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Wagner wins discus, sets state record

Grant's Bailey Wagner won the discus and finished second in the shot put during Saturday's finals at the girls track state meet in Charleston. Rick West | Staff Photographer

CHARLESTON -- Last year Grant's Bailey Wagner finished first in the shot put and second in the discus at the Class AA state meet.

The Georgia Tech-bound senior switched it up at O'Brien Stadium at this year's Class AA meet.

Wagner hit 157-feet-8 in the discus on Friday, setting a state record. That proved to be the winning mark.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, she took second in the shot put (48-11½).

"I came out and did what I do best," Wagner said. "I had my goals. Today I didn't break the 157 mark but I had a good series."

Teammate Tori Ziegler took fourth in both the shot put (44-9¾) and discus (144-4).

East St. Louis won the Class AA title with 65 points, as senior Ronecia Nash won the 100-meter dash (11.88), 100 hurdles (14.16) and 200 (23.86). She was also a member of the winning 400 relay that clocked a state-record 46.23 on a sunny Saturday at Eastern Illinois University.

Defending state champion Barrington took second with 38 points, with Conant and Batavia tying for third with 34 points.

Behind Wagner and Ziegler, Grant took fifth with 30 points.

Wagner broke the state record in the shot put Friday, but the mark was broken 10 minutes later by eventual champion Danielle Bunch of Mahomet-Seymour. Bunch set the state record again Saturday with her second throw, which proved to be the winner at 49-4¾.

"Anytime you break two state records in the same day, that's a pretty good day," Grant coach Jim Cramer said of Wagner. "I don't think it can get too much better than that. She finished off her high school career real well."

Wagner went for broke in the her final effort in trying to successfully defend her shot put title, but she scratched on her final two throws.

"It's kind of surreal that it's over but it has been a fun ride," Wagner said.

Ziegler also ended her senior season with a bang, hitting her best mark of the meet on her final throw in the shot put.

"We worked on a lot of technique this morning before the shot put," said Ziegler, who's signed with Illinois State. "I definitely improved from last year."

Warren's Heather Olson picked up her third state medal with a fourth-place finish in the 1,600 (4:57.31). The junior made her move with 300 meters remaining and was challenging Bloomington's Ashley Verplank for the lead in the final 100 meters before running out of gas at the finish.

"I kept getting closer," Olson said of her final surge. "I was coming at her but she turned it up a notch in the final stretch, then I just tried to hold on."

Lakes junior Ariel Butzine ran a personal best in taking eighth in the 800 (2:15.28).

"It was a fast field but I had no other choice but to go out with them," said Butzine, who made her first finals appearance. "I had to get out fast and I used the girls beside me to go off their pace."

Lake Zurich's Olivia Allen was hampered for most of the season with a left quad injury, but the junior showed her potential Saturday by securing an eighth-place medal in the 200 (25.30).

"Everybody else had the rest of the season to train and I was out," Allen said. "But I think I still had a good season and I'm already thinking about next year."

Libertyville took 11th in the 3,200 relay (9:40.96) with Lisa Branding, Alyssa Corrigan, Sarah Farish and Anne Strychalski.

In the 3,200 run, Stevenson's Kim Tarnoff and Vernon Hills' Danielle Dickman placed 16th and 17th, respectively.

Libertyville's Hannah Reilly (35th), Antioch's Erin Poss (38th) and Lakes' Rachel Dean (43rd) also ran the 3,200.

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