Girls All - Time Lists: 2011 Summary

Note: Only performances at the WIAA State Meet are considered for 'State Records.'

To submit a performance: The coach of the athlete or the present coach at a school must be the person to submit the perfomance for that athlete to the Top 50 list.

The 2011 WIAA State Championships resulted in an unprecedented rewrite of the all-time state Top 50 lists. Four all-time records were set at the state meet, the first time this has happened in the past 20 years. As the girls have only been competing at the state meet since 1971, it surely happened numerous times in the early years, but this appears to be the most significant assault on both the best-ever marks and the Top 50 list in general since a good base of data was developed.

Senior Dezerea Bryant of Bradley Tech led this year's athletes in their historic state meet performances. She set a new standard in the 200 meter dash, running a blistering 23.01 in the finals on Saturday. This topped her own mark of 23.19 set the prior week in sectionals, which topped the 23.37 she had established at last year's state meet. In addition, she ran the third-fastest-ever 100 meter dash in the finals of this year's meet with her 11.38 clocking. She already owned the top spot on that list, with an 11.29 she ran in a USATF meet last summer. Finally, she teamed with junior Elexis Fuller-Stewart, senior Tahje Whittley, and senior Angelina Howard to destroy the prior top 4x100 effort, with the four of them clocking a 46.02 in the finals at La Crosse on June 4th. Prior to this year's state meet, the all-time record stood at 46.94, set by Bradley Tech in 2008.

Fuller-Stewart also posted the top-ever 100-meter High Hurdles time with her 13.89 effort in the finals. Marissa Savitch held the prior record, posting a 14.04 last summer in a USATF event.

The final all-time best was set by senior Allie Woodward of Green Bay Notre Dame. Allie ran an amazing 10:11.48 in the Division 2 3200 meter finals on Saturday, June 3rd, topping the 10:12.34 set 26 years ago by Lori Wolter of Sun Prairie. Her mark this year is even more impressive when one considers the high temperature (mid to high 80s) and moderate humidity in which it was run.

Other top-five efforts at this year's state meet included only the second sub-fourteen second 100-meter High Hurdles race ever run by a Wisconsin girl. Senior Marissa Savitch of Homestead capped a stellar high-school career by posting her 13.98 second time - the second-best ever (obviously!) - .09 seconds after the first-ever sub-fourteen was run when Fuller-Stewart crossed the finish line in the finals.

Neenah's 4x800 meter relay team, consisting of freshmen sisters Jennifer and Jessica Parker, and sophomores Alison Parker and Claire Knaus, ran the third-fastest time ever with their 9:08.64 clocking on Saturday at the state meet. Given the age of the four runners, it would appear that Neenah might have a shot at topping the all-time best mark of 9:03.38 set in 1994 by Marinette, the very first year the event was run. This mark appeared to be untouchable for years, but it would seem that Neenah has a chance if they continue to showcase their top 800-meter runners in the 4x800.

Continuing an amazing few years in the sprint relays, Sussex Hamilton's 4x200 squad posted the fourth-best time ever run with the 1:40.63 they ran in Saturday's finals. Runners on this team included juniors Ashley Holicek, Ellen Buckley, and Jess Rupnow, and senior Brooke Patterson. With three of these four returning next year, Hamilton seems well-positioned to continue their impressive relay performances in 2012.

Freshman Kennedy Blahnik of Algoma posted the fourth-best mark ever in the Shot Put, with her 47' .25" effort. It is quite unusual for a freshman to be so accomplished in the weight events - Kennedy also posted the eighth-best discus throw ever earlier in the year - and would suggest that a continuing rewrite of the top marks in the shot and discus could well occur over the next few years!

The final top-five ever mark achieved this year was posted by Elexis Fuller-Stewart of Bradley Tech with her 24.08-second mark in the 200-meter finals. Coupled with the other historic performances by Elexis already mentioned above, she truly had a remarkable 2011 state meet. As mentioned above, Elexis was a junior this year, so she will be back for more in 2012!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a couple of other top-five efforts posted earlier in the year - both in the Pole Vault. Sophomore Alex Flucke of Ashwaubenon posted the second-best height ever in the Bay Port sectionals with her vault of 12' 7. She'll have two more years to chase the 13' top mark set in 2005 by Jenny Soceka of Madison Memorial. Junior Cami Gilson of Hartland Arrowhead will join Alex in the chase - she tied the fifth-best PV effort ever when she cleared 12' 3 at the Menomonee Falls regional.

I'd also like to acknowledge what surely has to go down as the best-ever class of sprinters - this year's seniors. Here are some of the accomplishments in individual events achieved by that group:

Dezerea Bryant, Bradley Tech: Best all-time 100 and 200-meter dash times; two-time D1 state champion and existing state record holder in both events;

Chidera Obasih, Brookfield Central: Third best all-time marks in the 100, 200, and 400-meter dashes and the long jump. Won at least one State championship in all four events, repeating in the 400 this year (an event in which she is the current state record holder). The 34 points she scored in individual events at the 2010 state meet established an all-time Division 1 Girls' record for points in individual events at one state meet. This effort was even more impressive when one considers that she posted it in a year where she faced the best-ever in the 100 and 200 (Dezerea) and the second-best ever in the 400 (Tahje Whittley). Tahje Whittley, Bradley Tech: Second-best all-time in the 400-meter dash, fourth-best ever in the 100, seventh-best ever in the 200.

While there are certainly other graduating senior sprinters worthy of mention, these three were certainly the cream of the crop. While it is difficult to compare different eras, I would assert that these three were among the top four sprinters in state history (with Tasha Allen of Milwaukee North - against whom all of the young women above ran - being the other), with Dezerea being a slam-dunk as the best ever. I think it will be quite some time before another class like this year's is assembled.

Two other seniors also need to be mentioned here. Already holding a position on the Top-50 list in the 3200, Green Bay Notre Dame's Allie Woodward improved her time in that event by a mind-boggling 44 seconds to claim the top spot. Marissa Savitch of Homestead came into the year as the all-time record holder in the 100 high hurdles. She improved on her mark by .16 seconds in the finals against Fuller-Stewart, but was edged out by Fuller-Stewart as both hurdlers broke the All-Time record.

All in all, an amazing year in Wisconsin high school girls' track and field. I apologize if I've missed any names/teams people were hoping to see - there are so many deserving athletes that it's difficult to include them all!