Burlington Central qualifies athletes in 7 events
OTTAWA — Burlington Central fell 4.5 points shy of claiming its second straight Class 2A sectional title in girls track and field here Thursday, nevertheless, elation and relief were the predominant emotions coursing through the Rockets’ tent after they qualified athletes in seven events for next week’s state meet in Charleston.
The Central qualifiers were led by sophomore Katie Trupp, who finished fifth in the state in the high jump last season. She won the sectional title in that event at Ottawa (5 feet, 4 inches) ahead of second-place teammate Caille Thommes (5-2), and Trupp finished second in the pole vault (10-6) after three failed attempts to clear 11 feet.
“I got close on the third attempt,” Trupp said. “Maybe I can do it at state. It was really great to make it last year, and it feels really good to it again. It’s such a relief.”
Winning team titles is a nice feat, but Central accomplished its ultimate mission.
“It think it was a great night overall,” Rockets coach Aaron Wichman said. “We qualified in seven events, so I’m definitely happy with that. A lot of girls earned points for us even if they didn’t qualify for state. They had some great performances, too.”
In a closely bunched finished, Rochelle scored 69.5 points to earn the team title, followed by Burlington Central (65), Sycamore (59), Marengo (59), Hampshire (58) and Yorkville (50).
Central boasted other individual qualifiers, including: junior Autumn Conn, who cleared 10 feet in the pole vault; sophomore Kayla Wolf finished third in the 800 with a qualifying time of 2:22.67; Junior Alexa Tovsen made it to state in the 400 after finishing fourth (1:00.06); and senior Markelle Turk was the fifth of seven runners to qualify in the 1,600 in near perfect conditions.
Central also qualified two relay teams. Wolf, Tovsen, Thommes and sophomore Jane Crocetti took third in the 1,600 relay (4:08.34), and the team of Wolf, Turk, Crocetti and senior Katie Puccio took second in the 3,200-meter relay (9:48.65).
The winning 3,200-meter relay team belonged to Hampshire, the defending Class 2A state champion in the event. The Whip-Purs won by more than two seconds (9:46.52), thanks to returning state champions like senior Autumn Chomenko, dynamic junior Cassie Kruse, sophomore Paige Membreno and newcomer Liz Sicheri, a junior who also qualified for state with a fifth-place finish in the triple jump (34-9¼).
The Whips also qualified their 1,600-meter relay team of Membreno, Chomenko, Kruse and freshman Elizabeth Pagan. They finished second in the race to Yorkville in a time of 4:05.93.
Kruse became a four-time qualifier for the first time in her career. She sailed to victory in the 800 (2:20.24) by more than two seconds and came back to place third in the mile in a qualifying time of 5:19.54.
“This is a very big deal,” said Kruse as she caught her breath following the anchor leg of the 1,600-meter relay. “I wanted to try to qualify in four events so I needed to add another individual event. The mile was my best shot because it’s spaced out in the meet just enough for me to get enough rest. I’m tired, but it’s very exciting.”
Kaneland scored 41 team points to finish eighth out of 15 teams competing at Ottawa.
Knights senior Andie Strang is headed for Charleston after making state time in the 1,600 (5:21.33) and freshman Lauren Zick qualified for state for the first time by taking third place in the 400-meter dash in a qualifying time of 59.96.
Senior Brooke Patterson qualified for state in the pole vault (10 feet), but she failed to make it in the triple jump despite a leap of 34-2.
“The goal was to qualify in three events, but I made it in one so I can focus at state on that one event, which is good,” said Patterson, who dabbed a tear from her eye at the end of her last high school meet with her full team. “I’m a little disappointed because I really wanted our other relays to make it.”
The only Kaneland relay team to advance to the state meet was the 3,200 team of Andie and freshman sister Sydney Strang, senior Kris Bowen and Zick.