Numerous state records were shattered Friday and Saturday in the 40th annual Illinois High School Association Girls State Track and Field meet at Eastern.

In all, three records fell in the preliminaries and 11 in the finals. Shamier Little, a junior at Lindblom High School, gave a preview of her abilities in the preliminaries, busting records in the 2A 100- and 300-meter hurdles.

Little continued to lead the way with her record-breaking streak in the finals on Saturday, placing first and breaking her own records in all but one event she participated in.

Little broke her record of 14.16 in the 2A 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.02, as well as her record of 43.06 in the 2A 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.80.

She then went on to beat the 2009 record of 54.85 in the 2A 400-meter dash with 54.19.

“I was really, really surprised,” Little said about her record-breaking streak. She said her training pushes her to get what she desires.

“I go after what I want, and the training helps me go after what I want,” she said.

The only event Little did not place first or break a record in was the 2A 200-meter dash. Little was overtaken by Charday Crawford, of Southeast High School in Springfield, who crossed the finish just 0.34 ahead of Little with a time of 24.14, 0.06 short of the 2010 record.

Crawford, a junior, also set a new record in the 2A 100-meter dash, besting the 2010 record of 11.76 with a time of 11.48.

Crawford, along with teammates junior Yakira Washington, sophomore Shirley Jones and senior Shawnise Stelivan, came out on top in the 2A 4×100-meter relay with another record-breaking time of 47.53, beating the 2009 record of 47.86 set by Rock Island High School.

Southeast High School also earned top honors in the 2A triple jump, Portis jumping 39-02.5, and coming in first in the 2A 4×200-meter relay with a time of 1:40.38, just 0.10 shy of the record their school set in 2010.

Tom McBride, Southeast High School coach, said his team was not surprised they did so well.

“We always thought we could win the 4×100 and the 4×200, and you know Crawford always has a shot in the 100 and 200 (meter dashes) because she is a talented girl,” he said.

In the 3A 4×800-meter relay, Wheaton Warrenville South High School and Glenbard West High School battled to a hair-thin finish, Wheaton Warrenville South High School pulling ahead with 8:59.03 ahead of Glendbard West High School’s 9:00.72.

Both times shattered the 9:04.14 record set in 2008 by Barrington High School.

Also, Emmonnie Henderson, a junior at Edwardsville High School, bested her opponents by more than 20 feet, throwing 157-11 and setting a new state record while also coming in short of the 161-1 record she set in the preliminaries.

The IHSA Boys State Track and Field Finals will be May 24-26 at Eastern.

Tim Deters can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].