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Girls track: DuPage County athletes clear first hurdle

CHARLESTON - Claire Hamilton and Katelynne Hart certainly headlined the field Friday on preliminary day at the Class 3A girls track and field state finals.

Hamilton, the Indiana-bound Naperville North senior, and Hart, the freshman wonder seeking the distance Triple Crown, captured their respective heats of the 1,600-meter run with times of 4 minutes, 57.59 seconds and 4:53.79.

Every runner in the final field of 12 broke 5:01.

"I don't see it that way," Naperville North coach Dan Iverson said of the focal point being on the two heat winners. "There are 12 people in the race."

Hamilton had a sizable lead but was forced to rally over the last 150 meters to win the heat.

"I just wanted to go out how I have been going out," Hamilton said of her 15-plus-meter lead at the mid-mark. "I just decided to kick it over the last 100 (meters) or so. The mile was overall pretty easy (physically)."

Hart, the reigning cross country state champion, added the top-seed time to an almost unfathomable 21-plus-second advantage entering the 3,200 run on Saturday.

The ninth-grade sensation also catapulted the Hilltoppers' 3,200 relay to first in 9:21.54.

Hart will compete in all three events Saturday.

"As far as I know, we will be," Hart said of her event sequence. "I have done it before. Today was a day to get done what needs to get done."

The Hilltoppers' Lindsay Payne, the defending state champion at 3,200 meters, will be in both of the two longest races Saturday.

"I am very blessed to be a part of it," Payne said.

Naperville North junior stalwart Sarah Schmitt, who helped the Huskies' 3,200 relay advance, will be yet another force in the 3,200.

"All we can do is run the best race possible," Schmitt said.

Naperville North sophomore standout Halle Bieber is primed for a potential state championship in the 300 hurdles after leading the Huskies' 800 relay to another title moments earlier.

"I wasn't too concerned about the time," Bieber said of her hurdles-leading clocking of 45.22. "We tried to go fast around the curves (in the relay)."

"I have never done it," Iverson said of coaching a sprint-relay state preliminary championship.

Lauren Kroll continues to make history at Addison Trail.

The Loyola-bound senior became the first all-state sprinter in program history last year by placing at both 100 and 200 meters.

Kroll blazed to victory in her 100 heat at O'Brien Field at Eastern Illinois University in 11.97 and set another personal mark in qualifying for the 200 in 24.83.

"I was scared so about the blocks," Kroll said of her blistering start in the 100. "I struggled with them last year. I haven't had a time like that (in the 200) in a quite a while. Last year in the finals was the last time."

Downers Grove North senior Emma Moravec will seek a third consecutive all-state bid at 800 meters.

The Marquette-bound Moravec was the top seed entering the competition, only to settle for runner-up.

"I don't think the second lap worked out like I wanted it to," said Moravec, who also made the finals cut in the 1,600 relay.

In Class 2A Karyn Best also has her eyes on permanent athletic glory at Wheaton Academy.

The Warriors have never had an athlete finish better than third at the state meet, but Best posted the fastest prelim time in the 300 hurdles at 44.54.

Best also qualified in the 100 hurdles for Wheaton Academy.

Former relay state champion Jenna Weidacher will conclude her Montini senior season in the finals at her specialty distance, the 800.

Images: Friday at the State Final Meet in Girls Track & Field

  Naperville North's Claire Hamilton takes a big lead in the Class 3A 1600-Meter Run at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Glenbard West freshman Katelynne Hart win her heat of the Class 3A 1600-Meter Run at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Neuqua Valley's Lizzy McCadd crosses the line in second place as the anchor leg of the Class 3A 4x400-Meter Relay at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Glenbard West's Janie Nabholz finishes the Class 3A 800-Meter Run at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Addison Trail's Lauren Kroll reacts to winning her heat of the Class 3A 100-Meter Dash at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Downers Grove South's Soren Umali is helped to the trainers room after falling in the Class 3A 100-Meter Hurdlesat the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Glenbard North's Lauren Mahoney and Fremd's Cara Ogilvy cross the finish line in the Class 3A 4x100-Meter Relay at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Waubonsie Valley's Brooklyne Wilson winds up in the Class 3A Shot Put at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Metea Valley's Courtney Morgan throws the Shot Put in Class 3A at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Naperville Central's Rose Fritz checks the bar in the Class 3A Pole Vault at the prelims of the state girls track and field meet Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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