Between Guilford and Hononegah, Rockford area home to some of Illinois' best high jumpers

The girls NIC-10 track and field meet is quickly approaching, which means the postseason is almost here, and it's time for the stars to really shine.

This year, there could be a large cluster of stars coming right out of the high jump pit, several wearing Guilford Vikings' uniforms, and one in Hononegah gear.

"With the girls we have right here, and then you throw in Hononegah's (Jordan) Dimke, this is going to be a very exciting postseason in the high jump — that's a given," Guilford track and field head coach Greg Ford said. "It feels like we just got done with indoor (track and field), and then it's 'Bang, bang, bang,' and conference, sectionals and state is here.

"These girls will be ready, though."

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Last year during the outdoor season, Guilford's Zariah Burnett placed fourth in the state in the Class 3A high jump competition as a freshman, while Dimke finished right behind her in fifth. Burnett's Guilford teammate Bianca Colon also advanced to state last spring, and then to the state finals, but the junior no-heighted on the final day and basically finished in a tie for 12th.

"Oh man did that make me hungry for this year," said Colon, now a senior. "We're all hungry to see what we can do."

Guilford came in loaded

This year Burnett and Colon have been joined by senior Anna Jones and freshman London Webster as Guilford standouts in the high jump. And they quickly soared up the ladder during the indoor season.

Inside earlier this winter/spring, Burnett had her best clearance ever of 5-foot-9; Dimke was No. 2 in the state at 5-7; Colon had the 10th best make indoors in Illinois at 5-5; Jones was right there, in 14th at 5-4 1/4; and Webster's make at 5-foot even had her in the top 25 in the state during the indoor season as well.

"It feels good to help motivate my teammates, and have them wanting to catch up to me like that," said Burnett, who cleared a school-record 5-5 in the first meet after she started high jumping her freshman year. "I like this; I want to keep doing it. I just like jumping.

"And my goal is to win state."

To cap off the indoor season, Burnett claimed the Illinois Top Times Indoor State Championships state title in the high jump, soaring over the bar set at 5-7. Dimke came in second with a make at 5-5 3/4, then Colon, who won the indoor high jump state title last year, took sixth with a clearance of 5-3 1/4, and Guilford's Anna Jones took 14th with a make at 4-11.

Decision time is coming

Quite often, an entire conference won't have four girls that can clear 5-foot-plus in the high jump. This year, even before the outdoor season kicked in, Guilford had four.

"We're all just able to push each other being on the same team, and we just make each other better," Jones said. "Friendly competition is always good, especially within the same team."

Things have only changed slightly since they've gone outside. Burnett's best is still that 5-9 make from the indoor season, and she recently sat out a couple of weeks to nurse a slightly strained hamstring. But she just cleared 5-7 on Thursday, which bumped her right up to No. 1 in 3A for the outdoor high jump rankings.

Colon just cleared 5-6 last week, which is her best, and puts her tied for fourth in 3A. Jones has a PR of 5-4 1/4, which equals Burnett's state-final clearance from last year. And the freshman Webster, now with two 5-foot makes in competition, is soaking it all in.

"I'm kind of new to it, and I didn't really know what I was doing when I cleared 5-foot," Webster said with a chuckle. "But having other girls around me that are so good at it has really helped me, especially since then. It pushes me. I mean, how can it not."

But each team can only put two girls in each event in the postseason, which will leave a couple of Guilford jumpers out. Jones is also a long and triple jumper and is solid in both hurdles, so she will be busy elsewhere. Webster is also working on some other events in case she doesn't make the high jump cut on her team.

Dimke always pushing

Hononegah's Dimke, a sophomore like Burnett, had the best clearance for anybody in the state throughout the entire outdoor season — until Thursday night. Her 5-7 came back in March, and it showed that she's ready for the best Illinois has to offer.

"Jordan just loves the competition; she feeds off it," Hononegah's head coach Ashley Kentner said of Dimke, who is also a standout hurdler. "And it's truly amazing what these four or five jumpers from right here have been able to do so far. It's very impressive.

"But — and they know this — they all have to find a way to finish strong."

Dimke cleared 4-11 all the way back in middle school, and she placed second at middle school state. Then last year, she showed she already belonged in the conversation of the best at the high school level.

We shall find out over the next month just how ready she is to take over at this point in her career.

It's postseason time

The NIC-10 meet is coming up quickly on Thursday at Swanson Stadium at Guilford, right where the Guilford girls practice. Field events will begin at 4 p.m. and running events will kick in at 5 p.m. The Big Northern Conference girls meet will also start at 4 p.m. Thursday and will be held at Rock Falls.

Sectionals will be held across the state the following week. The top two finishers in each event at sectionals (and those that eclipse the state standards) will advance to the IHSA girls state track and field meet in Charleston on May 16-18.

The Rockford-area 2A teams (Boylan, Durand/Pecatonica and North Boone) will take part in the Mundelein Carmel Sectional on May 8; this region's 3A teams will also participate on May 8 at the Huntley Sectional; and the local 1A teams will participate in the Oregon Sectional on May 10.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA track and field: 5 Rockford-area high jumpers among Illinois best