Batavia's Warner overcomes bad luck for happy ending

CHARLESTON - More than a week removed from her stunning victory in the Class 3A 300-meter hurdles, Kathryn Warner epitomized the fragile nature of track and field.

As a junior, the East Carolina-bound hurdler, sprinter and pole vault specialist was part of a dynamic Batavia outfit that was the consensus top-ranked team in the state. But the Bulldogs' state aspirations were derailed by a series of crippling late-season injuries to irreplaceable members.

"It was devastating," said Warner, who was lost with a hip injury. "It took a while (to get over the disappointment of not being able to compete at state)."

Warner, operating with a torn labrum this outdoor season, became the second Batavia athlete - Natalie Tarter in the 2008 Class AA state finals was the other - in the last three years to claim the large-school 300 hurdles title.

"(I was) following in her footsteps," Warner said of her close friend Tarter, currently at Wisconsin. "Kane County, the Tri Cities, the Western Sun Conference: This is one of the strongest areas in girls track in the state. If you can do well in this area, you are going to do well at state."

Warner claimed the last of five local state championships; IMSA junior Amber Farrell won both hurdles events in Class 2A, with West Aurora senior Shanice Andrews taking the 100 hurdles in Class 3A. Allie Pace, whom Warner expected to battle coming into the season for pole-vaulting supremacy, won the event for the third time in the last decade for Geneva.

Area pride: The rash of state champions was not lost on Geneva junior Taylor Wickware.

"It's a cool feeling knowing people so close (in proximity) have accomplished so much," Wickware said.

The Vikings' versatile long sprinter and middle-distance standout led the pack at the gun lap of the Class 3A 800-meter run. With a star-studded field in such a confined area throughout the race, the dozen competitors gave no quarter in either the finals or the equally demanding semifinals on Friday.

"It was probably the two most physical races I have ever been in," said Wickware, who settled for sixth after lowering her personal record by five seconds during the postseason. "Obviously there were girls who had been to state before in the 800."

Coaching wonder: West Aurora had struggled mightily for years in track and field before Teresa Towles took over the program six years ago.

"If you would have told me (then) that we would be the No. 7 (Class 3A) team in the state, I would have said, 'No. Never.'"

But Towles' patience, underscored by a laid-back temperament, and an influx of talent nurtured by off-season Aurora track clubs have produced a stunning turnaround.

The Blackhawks' historic season - first-ever titles at Kane County, the Plainfield Central sectional and top-10 showing at the state meet - means their once-perennial doormat status has been cashiered for years to come.

Even with Andrews (Wichita State) and all-state thrower Mariah Smith (Illinois) departing for the next level, West Aurora has a future as incandescent as its stable is expanding.

The Blackhawks' three state-qualifying relays lost not a single member to graduation; their underclass team dominated the frosh-soph DuPage Valley Conference meet, and their four middle schools continue to produce talented youngsters in the sprints, jumps and hurdles.

Of all the talented underclassmen in the program, Towles' belief in freshman Nicole Bartell is unbridled.

"Nicole has a chance to be pretty special," Towles said of her top 800- and 1,600-meter runner.

The Blackhawks' Jasmine Ranson will be Andrews' heir apparent in the wake of her breakout season. The junior placed in the triple jump, qualified in the high jump and was indispensable to the sprint relays.

Don't forget about...: With the unprecedented number of state champions monopolizing much of the local coverage at the state meet, a number of other athletes in addition to Warner, Andrews and Pace saw their decorated careers come to a close as well.

Erica Miller and Alissa Dappas were the workhorses for Geneva, which captured the final two Western Sun Conference championships. Dappas won four individual medals the last two seasons in the two hurdles events, and Northern Illinois-bound Miller was denied a return bid in the 1,600-meter relay finals.

The two seniors teamed with Pace and Wickware, only to fall shy by a tenth of a second in the ultra-completive semifinals.

"We were just happy that Allie Pace stepped in (for Sammi Hill)," Wickware said. "We didn't know how her legs would hold out (for the pole vault finals) after running a full-out 400 meters."

Batavia senior Alexis Sampson met the same fate in the Bulldogs' mile relay, and the all-state 800 runner from two years ago was also agonizingly close to making the open 800 field as well.

The open mile continues its extraordinary progression of making five minutes the time for simply making finals, let alone placing. St. Charles North senior Meghan Heuer was in contention in the semifinals, only to fall short of the torrid pace.

St. Charles East will bid adieu to Maya Rittmanic and Danielle Kuzniewski, who propelled the Saints to their first Upstate Eight Conference championship in a decade. Rittmanic won four career medals during her multiple appearances in the long, triple and high jumps; North Florida-bound Kuzniewski fell short of another finals appearance in the 200 dash.

New-look Knights: Kaneland will revamp its team around rising seniors Brooke Patterson and Andi Strang next year.

Patterson, a first-year performer, was the Knights' most versatile weapon this spring as a leader in pole vault, triple jump and sprint-relay anchor.

"I didn't expect making it to state, let alone being in the finals," Patterson said of her state pole vault experiences. "(Having a background in gymnastics) helped a lot."

Strang, whose promising basketball season was sidelined by an injury, narrowly missed a finals berth in the open 800 meters

Record-setters:In a weekend of uplifting performances and pulsating finishes, two downstate Class 1A athletes deserve special mention.

Carlinville junior Kelsey Card and Breese Central junior Jena Hemann made lasting impressions to join such illustrious state greats as Jackie Joyner (East St. Louis), Alex Anderson (Morgan Park) and Shalina Clarke (Evanston). Card, in an unprecedented feat, swept the shot put and discus in the smallest-school division for a third straight year.

In the discus finals, Card demolished the state record -regardless of class - with a throw of 167 feet, 4 inches. Hemann became the second small-school athlete in history to win four events with a quartet of brilliant showings in the three jumps and the 100 dash.

"The IHSA is very good about (spacing the four events)," said Hemann, the only state qualifier for her school who single-handedly garnered her program a second-place team trophy last year by placing in the same four events. "I knew I was seeded first (in all four). I was just hoping for the best."