Naperville Central savors fast start downstate
CHARLESTON — The Naperville Central 3,200 relay team nearly stole the thunder from eventual champion Downers Grove North and runner-up Wheaton Warerenville South in the Class 3A girls track state finals on Saturday.
Lead leg Jenny Alberts ran a brilliant final 300 meters to give second leg Kailey Mikulec a commanding lead after 400 meters; Naperville Central still enjoyed a sizeable cushion after two legs.
“Midway through the race I’m saying to myself, ‘Is Naperville Central going to win this thing?’ ” Downers North coach Tim McDonald said.
“We were watching (former Naperville Central state champion) Casey Short’s videos when she won the (Class AA) 800 and came back like 15 minutes later to win (the 400),” Mikulec said. “It was inspirational to our races today.”
“We’ve run against those teams a lot before,” Alberts said of the four fellow area teams in the finals. “I just gave it all I had over the last 300 meters.”
The Redhawks eventually settled for eighth.
Amanda Fox was ninth at 3,200 meters for Naperville Central, and Liz Crissy picked an opportune time to eclipse 5-6 in the high jump.
Crissy finished third with her personal-best effort.
“I was really happy with the way I finished my season,” Crissy said.
The weekend roundup:Kayla Beattie, Jena Hemann and Kelsey Card concluded their extraordinary prep track and field careers with equally astonishing performances, leaving indelible memories in the process.The incomparable triumvirate also thoroughly debunked notions of large-school supremacy at the girls state meet.Beattie rendered the middle-class two distance races an afterthought, rewriting the state history books with records that could stand for generations. The Woodstock senior had a distance day like none other in the history of sport: the Iowa recruit began her day by becoming the first female athlete to break the 10-minute barrier at 3,200 meters.In also defending her title at 1,600 meters later in the afternoon at Eastern Illinois University, Beattie set the all-time, class-irrelevant state record with a time of 4 minutes, 43.65 seconds.Beattie was roughly at 4:50 on her opening four laps in the 3,200, nearly lapping the entire field with her unprecedented time of 9:56.96.According to the authoritative high school track website Dyestat, it was the fifth fastest time in national high school history at 3,200 meters.#147;I wanted to go out hard and try and find that pace and stay focused the entire time,#148; said Beattie, who won the race by more than 70 seconds. #147;I never thought of myself as a miler, but this year I#146;m starting to like it more. (It was) definitely a fun day and a good way to end my high school season.#148; Hemann and Card (Carlinville) were the talk of the Class 1A meet after a combined record-shattering weekend.Hemann joined Morgan Park immortal Alex Anderson in becoming the only female athlete in history to win four individual events in consecutive seasons.The Texas AM recruit not only recorded the No. 1 long jump in the nation with her 20-foot, 1.5-inch effort in the Saturday finals; her sectional-winning 6-foot high jump gave her the distinction of being the only girl in the country to clear the elusive barrier this spring.Hemann captured the small-school high jump all four years.The Breese Central senior concluded her day by winning the triple jump and establishing a new small-school state record in the 100 dash (12.03 seconds).#147;I never thought I would break the 100 record,#148; Hemann said.Card also accomplished a first in girls state field history, becoming the first athlete to win two field events four straight times.Card, a Wisconsin recruit, came within half an inch of breaking the magical 50- foot barrier in the shot put; her Friday preliminary discus throw of 164-8 was three feet shy of her all-class state record set last year.#147;It#146;s really exciting that two girls from small schools do so well,#148; Hemann said. #147;It shows that you can be good from a small school, get coached well and good things can happen for you.#148; Looking at 2A:St. Francis#146; Katy Garcia was the top area performer among the small contingent of Class 2A state finalists.#147;I#146;m just happy to be here,#148; Garcia said of her unexpected ninth-place finish in the 300 hurdles.The University of Dayton-bound Garcia set a new program benchmark in the high jump when her 5-5 clearance translated into third place.#147;I peaked towards the end of the season,#148; Garcia said. #147;I#146;m glad I got the school record.#148; Bridget Bodee bowed out at 5-5 in the event to finish sixth for Montini, which had its 3,200 relay place ninth.Sectional champion Glenbard South received its lone medal from thrower Samantha Howard, fifth in the discus.This and that:One-third of the 21 athletes who advanced to the finals in the Class 3A pole vault hailed from the area.WW South junior Emily Schwartz secured the best local finish by clearing a personal-high 11-9 to place fourth.Kaylee Flanagan was fifth in the 3,200 run for Lake Park, and Shayna Clark was ninth in the discus for the Lancers.Neuqua Valley had two all-state performers in sprinter Savannah Carson, sixth at 200 meters, and triple-jumper Kate Kondry.A long haul for Rakosnik: Glenbard East junior Lindsey Rakosnik snared the headlines with her triumph in the Class 3A 800 run, overshadowing fellow area finalists Michelle Frigo (York, third), Gaby Effrein (Downers North, fifth) and Rebecca Stearns (Downers South, seventh).Rakosnik said her season-long unbeaten streak at the distance had been mentally draining since her consecutive triumphs at conference, sectional and both state appearances.#147;I can#146;t keep this (energy) much up any more,#148; Rakosnik said. 27401792Neuqua Valleys Savannah Carson finished sixth in the 200 dash during Saturdays girls track state finals in Charleston.Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com