Barrington's Tracy storms to 1,600 title
CHARLESTON - Barrington's Rebecca Tracy will have to wait a few months before shaking down the thunder at Notre Dame.
On Saturday at the IHSA Class 3A girls state track meet, the Notre Dame-bound senior was too busy waking up the echoes for the Fillies en route to victory in a breathtaking 1,600 final.
On an overcast but warm day, Palatine shook down a bit of its own thunder by tying Waubonsie Valley for second with 41 points. Belleville West won the state team title with 53 points.
Tracy outkicked Benet's McKinzie Schulz, who earlier had won the 800, to secure the victory in 4:49.35 - just missing the state record of 4:49.34 set by Crete-Monee's Shelly McBride in 1985.
"It hasn't really set in yet," said Tracy of her first individual state title. "I knew she (Schulz) was a kicker, but I knew I better outkick her today."
The Fillies senior was in an epic battle with Schulz, St. Charles East's Lizzy Hynes and Warren's Heather Olson from the start.
Both Tracy and Olson set the early pace, but Hynes took the lead midway through the race. Schulz took over in the final lap, with Tracy sitting in third.
The Barrington senior edged her way to second with 200 meters remaining, pulled even down the home stretch and overtook Schulz with less than 20 meters remaining.
"I was surprised," said Schulz of Tracy's late surge. "I tried to go but had nothing left."
Tracy became the first Fillie to win a state title in the 1,600 since Amy Marts brought home the gold in 1992.
"You don't coach what Rebecca has," said Barrington distance coach Deb Revolta. "She just does whatever she needs to do. She's just a coach's dream."
Junior Jorie Frey added to the Fillies' celebration by taking fourth in the 400 (56.55).
"I really felt like I gave everything I had," said Frey, who ran in the first lane. "I like it. I knew where I was and knew I had to push it."
The Fillies' Anna Etherington added a seventh-place medal in the pole vault (11-0).
Schaumburg's Karen Lesiewicz ran a strong two laps in taking second in the 800 (2:13.75).
Last year as a sophomore, she finished 10th. After the Saxons' 3,200 relay was disqualified in Friday's preliminaries, Lesiewicz had something to prove.
"Better than last year, I wanted to prove that I could run down here," Lesiewicz said. "It was a perfect race for me. I wanted to get out strong and bring it home."
Saxons sophomore Britten Petrey brought home a sixth-place medal in the 1,600 (5:01.66).
Fremd senior Jamie Notaro capped a brilliant career by taking sixth in the long jump. Notaro hit 17-9 on Friday, breaking the previous Vikings record held by coach Hallie Henderson (17-7.75) - and Notaro's mark held up on Saturday.
"I just went out and jumped," Notaro said. "I was hoping to break Hallie's record."
The Vikings' Bizzy Mellado cleared 11-6 to take third in the pole vault. The senior savored a perfect day with no misses before the height was raised.
"A great way to end it," Mellado said. "I was very consistent this year."
Hoffman's Precious Ogunleye took seventh in the shot put (40-09.25), and the Hawks' Sharron Jones, Jada Stotts, Katie D'Amico and Emily D'Amico took ninth in the 400 relay (49.23).
Hoffman's Melissa Schmidt just missed medaling, finishing 11th in the 3,200 (11:7.36).
Prospect's Emily Gruendel hit 40-3.5 on her first attempt in Saturday's finals and secured an eighth-place medal, Samantha Sturm took 10th place (39-08.25).
"It's my first and last medal," Gruendel said. "All in all, it was a great finish."
The Knights' 3,200 relay had its share of misfortunes this year with injuries, but Savannah Snead, Kasey Krum, Amy Abdnor, and Emily Salzman put it together on Saturday to finish seventh (9:19.82).
"It took awhile to get going," Salzman said. "But we gave it all we had and we did well."
Conant's Sarah Gorden rose up to the occasion by taking fifth in the 300 low hurdles with a season-best 44.46.
"Honestly I didn't think I'd get this far this year," said Gorden of her performance. "But I put it all together."
The Cougars' Kalli Dalton took 12th in the 1,600 (5:21.83).
Buffalo Grove's Olivia Jones capped a brilliant freshman season by taking ninth in the 3,200 (11:02.60). She was 10th in the 1,600 (5:07.36), just missing a medal.
Leyden's Jaime Johsnon started her career as a miler and 2-miler. But the Eagles senior found a home in the 800 this season, and finished by taking fifth place (2:15.57) in the finals.
"I knew it was going to come down to guts," Johnson said. "And I kicked it as hard as I could."
Rolling Meadows' Christina Gastfield just missed medaling, finishing 10th in the 3,200 (11:04.22).
Bloomington Central Catholic won the Class 1A title with 36 points, and Rock Island (49.50 points) nipped Springfield Southeast (48 points) for the Class 2A title.