The girls track and field team claimed their third straight Big 12 Conference title on May 3, posting seven first-place finishes at Champaign’s Harold Jester Track.

The Iron finished the night with 131 points, 39 ahead of their closest competitors–hosts Champaign Centennial. The Danville Vikings took third with 80.  

Ali Ince was instrumental in the defending Community’s title, contributing 20 points with first-place finishes in her solo races: the 400 and 1600-meter runs. 

The Oregon commit’s 4:52.86 mile time shattered the meet record in the event, one that had stood for four decades set by Bloomington’s Melissa Straza’s at 5:03.9 in 1984. The time marks a season-best for the senior, and stands as the third-best mile time in the state this season. 

Ince helped add another 10 points, anchoring Community’s first-place 1600-meter relay. The team of Ince, Abigail Ziemer, Queen-Patricia Lubala and Lily Cavanaugh recorded a season-best 3:57.95, which currently stands as Illinois’ third-best time in the event.

The finish earned Queen-Patricia Lubala and Lily Cavanaugh a place in the Big 12 Conference meet record books, breaking the 2021 meet record of  3:58.84 set by Ziemer, Ince and graduates Carina Engst and Jordynn Griffin.

The Iron posted another first-place finish in the 3200-meter relay. Ince anchored the underclassmen squad of Emma Pollit (’27), Dhruti Joshi (’26) and Maddie Gentsch (’26) to a 9:57.49 finish, an Iron season-best in the 4×800.

Marco Reynolds finished on top in both of the junior’s field events, winning the shot put with a throw of 12.12 meters and discus with a toss of 35.61 meters. If Reynolds can replicate those distances in Thursday’s sectional, she’ll stamp her ticket to State in each event. 

Cavanaugh earned a second trip to the top of the podium in the 800-meter with a personal-best time of 2:18.66, nearly two seconds off the state qualifying standard.

Ziemer, a three-time state medalist in the 4×400, finished third in the 400-meter race for the Iron. With a 59.57 finish, Ziemer was just .06 off the state standard in the quarter-mile. 

Lubala added to the team score in the hurdle events, placing second in the 300-meter (46.63) and third in the 100-meter with a time of 15.68, just 0.01 seconds behind the runner-up. Both finishes bested the 3A state qualifying standards.  

Lubala rounded out the meet with a fourth-place finish in the triple jump (10.27 meters).

In the sprints, Jazmin West took second in the 100 (12.57), .07 behind Richwoods, and fourth in the 200 (26.86). 

The senior helped Community take third in the 400-meter relay, as West and teammates Dynasty Bell-Washington, Jahariah Williams and Alena Smith clocked in at 49.76, .42 off the state standard. 

West, Williams, Smith and Kendall Luke took fourth in the 800-meter relay, finishing at 1:47.06.

Luke (’25) jumped 5.26 meters in the long jump event, good for second. 

Emma Pollitt took fifth place in the 800 (2:31.76), Beatrix Alvarez finished sixth in the 3200 (12:57.27),and Bell-Washington earned sixth in the 100 hurdles (16.99).

In the field events, Josie Winters finished fifth in high jump (1.47 meters) and Lacy Hefter took sixth in triple jump (9.52 meters).

The Iron will head to O’Fallon on Thursday at 2 p.m., looking to repeat as Sectional champions after capturing the program’s first title last season.