CHARLESTON — Homewood-Flossmoor’s Mariyah Robinson isn’t going to get a big head over her bevy of accomplishments from Saturday.
The junior sprinter won the 200-meter dash in 55.29 seconds and the 400 in 54.17, finished second in the 100 with an 11.56, joined three sophomores in setting a state record in the 400 relay with a 45.55 and helped the Vikings win their first Class 3A state title since 2019.
Heady stuff for the Simeon transfer, who just took up running in high school. And with Division I schools showing interest, it’s a lot to take in. But Robinson plans on keeping her perspective.
“I run summer track and you are exposed to everyone around the world who does track,” Robinson said. “People from Texas and Florida. All of those kids are amazing.
“You only think that you are the fastest one where you are. But nationwide, there are people who are much faster than you.”
Still, she had fun at Eastern Illinois’ O’Brien Stadium.
“Look at all of these people,” she said, gesturing to the fans in the stands and the athletes on the field. “They came here and their teams made it. There’s a lot of support out here. It’s a big meet.”
It also was a big meet for the Vikings, who won with 56 points. Prospect took second with 42.
The area touted three other individual champions as well, with all three winning the first state titles in history of their respective girls track programs.
In Class 3A, Lockport had never had an individual or team win a state championship until Coastal Carolina recruit Mckena Miglorini, a senior, won in the pole vault with a 12-7.5.
In 2A, Southland Prep’s Kendall Gray won the 300 hurdles in 44.29 and Agriculture Science’s Taya Rice won the triple jump with a 39-4.75.
Southland Prep tied for third place for the first state trophy in program history. Gray, who also finished second in the 100 hurdles, wore her graduation gown on the medal stand.
Her school had graduation ceremonies in Chicago while she was competing.
“It’s cool — I feel accomplished,” Gray said. “I didn’t like missing graduation but I’m here. State champion.”
Robinson and H-F, meanwhile, started things off right on both days of the state meet with record-breaking performances in the 400 relay.
London Willingham, Robinson, London Jarrett and Aniyah Mullins ran a 45.91 in the preliminaries to break the previous mark of 46.04 set by Lincoln-Way East in 2014. In the finals, they broke the record again with a 45.55.
Not bad for a group that wasn’t happy with handoff exchanges on the first day and a misstep on the second day.
“I think I took off a step behind,” said Mullins, the anchor of the team. “I was a little late. I got a little nervous. I made a little mistake there, but we still did our job and we are state champions.”
Willingham, the lead runner, helped set the table for those record-breaking runs.
“We were under pressure the first day and we were a little shaky with our handoff on the first day,” Willingham said. “But we did better (in the finals).”
Robinson and the other three, who are sophomores, want to go under 45 seconds next spring.
She was confident the team was going to set the record for the second time in two days.
“We woke up feeling like we were going to do it again,” Robinson said. “I appreciate my teammates a lot. Being underclassmen, it’s not easy to perform like this, but we were prepared.
“We worked during the summer and we had seen it all. We compete well under pressure, and they are like my little sisters.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
