Story and video by Tim Taylor

Charleston senior Makenna McBride won both short sprints, Hannah Taylor swept the jumps, and the Trojans won all four relays to propel CHS girls track and field to a second-place finish against a pair of Champaign schools, Central and Academy High.

Champaign Central won the meet with a total of 78 points, five more than Charleston. Academy had 14 points.

“I’m really proud of our girls for the way they competed today,” CHS coach Chris Hawk said. “We were considerably outnumbered by Champaign Central but finished only five points away from them. Excellent performances across the board for our girls with several PRs and season records in just our second outdoor meet.”

Charleston was unable to enter anybody in the pole vault or 100-meter hurdles. “We need to keep building up our numbers to be more competitive with the bigger teams,” said Hawk.

McBride (above) won both the 100 and 200 meters with times of 13.54 and 26.77, respectively. She was also was part of the victorious 4×100 team along with Olivia Conn, Ally Thompson and Treveia Couch that clocked in at 54.32 seconds.

All of the other Charleston relay teams won as well.

  • 4×200 (Makenna McBride, Olivia Conn, Ally Thompson, Trevia Couch)
  • 4×400 (Malia Hodges, Laney Wright, Amber Weiss, Ila Richter)
  • 4×800 (Amber Weiss, Casey Fisher, Greta Larson, Ila Richter)

Taylor, meanwhile, swept the jumps, clearing 4 feet, 7 inches in the high, leaping 14 feet-8.75 inches in the long, and bounding 29 feet, 8.5 inches in the triple.

Mackensie Williams had the winning throw in the discus at 95-6 and placed second in the shot put, just ahead of teammate Aerielle Ecker.

Junior Malia Hodges ran 1:05.52 to win the 400.

Other notable performances:

  • Freshman Hadley Webb placed second in the 3,200.
  • Ila Richter came in third in the 1,600.
  • Treveia Couch got fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 200.
  • Olivia Conn finished fifth in long jump.