In almost every event during the 1A Seneca Sectional on Thursday night, a Fighting Irish athlete was competing for the lead and producing points en route to another team championship while advancing multiple girls to state.

Unsurprisingly, leading the way was senior Lila Coleman.

Coleman qualified for state in four events, winning and breaking the school record in the 400-meter dash in 58.10 seconds and winning the long jump with a leap of 5.17 meters. The senior also advanced in the 200 with a second-place finish in 26.15 and added a fourth-place, state-qualifying effort in the 100 at 12.87.

“It felt amazing,” Coleman said about breaking the school record. “I’ve honestly been waiting to do that since my freshman year, so to finally accomplish it at sectionals and at home just makes it even more special.

“I’m really proud of myself for sticking with it and finally reaching that goal.”

Seneca coach Terry Maxwell emphasized how watching Coleman break the record was a full-circle moment for the Irish coaching staff.

“She’s been chasing that record for a while now,” Maxwell said. “Last meet she was really close to it, and to finally break it by nearly a half-second at her last home meet was just incredible to see. I’m just really happy for her, because I know that was a huge goal.”

Despite the senior’s record-breaking night, it was a team effort that led Seneca to its 14th straight sectional title with 129 team points.

The Irish also qualified their 4x400 relay team (Avery Aldridge, Emily Aldridge, Cora Chapman and Julie Mueller) and their 4x800 relay team (Tenley Yandell, Julie Mueller, Lily Mueller and Cora Chapman).

Individually, Lilly Pfeifer advanced in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.36 seconds, while sophomores Avery and Emily Aldridge both qualified in the pole vault, with Avery clearing 3.06 meters and Emily finishing at 2.86 meters.

While Seneca had a field day, their were two underclassmen from other schools who advanced to state in multiple events despite little experience on this stage.

Wilmington sophomore McKenna Van Tilburg turned in one of the meet’s top performances, qualifying in four individual events. The sophomore speedster won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.23, the 300 hurdles in 46.76, the 100 in 12.50 and the 200 in 25.72.

For Van Tilburg, turning in this type of performance and heading to down to Charleston is nothing new after qualifying in multiple events as a freshman.

“I was really excited coming into today, because my main goal was to qualify for state again and just come out here and compete at a high level,” she said. “I’m glad I was able to accomplish that.”

Despite being a sophomore, Van Tilburg said her mentality on meet days is to just keep things routine.

“Before races, I just try to stay focused on my routine and just keep my mindset simple,” she said. “I just want to go out there, run my race and not overthink things. I think if I try to worry too much about everything else, it doesn’t help much.”

While she’ll be running in multiple events at state, she said hurdles remain her favorite.

“I’m looking forward to competing in all my races at state, but especially the 100 hurdles,” she said. “I’m excited to get down there again and see what I can do.”

Despite a standout performance and the demeanor of a four-year varsity athlete, Dwight freshman Emma Eggenberger admitted there were some nerves before Thursday.

“I was definitely a bit nervous coming into today,” Eggenberger said. “There’s been a lot of practice and preparation leading up to this meet, and as a freshman I guess I didn’t really know exactly what to expect.”

Those butterflies didn’t seem to stand in the way of the freshman thrower, as she placed second in the shot put with a throw of 10.20 meters and second in the discus at 32.78 to qualify for state in both events.

“It wasn’t my best performance this year, but I’m still happy with how things turned out,” she said.

Dwight junior Mikayla Chambers won the 800 in 2:17.95 and qualified in the 1,600 with a runner-up finish in 5:25.98.

Dwight also advanced three relay teams to state.

The Trojans’ 4x400 relay team (June Woods, Delaney Boucher, Isabella Kelleher, Chambers) won the sectional title in 4:16.38. Dwight also qualified in the 4x100 relay (Kelleher, Woods, Boucher, Chloe Leithliter) and the 4x200 relay (Woods, Boucher, Kelleher, Leithliter).

Reed-Custer qualified multiple athletes, as Isabella Dixon placed second in the 400 in 59.92, and Alyssa Wollenzien advanced in both the 100 hurdles and high jump. Wollenzien won the sectional high jump title by clearing 1.57 meters.

Beecher‘s Rachel Imig qualified in the 1,600 with a fourth-place finish in 5:31.15 and also helped the Bobcats’ 4x800 relay team (Imig, Raina McKay, Maeve McDermott and Madison Smith) lead the sectional in 10:17.37.

Somonauk/Leland also produced multiple state qualifiers. Alexis Punsalan won the pole vault at 3.59 meters, while Ella Roberts qualified in both the 100 meters and long jump. Somonauk additionally advanced its 4x100 relay team (Mia Bennett, Abigail Hohmann, Alexa Larson, Roberts).

Peotone’s Celeste Richards qualified in the 800 with a second place finish in 2:28.67.

Marquette’s Madisyn Trainor advanced in the 100 after finishing third in 12.80.

Westmont’s Aelyn Anderson qualified in the 3,200 with a third-place finish in 12:05.52, while teammate Sophia Daskalov advanced in the high jump after clearing 1.57 meters.

The final team standings saw Seneca (129 team points) edge runner-up Lisle (115.5), with Palos Heights (83) third and Dwight (67) fourth.