Photo by Theo Tate
Granite City's Toni Rush helped her 400-meter relay team qualify for finals on Saturday.
Alton junior Katie Mans is inching closer to another all-state medal.
Mans qualified for finals in the high jump on Saturday after clearing a 5-4 in the preliminaries of the Class 3A state track meet on Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
Mans is one of 12 athletes who qualified for finals in the high jump, all of them cleared 5-4 in preliminaries.
Mans is looking to earn an all-state medal in the high jump for the third year in a row. She finished eighth in her freshman year and seventh as a sophomore.
The Class 3A high jump finals are scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.
Alton's 400-meter relay team of Jeanea Epps, TyRisss Holloway, Daysha Lacey and Alleyah Tuggle also qualified for the Class 3A finals on Saturday. The squad won the first heat in 48.62 seconds, which was the ninth-best overall time. The top nine teams advance to finals.
Granite City's 4x1 of Robyn Pointer, Niya Wilson, TyKiaza Jones and Toni Rush also qualified for Class 3A finals. The team finished second to Belleville West in heat No. 2 in 48.60 seconds, which was the eighth-best time.
Alton and Granite City's 4x1 teams are scheduled to run at 11:40 a.m.
The Warriors are looking to earn all-state honors in a relay for the second year in a row. Granite City placed fourth in the 4x2 last year.
Alton has never placed at state in a relay.
Edwardsville's 4x8 of Abby Korak, Victoria Vegher, Lorie Cashdollar and Maddie Miller qualified for Class 3A finals by finishing third in heat No. 2 in 9:23.26, the eight-best overall time. The relay team is scheduled to run at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Tigers have placed at state in the 4x8 twice, finishing third in 2006 and seventh in 2007.
Also on Saturday, Marquette Catholic freshman Riley Vickrey is scheduled to run in the Class 1A 3,200 finals at 10 a.m. She qualified for state in the event by placing second in the Staunton Sectional last week.