The Class 2A division will undergo major changes this year with the addition and departure of some powerhouse programs. For instance, Chicago Morgan Park, Springfield, and Rock Island move up to the 3A ranks. There is an infusion of several 3A schools moving down, such as Chicago Northside Prep, Mundelein (Carmel Catholic), and Oak Park (Fenwick). Former solid 1A programs Aurora (Christian), Bloomington (Central Catholic), Breese Central, and Stanford-Olympia will add some depth to a vastly weakened league.

Two-time defending state champion Springfield Southeast will still be the favorite despite some heavy losses through graduation, most notably gone is jump star Alex Harden. She has taken her talents to Wichita State University, playing only basketball (for now).

In addition, it’s going to be hard to pinpoint what kind of division 2A is going to be after so many defections within the class itself. One suspects the IHSA didn’t envision this, and the unthinkable may just happen in May. The championship may lose some of its team aspect and be settled by a few individuals.

The spotlight will definitely be more of an individual variety. The tiny south side of Chicago college prep school known as Lindblom College Prep may as well be known as “Team Shamier Little.” As a sophomore, Little scored 27 points and placed sixth in the team standings. Everyone knows that the scoring system is not going to change and if Little crafts a plan to enter more events under a water downed system, she very well could win a state team championship by herself.

Let’s take a look how this could occur:

Assume that it will take at least 30 points to reach the podium and hoist a team plaque, probably 35-40 to garner first or second place. How would Little be able to achieve this historic achievement?

If she enters the the 100 hurdles, 400, 300 hurdles and 200, Little could win any of them, or all four. The difficulty comes in surviving the fatigue of all the prelim rounds. In the 100 hurdles, advancing to the final would be a piece of cake because she is the defending state champion. Several of her toughest foes have either graduated or moved into different classes. Defending her title would only take minimal effort because the nearest competitor maybe capable of 14.60 or 14.70. Little has clocked 14.00 wind-aided and 14.16 legally -- not to mention that she would be fresh entering her first final of the day.

In the 400, Little would be relatively sharp and could just match the talents of Megan Paul (Mundelein Carmel) or Mercedes Young (Hillcrest) stride for stride and not expend any true effort until the last 120 meters. If Lake Kwaza (Sycamore) enters and is improved, Little may have to deploy her fourth or fifth gear a little sooner than she originally planned. Still, she would not have to run at top-end speed until the final quarter of the race.

The 300 hurdles may be Little’s best event because she is a born hurdler. The turnaround time would be between 7-15 minutes defending on meet management moving on the back-to-back event. No one in IHSA history has ever attempted this particularly strenuous double and succeeded. But if anyone can do it, it is Little. Also, keep in mind that this event is probably the leanest on the log. It only took 46.59 to advance to the final last year. Little could cruise a full second faster and still would not feel much exertion. Another break is defending champion Brena Detra (Peoria Richwoods) is in 3A. Samone’ Thompson from Champaign Central may be the only threat, but her personal best is only 44.80. If she improves a full second, it would not be enough to tire out Little. Keep in mind, Little has run US#2 57.83 in the 400-meter hurdles, which suggests she is capable of least of sub-41 seconds in the 300. Little probably wins here despite running her seventh race in less than 24-hours and back to back.

The 200 is where the moment of truth arrives. None of the key speedsters will be fresh, but Kwaza will more than likely be here and she has the most top-end speed. Little will lose this one and settle for second place.

That could leave the team standings: Team Little: 39, Springfield Southeast 36

2011 Top 5 State recap: 1) Springfield Southeast 50; 2) Chicago Morgan Park 49; 3) Springfield 45; 4) Kankakee 32; 5) Rochelle 29.

The Spartans rolled through the regular season and postseason pretty comfortably. The state championship wasn’t nearly as easy as some expected because Morgan Park dropped down from 3A because their school enrollment shrunk. The Spartans got on the board before the track finals began on the legs of Alex Harden’s double jump victories (TJ, LJ). Morgan Park scored first in the 4x1 relay and then a third place 100 meters effort from then-sophomore Elexis Fairley. The Spartans countered with Charday Crawford’s sixth place finish. Meanwhile, Springfield picked up a high jump victory courtesy of Sarah Maxon. The Senators also nabbed quality points in the middle-distance area and big points in all four relays. But it all came down to the final event of the day: the 4x4 relay and Southeast didn’t have a team. Morgan Park did and could win the championship with a victory. They ran valiantly for three legs and actually were in the lead with about 300 remaining on the anchor leg before getting impeded and then almost knocked to the track by Rich Central. No flag was thrown. By the time the Mustangs' Tia Smith recovered she had lost all of her momentum. They finished second in the race and the final verdict resulted in Springfield Southeast escaping with a one-point victory.

Event-by Event look:
Sprints:
100m-
11.76 Lake Kwaza (Sr.) Sycamore
12.21 Ebony McClendan (So.) Chicago Brooks
12.22 Ladaisha Steen-Yates (So.) Peoria
12.27 Jazmin Jackson (Jr.) Chatham-Glenwood
12.29 Alex Rosignol (So.) Mt. Carmel
Outlook: Lake Kwaza came onto to the scene as a pre-high school sensation but injuries and outside interests (basketball) have curtailed the enormous pressure put on her. Also, Dominique Kimpel (Kankakee) came along and stole the show for three titles. Kimpel secured her place as one of the best that Illinois has seen. Quietly, Kwaza had a resurgent junior campaign in which she set a personal best as well as earned a 2nd place finish to Kimpel.

200m-
24.53 Shamier Little (Jr.) Chicago Lindblom Prep
25.14 Mercedes Young (Sr.) Country Club Hills (Hillcrest)
25.32 Megan Paul (Sr.) Mundelein (Carmel)
25.69 Lake Kwaza (Sr.) Sycamore
25.50 Jazmin Jackson (Jr.) Chatham-Glenwood
Outlook: Subtract Rock Island’s Mytique Thompson, Brena Detra, and Elexis Fairley because they will be competing in 3A. Paul will give this event some quality depth as will Young. Kwaza will be much improved in this area as she will be presumably healthy.

400m-
53.83 Shamier Little (Jr.) Chicago Lindblom
55.35 Mercedes Young (Sr.) Country Club Hills Hillcrest
56.49 Megan Paul (Sr.) Mundelein Carmel Catholic
57.34 Brittany Letts (Sr.) Country Club Hills (Hillcrest)
57.63 Lake Kwaza (Sr.) Sycamore
57.64 MacKenzie Bollinger (Jr.) Aurora (Christian)
Outlook: This event will probably be the strongest and deepest on the log. Little is perhaps the class of the entire state when it comes to the 400, with barriers or flat. She won her summer age group AAU title in the fastest time since Morgan Park’s Alex Anderson set the state all-time record in 2005. As easy as it sounds to just go and lace up the spikes and hit the track running, the competition isn’t going to bow down. Paul also had a great summer and is equally a great athlete with a personal best in the 54-second range from a few years back. But she will have a few tough choices to make in terms of race selections when the post-season arrives. Young will more than likely be a mainstay in the open event if multiple relay duty is not in the team title cards. Finally, the big mystery is Kwaza. If she can improve on her personal times in the early portion of the season, we may all see her among the leaders.

800m-
2:14.43 Kelsey Cramsey (Sr.) Effingham
2:15.64 Cassie Kruse (Sr.) Hampshire
2:16.01 Emma Preston (Sr.) E. Peoria
2:16.24 Megan Paul (Sr.) Mundelein (Carmel)
Outlook: It’s a very safe choice in predicting Cramsey as the top half-miler based on consistency; she never finished lower than second in a race. It will be interesting to see if she can raise the stakes a little higher and get under her lifetime best of 2:13.55 set in ’10. The competition will be stiff to say the least. Paul, who recently inked with the University of Arkansas, took a plunge into the middle-distance arena and performed magnificently. She competed on the AAU summer circuit and actually built up her confidence (IHSA season was not the best); producing several sub 2:17 marks along the way. Don’t be surprised if you see her try a 4/8 double a few times during the season before choosing one or both or three. Kruse is a strong candidate as well; she is a tough competitor who often doubles back from running in the 4x8 relay. A final name to keep a watch for is Brittany Letts from Country Club Hills Hillcrest. Letts is a multi-purpose runner who possesses a ton of speed but loves to run the half-mile. She had a tough year in ’11 in which she barely made the final and didn’t chart among the favorites. If she can get anywhere close to the season she had in ’10, then her competition had better watch out. She put up 25.5/57/2:13 numbers and even pole vaulted over 9-feet.

1600m-
5:06.54 Katie Adams (Jr.) Marengo
5:09.24 Leah Brooks (Sr.) Dunlap
5:10.17 Sydney Billingsley (So.) Normal (University)
5:12.62 Claire Haggerty (Jr.) Grayslake Central
5:13.68 Alex Van Hoof (Jr.) Bloomington (Central Catholic)
5:18.66 Karyn Paisley (So.) Macomb
5:18.95 Cassie Kruse (Sr.) Hampshire
Outlook: Yorkville’s Ali Hester competed in 2A for cross country but strangely will be in 3A for the track season. Adams will probably have an unimpeded ride all the way to Charleston in May if no one steps up. The pre-high school star has the talent to get back to her 2007/08 level when she ran 5:01.28 for the full mile- this translates to sub 5:00 for 1600m. Brooks will need to peak better from indoor to outdoor season. She placed 2nd in the IPTT in 5:09, but she only mustered the same exact time by the end of the outdoor season. Kruse has the talent to be among the leaders when the season gets into full swing. Lombard’s Ericka Laviste (Sr.) has a personal best of 5:11; she will be a person at-large in ’12.

3200m-
11:08.19 Ashley Pribble (Sr.) Morton
11:09.33 Meredith McClain (Jr.) Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin)
11:14.51 Alex Van Hoof (Jr.) Bloomington (Central Catholic)
11:17.26 Sydney Billingsley (So.) Normal (University)
11:19.59 Caitlin Pribble (Sr.) Morton
11:22.90 Leah Brooks (Sr.) Dunlap
11:26.18 Briana Daley (So.) Oak Park (Fenwick)
Outlook: Now that Illinois’ all-time best distance runner Kayla Beattie (Woodstock) has graduated and moved on to college, there will be a stability of girls with similar numbers. Ashley Pribble and her twin sister will be in the mix all season. Ashley finished 2nd behind Beattie in last spring’s championship race. McClain was just a few tenths back; she also enjoyed a great cross country season finishing 9th.

100H-
14.16 Shamier Little (Jr.) Chicago Lindblom Prep
14.79 Natasha Seymour (Jr.) Richton Park (Rich South)
15.36 Destini Artis (Jr.) Country Club Hills (Hillcrest)
15.37 Allison Rogutich (Sr.) Marengo
15.39 Kaci Storm (Sr.) Geneseo
15.42 Sydney Hellwig (Jr.) LaGrange Park (Nazareth)
Outlook: Little won her first state title with ease against a solid field. Now that field is gone and she should have an easier time. But her goals are much bigger than winning a state title- it’s about being among the very best in the country.

300H-
44.80 Samone’ Thompson (Sr.) Champaign Central
44.87 Erin McCoy (Sr.) Oak Park (Fenwick)
45.40 Joslyn Jones (Jr.) Cahokia
45.50 Sarah Goodale (Jr.) Carbondale
45.60 Shamier Little (Jr.) Chicago Lindblom Prep
Outlook: A ton of graduation and losses has severly weakened this event. Defending state champion Brena Detra of Peoria Richwoods has moved up to Class 3A. To matters worse, Little produced the US #2 mark in the longer 400H last summer could easily be a sub 41 performer. There is only one athlete in Illinois history to do that. Little may forgo this event and concentrate on her favorite event - the 400 meter dash - and run in June's Olympic Trials 400-meter hurdles. If so, the spoils will go Thompson and McCoy.

Discus Throw-
125-9 Bryn Buckwalter (Jr.) Freeport
124-5 Lindsay Herra (Jr.) Rockford Boylan
122-3 Morgan Young (Jr.) Mahomet-Seymour
120-10 Alyssa Mussatto (Sr.) Ottawa
120-3 Lauren Haas (Sr.) Rock Falls
118-7 Lena Giger (So.) Highland
Outlook: The state champion Buckwalter returns to defend her title. She will have some tight competition as four girls are within five feet. Herra will look to add a state medal on to her 124-5 personal best; she failed to advance to state in the event last year. Young is another quality thrower from the same Mahomet-Seymour program that produced an all-time great known as Daniella “Dani” Bunch several years ago.

Shot Put-
43-2.25 Kortnee Hall (Sr.) Jersey
42-2.25 Lena Giger (So.) Highland
40-5.75 Bryn Buckwalter (Jr.) Freeport
39-9.25 K’leesa Gilliam (Sr.) Springfield Southeast
39-5.75 Claire Nolan (Jr.) Taylorville
37-9 Myra Diggins (Sr.) Galesburg
37-5.25 Katy Spesard (Sr.) Paris
Outlook: Hall was just several inches away from a state title last year. Fortunately, she will have another season to redeem herself. Giger is from the same area as Hall which should lead to some spirited matchups all season long. Gilliam could be a candidate to replace former graduated teammate Lateria Fairlee. Her team will appreciate the points in a quest for a third straight team championship.

Long Jump-
18-1.5 Ellen Renk (Sr.) Lasalle-Peru
17-10 India Steward (Jr.) Richton Park (Rich South)
17-9i Lexi Hobbs (Sr.) Dunlap
17-7.5 MiCayla Collins (Jr.) Cahokia
17-6.5 Lexy Duncan (So.) Dixon
17-5.5 Jasmine Johnson (Sr.) Midlothian Bremen
17-5.5 Taylor McCammon (So.) Kankakee McNamara
17-4.5 Miranda Hankins (Sr.) Charleston
Outlook: For the first time in a long time, four years to be precise, there is going to be a new state champion and brand new face in the long jump. Alexandria Harden dominated this event for so long for Springfield Southeast that they could have named it in her honor. The days of the 19-foot mark will not happen but a more even playing field will surface. Renk will now get a shot be the top jumper. Steward and Hobbs will challenge Renk for the gold medal in May.

Triple Jump-
37-10.25 Ellen Renk (Sr.) Lasalle-Peru
37-6 Allison Rogutich (Sr.) Marengo
36-7i MiCayla Collins (Jr.) Cahokia
36-6.75 Lexi Ellis (Sr.) Morton
36-0.75 Mackenzie Bollinger (Jr.) Aurora (Christian)
Outlook: It’s Déjà vu here for Renk as she now has an opportunity to be the best in Illinois with Harden’s departure. Also, would be apparent Aliyah Harmon (Rich Central) has moved up to 3A. Rogutich placed 4th at state last year and was just 4 inches behind Renk. These two young ladies will be the class of the field.

High Jump-
5-6 Molly McGraw (So.) Bloomington Central Catholic
5-5 Katie Trupp (Jr.) Burlington Central
5-5 Shannon Nugent (Jr.) Vernon Hills
5-4 Jasmine Johnson (Jr.) Midlothian Bremen
5-4 Abi Sowash (Jr.) Troy- Triad
Outlook: This event will see a total makeover. The top 5 finishers from last year’s state final have either graduated or moved into different classes. McGraw placed third in 1A last May and actually has the top returning performance mark. Bridget Bodee (Jr.) from Lombard Montini has the highest returning placement in 6th, but she only jumped a paltry 5-3. She may improve but more than likely won’t finish ahead of McGraw, Trupp, or Nugent if they are on their game.

Pole Vault-
12-6 Sarah Bell (Jr.) Bloomington Central Catholic
11-6 Jesse Dryden (Sr.) Marion
11-6 Katie Trupp (Jr.) Burlington Central
11-6 Grace Shadid (Sr.) Peoria Notre Dame
10-6 Darrian Hartman (Sr.) Geneseo
Outlook: Bell moves up from Class A and will be a heavy favorite to win a state title. She is also the top overall rated vaulter in Illinois and was US#2 at press time of this preview with a super mark of 12-8. Shadid is one of only three vaulters who cleared 11-6 last season in the Class. Dryden and Trupp are the other two.
Relays-

4x800m-
Hampshire, Maple Park Kaneland, Burlington Central, Mahomet-Seymour, and Effingham will see their fortunes improve dramatically with record holder Yorkville moving to 3A. Rock Island and Springfield HS were state charters too and they follow suit with Yorkville. So, the prognosis is going to come down to the best anchor legs. Effingham has Kelsey Cramsey and Hampshire will go with Cassie Kruse- may the best team win.

4x100m-
Once again a ton of movement makes it hard to predict who is going to perform well. Springfield Southeast may be the favorite despite the loss of Alex Harden. Chicago Morgan Park was the champion but they move up to 3A as does Springfield and Rock Island.

4x200m-
Southeast will return three legs and should be strong as last year. The Spartans have a wealth of frosh-soph talent to draw from if need be.

4x400m-
Rich South will be the favorite with three legs back from a record setting performance in last year’s final. Vernon Hills was a surprise last season. No one had them among the best but yet they placed 3rd in the state rankings. They will be right there with the top squads again this season. Let’s add in Hillcrest. They had a troubling year in ’11 but it’s a clean slate now. They will be a much better team overall and should get back to 2010 levels when they dominated their competition and finished 2nd in the state. All four girls return included the talented Brittany Letts and Mercedes Young.