Barry, Grothaus qualify for state track final round

Published 11:25 pm Friday, May 22, 2026

CHARLESTON, Ill. — Unity senior Saylor Barry only needed one jump to make sure she had a chance to defend her back-to-back state titles in the IHSA Class 1A long jump. Barry and the rest of the field got their opening round jumps in on Thursday at Eastern Illinois University and the atmosphere was tense.
A lot of girls were scratching their early jumps and just hoping to hang on. Barry made sure her first one was good as she ripped off a leap of 5.64 meters (18’ 6”).
“It felt really good to get a good jump at the start,” said Barry. “It takes away the stress of jumping and then I can jump free from there.”
Barry and the other 11 girls that qualified for the finals will get three more jumps on Saturday. Prelim distances carry over and Barry has a good lead, but she’s not holding back.
“I am trying to reach 19 feet this year and I am going for it,” said Barry.
Beardstown’s Diana Huerta had a rough showing in the long jump competition as she scratched her first two attempts and then jumped 3.77 meters on her final attempt, well below her normal standards. But the senior bounced back in the triple jump and jumped 11.02 meters (36’ 2”) to take the lead leading into the finals.
West Hancock’s Grace Grothaus is not far behind as the junior jumped 10.84 meters to put herself in second place. The jump came on her second attempt after she scratched her first attempt, but that didn’t deter her.
“I was pretty upset after the first jump but I knew I needed to shake it off and get out there on my second jump,” said Grothaus. “I felt relieved after getting a good second jump and am excited to come back Saturday.”
The Central Lady Panthers day at state on Thursday started on a sour note. The 4×100-meter relay team was disqualified because of a false start. Then, Adi Foss finished 21st in the 100 after loftier expectations for the event.
But the quartet of Foss, Agnes Genenbacher, Vadah Wiskirchen and Faith Alford were able to bounce back strong in the 4X200.
“Our day didn’t start the way we wanted it to,” said Central head coach Brad Dixon. “But I’m very proud of the girls pulling it together and making the finals.”
The time of 1:46.31 gave the team an eighth place finish and got them in the finals for Saturday.
Macomb saw two athletes advance to the finals of the IHSA Class 2 State Championships.
Macomb’s Dakota Thorman threw the discus 36.97 meters (121’ 3”) to put herself in sixth place going into Saturday’s finals. Thorman got that distance on her last throw of the prelims. The throw only moved her from seventh to sixth, but since distances carry over to the finals, it could mean the difference in a long run.
Bombers teammate Aubrey Holthaus cleared 1.55 meters (5’ 1”) to punch her ticket to the finals as well. Holthaus was clean on both her attempts at 1.5 and 1.55. That was all she needed in order to move on.
Quincy’s Peyton Kuhl ran a time of 2:16.85 in the Class 3A 800-meter run and finished in 25th place.
“I feel a little disappointed,” said Kuhl. “I’m taking it as a learning experience.”
Marlee Thomas finished in 15th place in the Class 3 shot put on Friday. The Quincy High junior was only about 4 inches off of qualifying for the finals on Saturday. Both girls are underclassmen, so we can count on them taking another crack at the podiums next year.