Class 3
Boys
Top Returners/Freshmen: Lee Steward, Jaden Williams, Joseph Moore, Ahmad Robinson, Tyjuan Atkins, Montrell Richards, Byron Stepps
Potential Point Opportunities: 100, 400, 800, 300m Hurdles, 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, 4x800, Shot Put
Summary: Another nail-biter, we have Cardinal Ritter turning the tables and returning to the top of the team standings in Class 3 after trading places with Trinity Catholic last season. The projections have it coming down to whether or not Cardinal Ritter could secure another win in in the 4x400.
With three members of the 3:16.93 all-class state record team returning for 2020, another win in the event was very likely.
Lee Steward and Jaden Williams were the key members of this year's squad. Steward was looking poised to contribute significant points in both the 400 and 800 while running important legs on the 4x400 and 4x800 squads. He was coming off an outdoor season in which he ran 48.87 and 1:57.92 bests, but added 22.32 and 48.85 lifetime bests in the 200 and 400 spelling out the likelihood that special things were coming this spring.
Williams was similarly impactful in 2019. In 2020, he was looking to keep the 300 meter hurdles title in the family with a 38.18 lifetime best to his name. He was also second among returners in the 100 with a 10.84 (+1.2) best in his pocket. Of course, his presence would be required in order to pull in points in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays, too.
Role players sprinkled several more points into Ritter's total across the shot put - Joseph Moore - and sprint relays with their depth being the biggest test of whether or not they can hold off Trinity Catholic's quest for a repeat.
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Top Returners/Freshmen: Malcolm Harvey, Thomas Sonntag, Julian Juszczyk, Myles Norwood, David Reid
Potential Point Opportunities: 110m Hurdles, 300m Hurdles, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Shot Put, Javelin
Summary: Losing Kemeric Winston hurts real bad. But he wasn't the only senior in the Class of 2019 who helped Trinity pull in the 100 point Class 3 State Championship last spring and the lack of those seniors' presences in 2020 were sure to be felt.
But Trinity was hardly short-handed headed into this spring. With several of Class 3's front-running athletes and one of the country's best javelin coaches on staff, Trinity was poised to make a run at a repeat in 2020.
Let's start at the javelin. How's 18 points in one event grab you? Well, between Malcolm Harvey (184-8) and Julian Juszczyk (170-10), it really is hard to doubt that that would have been a reality. Harvey would have been most likely done there, but Juszczyk contributed to the 4x400 effort last spring and could potentially be a key member of all three of their sprint relays with the loss of so many 2019 seniors.
Thomas Sonntag was looking like another major piece of the puzzle as he had the potential to win the 110 meter hurdles and finish in the top 2 in the 300 meter hurdles. Eighteen more points in the hurdles has Trinity sitting pretty.
Now throw in another potential 15 in the horizontal jumps with Myles Norwood coming in at number 1 in the long jump and number 4 in the triple jump among returners. He'll be tops in both events heading into 2021 now.
Where Trinity falls just short of Cardinal Ritter according to our projections will be in the relays. If Trinity could put together similarly strong 4x100 and 4x200 squads as last season, then team title number 2 is theirs. Either way, it was going to be extremely close with only one point separating the top 2 teams according to our projections.
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3. Lamar
Top Returners/Freshmen: Kolin Overstreet, Joe Kremp, Ethan Pittsenbarger, Trace Willhite
Potential Point Opportunities: 800, 1600, 3200, 4x800, Javelin
Summary: With Cardinal Ritter and Trinity Catholic duking it out for the top spot in Class 3, several different teams were going to be wrestling for the 3rd and 4th place trophies with any team who can turn in a few solid performances having a chance at it.
Lamar gets the nod here on the strength of senior Kolin Overstreet.
Overstreet returns among the top 4 in the 800, number 1 in the 1600, and number 2 in the 3200. There was a very real possibility that Overstreet could pick up 23 points on his own across the 3 events. He was coming off an indoor season in which he nearly matched his outdoor bests with marks of 1:58.96 in the 800 and 4:21.18 in the full mile. He would have been supported by junior Joe Kremp, too, who could have contributed another 9 points based on his returning marks of 4:32.65 and 9:49.10 in the 1600 and 3200.
All that would have needed to happen after that was a solid showing in the 4x800 and help from Trace Willhite in the javelin and Lamar would have once again been in business this May.
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4. Lathrop
Top Returners/Freshmen: Drew O'Connor, Brandon Anderson, Christopher Moore, Colton Nichols, Tyler Paul, Dylan Scanlan
Potential Point Opportunities: 100, 110m Hurdles, 4x100, 4x200, High Jump, Pole Vault, Discus
Summary: Oh to be a fly on the wall when the top Class 2 and 3 coaches realized that Lathrop had moved on to Class 3. The spectrum of emotions from either side, from relief to contempt, must have been wide.
After finishing 2nd to Monroe City in Class 2 last spring, Lathrop made the move up to Class 3 this spring and could very well have grabbed a team trophy in the process.
Pole vault star Drew O'Connor was poised to bring home a state title in the event as he entered the season with a 15-4 outdoor best and 15-5 indoor best. O'Connor was looking like a 16-0 candidate after clearing 15-0 four times this indoor season.
A group of sprinters headlined by Tyler Paul in the 100 and on the sprint relays, Brandon Anderson in the 110 Meter Hurdles, and Dylan Scanlan, along with 6-4 high jumper Christopher Moore and 151-1 discus thrower Colton Nichols, had Lathrop on the radar to pull in the highly-competitive fourth place trophy in Class 3 this spring.
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Honorable Mention - John Burroughs, Warsaw, Centralia
Girls
1. Trinity Catholic
Top Returners/Freshmen: Sydney Juszczyk, Brooke Moore, Leah Thames, Akilah Heffner, Dayna Reid, Kayla Millett, Sydney Burdine
Potential Point Opportunities: 100, 200, 400, 800, 100m Hurdles, 300m Hurdles, 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Javelin
Summary: Surprise, surprise.
Even after losing some of their biggest contributors to the dominating 2019 team victory, Trinity Catholic returned some of the state's overall best athletes which would have given them very few problems repeating in 2020.
After sweeping the top 4 spots in the 100 Meter Hurdles last May, Trinity returned three of 3 girls as Akilah Heffner, Sydney Juszczyk, and Brooke Moore were back for more world domination. With 24 points there, Trinity was off to a good start.
In the 100, 200, and 400, Heffner, Leah Thames, and Dayna Reid were all projected to combine for 28 more points. You can bet that some combination of them and Juszczyk and Moore would have made a run at the sprint relays, too, adding more big chunks to their already rising team score total.
Moore also was the top returner in the triple jump after pulling off a two foot victory (38-8.5) in the event in 2019. Juszczyk returned in fifth with a 36-2.5, but may have had to have make a decision if her services were required in the sprint relays because there was no way she would give up the javelin. A nationally revered talent and Class 3 state record holder in the event, Juszczyk, with her 161-8 lifetime best, would have been a guaranteed 10 points in the event.
Another 10 points were projected to come in from Kayla Millett in the 300 meter hurdles. At 45.65, Millett was actually tied for first among returners with Holden's Lily Spring, but, as the reigning champion in the event, we can give her the nod here. Further, another 13 points were projected in the long jump from 2019 champion Akilah Heffner and 9th place finisher Leah Thames.
Put it all together and Trinity Catholic was projected to score upwards of an unbelievable 115 points en route to another convincing team victory. What's more is that most of their team will be back for 2021.
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2. John Burroughs
Top Returners/Freshmen: Kylie Goldfarb, Jillian Mays, Lindsey Okafor, Mary O'Brien, Jasmin Rayner
Potential Point Opportunities: 100, 200, 800, 1600, 3200, Triple Jump, Pole Vault, Discus
Summary: Was this the year we finally see Kylie Goldfarb go for the distance treble?
Probably not, but hey, we can dream, right? After winning her second 800 title and holding on for her first 1600 title last spring, Goldfarb was coming back this spring off cross country that was nearly derailed by injury and saw her finish 4th at the Class 3 State Championships in 18:54.50.
The 20 points she provides in the middle distance events would have been a great help for the Bombers, but another 10 points in the 3200 could have really separated them from third place in the team standings.
Burroughs returned a slew of up-and-comers after losing heavy hitter Madison Fuller to graduation. Jillian Mays was to be the top sprinter for the squad as she returned fourth best in the 100 (12.49) and seventh best in the 200 (26.44).
In the field, Lindsey Okafor was the eighth best returner in the triple jump with a 34-7.75 best, Mary O'Brien was locked into a three-way tie for eighth in the pole vault with a 9-0 clearance to her name, and Jasmin Rayner's 116-10 discus mark was good enough for fourth heading into the season.
While the pre-season depth made a run at the sprint relays look fuzzy, you can still add it all together for enough points for Burroughs to bring home the second place team trophy for the second straight year.
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3. Cardinal Ritter
Top Returners/Freshmen: Brayanna Washington, Mckiya Taylor, Kristen Booker, Tamaya Harris
Potential Point Opportunities: 100, 200, 400, 4x100, 4x200, 4x400
Summary: Cardinal Ritter would have relied heavily on significant point totals in the open sprints and sprint relays in order to grab a spot on the podium in 2020.
Junior Brayanna Washington returned for this spring as the top 100 meter runner with a 12.33 mark. She finished 6th in 2019, but was 2nd out of prelims. She also returned as the 6th best 200 meter runner with a 26.41 best.
Teammate Mckiya Taylor is a similarly important piece to the puzzle as she was projected to contribute points in the 200 (26.14) and as a leg on the sprint relay squads. With lifetime bests of 12.95 in the 100 and 1:00.54 in the 400, it would not have been difficult to see her adding points in those events, too.
Ritter's top returner in the 400, though, was Kristen Booker who was returning ready to avenge back-to-back 9th place finishes at the state meet in the quarter mile. At 59.60, she was 4th among 2020 returners and will be in the same position heading into 2021.
With enough points across the 6 sprint events, Ritter could have taken a very conventional route to the podium in 2020 to secure yet another state trophy.
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Top Returners/Freshmen: Megan Aubuchon, Julia Mcklin, Maci Reynolds, Marysa Flieg
Potential Point Opportunities: 100m Hurdles, 300m Hurdles, 4x400, Long Jump, High Jump, Javelin
Summary: Ste. Genevieve is back on the podium, but doing it a different way these days than they did in the recent past.
A few short years ago, the Dragons were dominating the distance events en route to their top 2 podium finishes in 2013 (win), 2014, and 2016. This year, they would have been relying heavily on the hurdles and field events to grab a state trophy.
In the hurdle events, Megan Aubuchon and Julia Mcklin are each among the top 8 returners in the 100m event with Mcklin and Maci Reynolds projected among the top 8 in the 300m event. All three members of this hurdle crew were members of last year's 8th place 4x400 team alongside Marysa Flieg.
Aubuchon, Mcklin, and Flieg also contribute in the field events with Aubuchon boasting a 5-4 high jump best, Mcklin holding a 17-7 long jump mark, and Flieg owning a 131-5 toss in the javelin.
With just these 4 girls contributing across 6 different events, it looks like Ste. Genevieve was going to grab that always-competitive 4th place trophy this May.
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Honorable Mention - Pembroke Hill, Odessa, Lawson