Akinosun, Porter ready for the main event
CHARLESTON — Morolake Akinosun and Cherise Porter each have two final chances to secure ever-elusive state championships.
The senior sprinters from Waubonsie Valley and Willowbrook, respectively, who were runners-up at 100 and 200 meters to Lincoln-Way East star Aaliyah Brown last year at the Class 3A girls track and field state meet, are in prime position after the first day of competition Friday afternoon at O’Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.
Area athletes garnered a combination of 41 finalist berths, but much of the attention will be focused on the extraordinary collection of sprinters in attendance this weekend.
In addition to the three-time state champion Brown, Oklahoma-bound Cessily Jones of Plainfield North and Evanston standout hurdler-sprinter Margaret Bamgbose are also in the fray against Akinosun and Porter. Five one-hundredths of a second separate Jones, Brown and Akinosun at 100 meters; Porter is the fourth seed.
“I know Aaliyah and Cessily are always going to bring their best,” said Akinosun, who won her 100 and 200 heats in 11.71 and 24.4 seconds. “We don’t like to lose. I have to be at my best.” “It’s my senior year, so I’m going to leave everything on the track,” said Porter, who won her heat in the 100 in 11.85 and placed second to Brown at 200 meters in 24.33.
Neuqua Valley junior Savannah Carson, who leads the long jump after the preliminaries with a 19-4½-inch effort, is also in the field at 100 meters.
“It’s always fun to get pushed,” said Carson, who has the distinction of having freshman teammate Maya Neal in third in the long jump.
The 800-meter run has been the defining distance for many of the most brilliant area athletes in the past decade-plus. Defending 800 state champion Lindsey Rakosnik lost her first race since the 400-meter final two years ago, but the Glenbard East senior came back to deny Hinsdale Central junior Jill Hardies to advance at 1,600 meters as well.
“I can’t think about the mile (while running the 800),” said Rakosnik, who will join Akinosun at Illinois in the fall. “My overall high school career has been awesome.”
Wheaton Warrenville South coach Rob Harvey once famously referred to the 3,200 relay as the “(local) cross country race of the spring.”
This year is no different as WW South posted the best time — 9:13.56 — while York and Glenbard West also won their heats in impressive fashion. Defending state champion Downers North and Naperville North are also in the mix.
“We’re really close to each other (time-wise),” WW South junior McKenna Kiple said.
“A lot of opportunity,” teammate Hope Schmelzle added. “We have to seize them.”
“The field here is incredibly strong,” Glenbard West anchor and open 800 finalist Emma Reifel said. “All we can ask for is to do the best that we can.”
Neuqua Valley, Lake Park, WW South and Glenbard West lead the area programs with five finalists each.
Lake Park junior Kaylee Flanagan is the top seed in the 3,200 run as the race does not have a preliminary.
In other potential breakout performances, thrower Jasmine Davis is poised to become the first all-state performer in Metea Valley history with her fourth-place standing in the shot put. Twenty-one of the 41 athletes who advanced came out of the six field events.
In Class 2A action, Montini is in solid position to make a run in the 3,200 relay as well behind 1,600 hopeful Ericka Laviste.