The News-Gazette saw a pair of cross-country teams in its coverage area win state titles to start the 2023-24 school year, and 11 athletes followed throughout the year with individual championships. Here are the teams and athletes who reached the pinnacle of Illinois high school sports, courtesy preps coordinator Zach Piatt:
Unity girls’ cross-country team
Our first area state champion was crowned at Detweiller Park in Peoria, and it was a three-peat. The Rockets won their third consecutive Class 1A state title last fall, 48 points clear of Anna-Jonesboro in second place, to continue their run as the state’s best distance program. Mackenzie Pound paced Unity’s field with a 10th-place individual finish in 17 minutes, 36.87 seconds, followed by Erica Woodard in 14th, Emily Decker in 30th, Ashlyn Denney in 52nd and Olivia Shike in 55th.
Tuscola boys’ cross-country team
Shortly after the Unity girls’ three-peat, the Tuscola boys made history. One year after their first time qualifying for state as a team, the Warriors claimed their first Class 1A state championship, besting Benton by just seven points to cap off an undefeated season. Jackson Barrett led the way at Detweiller Park with a third-place individual finish in 14 minutes, 40.55 seconds, which earned him News-Gazette Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year honors. Joining him in the top 10 were Will Foltz in sixth and Josiah Hortin in 10th. Blake McLeese and Xander Neamtu rounded out the scoring with respective finishes of 30th and 74th.
Jack Barnhart
Centennial wrestlingAfter finishing sixth as the No. 1 seed in the 220-pound weight class a year ago, Barnhart redeemed himself, battling to a Class 2A 285-pound championship, a perfect 44-0 season and News-Gazette Wrestler of the Year honors. A 4-1 win against Crystal Lake South’s Andy Burburija clinched it for the soon-to-be McKendree dual-sport athlete, making Barnhart just the second Centennial Charger to ever win a state wrestling title after Justin Cardani went back to back in 2017 and 2018.
Hunter Eastin
Unity wrestlingThe Rockets were among the area’s best wrestling program this season, as they have been in multiple recent years, and this time, Eastin led the way. The talented junior beat friend and St. Thomas More rival Brody Cuppernell for a third straight championship match in as many weeks to win the Class 1A 190-pound title and finish the season with a record of 50-6. Eastin’s win marked the third year in a row Unity has produced a state champion, as Nick Nosler won in 2023 and Lexi Ritchie won in 2022.
Chloe Hoselton Prairie Central girls’ wrestling
Coming from a long line of wrestling standouts in her family, Hoselton added her name to the legacy by winning a state title at 235 pounds. The junior beat Lockport’s Rebekah Ramirez 13-0 in the first round at state, pinned Robinson’s Rylee Hammond in 42 seconds in the quarterfinals and squeaked by Curie’s top-seeded Aaliyah Grandberry 3-1 in the semifinals to set up a championship match with Unity’s Phoenix Molina, which Hoselton won 2-1 by ultimate tiebreak.
Andrea Li Uni High girls’ badminton
It was business as usual for the Illinek senior, who closed her high school career with a third consecutive girls’ badminton state singles title in dominating fashion. Day one of state competition saw Li breeze through her opponents, not allowing any of them to reach double digits in any set. She then bested Naperville North’s Kelly Hu 21-12, 21-4 in the quarterfinals, Palatine Fremd’s Sophia Lin 21-10, 21-16 in the semifinals and Illinois Math and Science Academy’s Carissa Chen 21-9, 21-10 in the championship.
Lia Patterson
Tuscola girls’ track and fieldPatterson won a pair of Class 1A individual state titles to earn her second News-Gazette Girls’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year award in a row. She won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.51 seconds and defended her 300 hurdles title with a time of 43.10 seconds, over two seconds clear of the next finisher. The junior’s performance led the Warriors to a state runner-up team finish.
Madalyn Marx
Mahomet-Seymour girls’ track and fieldAfter taking runner-up honors in the Class 2A state 400-meter dash last year as a freshman, Marx returned this year determined to step atop the podium. She did just that with a personal-best time of 56.11 seconds to claim a come-from-behind state championship victory. The title was sweet on its own, but it was made even sweeter knowing she couldn’t physically run just two weeks prior while dealing with multiple injuries.
Jillian Schlittler
Unity girls’ track and fieldSchlittler started this season as the Rockets’ No. 2 long-jumper and ended it as the Class 2A state champion in the event. Just a sophomore, she cleared 17 feet, 10½ inches at the state meet, nearly three inches more than second place. Schlittler celebrated with freshman teammate Ava Jones, who finished fourth, and that duo is set up for even more future success.
Josiah Hortin
Tuscola boys’ track and fieldThe News-Gazette Boys’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year earned that title by winning his long-awaited first Class 1A individual state title in the 800-meter run. His time of 1 minute, 51.98 seconds was just three-quarters of a second off the 1A state meet record. The Louisville signee set the performance standard for the Warriors all season, which led to a second-place team finish at state.
Will Foltz
Tuscola boys’ track and fieldLeading the pack in the 3,200-meter run with teammate Jackson Barrett by a wide margin for the majority of the race, Foltz found another gear for the final lap to convincingly win a Class 1A state title in the event with a time of 9 minutes, 18.86 seconds, nearly seven seconds ahead of Barrett. Like Hortin, Foltz crossed the finish line with his arms spread open, cherishing his championship moment.
Dominic Martin
Ridgeview/Lexington boys’ track and fieldJust like Patterson did in the girls’ competition, Martin owned the hurdles on the boys’ state stage. Martin won the Class 1A 110- and 300-meter hurdles with respective times of 14.41 and 38.87 seconds. He also tied for the top mark in the long jump at 22 feet, 2½ inches but settled for second place after scoring went back to previous jumps.
Demarion Forman
Monticello boys’ track and fieldForman’s discus throw of 193 feet, 11½ inches in the Class 2A state prelims was farther than any other throw on that stage in history. He couldn’t quite match that performance the next day in the finals, but his record-breaking toss won him a state title by nearly 17 feet and set the Sages record for a seventh time this season.
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