we didn’t skip a beat,” Brown said.
Illini West High School took home the 1A championship, a first for the team. It finished first in the 4x400-meter relay at 3:59.92 seconds, second in the 4x100-meter relay at 49.81 seconds and third in the 4x200-meter relay at 1:45.16 seconds.
“Last June, this was our goal,” assistant coach Jerry Butcher said. “We came up a little bit short last year and it’s what we’ve been looking at 365 days, so they had confidence and wanted to get back here. They wanted it bad.”
Last season, the team placed fourth with 34 total points, 18 points less than this year’s 52 points.
Seniors and team captains Michaela Gronewold and Aubrie Carlisle said they worked hard all season to win the championship. This team too had to overcome multiple injuries.
“We pushed through it and we didn’t take meets lightly after that,” Carlisle said. “We knew what we were going for this year and we just wanted to accomplish that.”
Gronewold and Carlisle were both on all three Illini West relay teams that finished in the top three. Sophomore Brianna Grotts and junior Mariah Brodie completed the quad.
Next year, Gronewald will leave track behind to play basketball at John Wood Community College in Quincy, Illinois.
Carlisle will continue her running career at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, where she also will play basketball.
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