Find out who from Rockford area won indoor state titles, or stepped up at indoor finale

The indoor track and field season came to a close with Friday and Saturday's Illinois Top Times Indoor State Championships in Bloomington, where Winnebago (Class 1A), Rochelle (2A) and Guilford (3A) led the way with the top highlights.

Guilford's girls stepped up their game — which may be something to get used to this season — especially in the Class 3A high jump, led by sophomore Zariah Burnett. She claimed the indoor state title, soaring over the bar set at 5-foot-7, which was her conference record clearance last year. Hononegah sophomore Jordan Dimke came in second with a make at 5-5 3/4. Then, Burnett's teammate Bianca 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.

It even carried over to the boys' side, where Guilford's Jaidyn Nguyen cleared 6-2 3/4 in the high jump to take 10th place in 3A.

"Not only do we have some very good jumpers," Guilford head coach Greg Ford said. "But we have a very complete team. This is going to be a fun season."

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Here are some of the highlights from the indoor season finale. The 1A athletes competed in Bloomington at the Illinois Wesleyan University campus on Friday, while the 2A and 3A qualifiers competed on Saturday.

Class 3A

Guilford didn't just shine in the high jump arena, although to have three in the top 14 at state in anything is exceptional. Jones also placed 11th in the triple jump with a flight of 34-04, and Guilford's Natassja Bowman took 12th in the shot put at the 3A level with a put of 32-10 1/4.

Guilford's 4x200 relay crew took 12th in 1:34.36, and Messiah Tilson, who was key to that sprint-relay finish, also placed 11th in the 200 dash with a time of 23.0.

"With our jumpers and our depth, we feel like we are the team to beat in the NIC-10 this year," Ford said. "And it's already been a lot of fun. I've got a feeling there's a lot more where that came from."

Also from the NIC-10 boys' side, Auburn's Mynes Murray took third in the long jump with a flight of 22-feet-5 3/4, and East sprinter Mekhi Docket-Lewis took seventh in the 60 dash at the 3A level with a 7.07, and he helped East's 4x200 relay crew place 10th at 1:34.11.

Belvidere North's Jesse Kramer anchored the 4x800 crew that took third in 3A with a time of 8:06.0, and he placed 13th in the 1,600 run with a 4:38.88.

Class 2A

Rochelle sophomore Andrew Nuyen soared over the bar set at 14-11 1/3 to win the indoor pole vaulting state title at the 2A level. He's also less than an inch away from tying the school record, which has stood for 41 years.

Byron's Neve Schilling came in ninth in the high jump for the boys with a clearance of 4-11, and Boylan's Rasheed Johnson wrapped up the top locals in 2A with a 14th-place finish in the 200 dash with a time of 23.85.

For the girls, Boylan's Reese Kohnle  took fourth in the 1,600 run with a time of 5:10.33. Freeport shot putter Elizabeth Wuebbels took 10th at 34-5 1/2, and Pretzel freshman Ta'Leiah McElroy took 14th in the 200 with a time of 26.87 and was one spot away from qualifying for the finals in the 60 dash with a ninth-place time of 7.91 in the prelims. Her twin sister Ta'niah McElroy also just missed qualifying for the finals in the 60 dash with a 21st-place time of 8.18.

Class 1A

Winnebago's Supreme Muhammad placed second in the 200 dash in 22.45 and also got sixth in the 60 dash in 7.11. The team player also helped spark Winnebago's 4x200 relay crew to a second in 1:32.93. That crew consisted of Muhammad, as well as Brandon Wiggan, Mitchel Cunningham and Eden Trotter-Krahn. Wiggan also took third in the triple jump at 36-8.

Winnebago sophomore Myles Smith placed ninth in the long jump at 20-8 and 14th in the high jump with a make at 5-8.

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Oregon's senior pole vaulter Leo Cardenas had a make at 14-1 3/4 to place third overall, while his teammate Evyn Carreno placed 10th in the shot put at 37-8. Dakota's Tristen Alexander took fourth in the long jump with a flight of 21-2.

Rockford Christian's Andrew Kurien also placed fourth in the 800 run in 2:03.15 while his teammate Weston Forward placed fourth in the 3,200 run at 9:47.18 and got 10th in the 1,600 in 4:40.25. The Royal Lions' 4x400 relay team of Kurien, Forward, Nate Thomas and Evan White took third in 3:37.56, and their 4x800 team of Kurien, Evan White and Joel White and Blake Lindberg also got third in 8:27.26. Winnebago took seventh in that event in 8:36.57.

Winnebago's girls 4x200 relay placed fifth in 1:52.18, while Imani Jones placed eighth in the long jump (16-6) and Justice Muhammad took ninth (16-4). They were both on that 800 relay team as well.

The outdoor season kicks off in earnest next week when Auburn, Belvidere and Jefferson travel to Guilford on Tuesday, and when Oregon hosts the Gebhardt Worley Invitational on April 6.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Find out who did well at the indoor state meet, and what's coming