Hawks' Schneider leads small area group to state

Bartlett freshman Alyssa Schneider used the Class AA St. Charles North girls track sectional as her personal proving ground Friday night.

Hospitalized last fall with dehydration after the Upstate Eight Conference cross country meet, Schneider never got the chance to finish that season on her terms.

She'll finish the girls track and field season in style, however.

Schneider was the fifth of 12 runners to qualify in the 1,600 run, finishing in 5:16.24 to punch her ticket to Charleston.

"I just hoped to keep it up. I'd met (state qualifying time) the meet before but it wouldn't have mattered if I didn't make it here," Schneider said between breaths minutes after the race. "I am so happy. I just gave it everything.

"I was just so excited to run against this competition. I never got to finish (cross country) season, so this is total redemption."

For every smile at the sectional meet, however, two tears are shed elsewhere. That was the case in the same race for Bartlett senior Samantha Salinas, who finished 13th, a mere .8 seconds below the state qualifying threshold of 5:18.00.

"Yeah, but at least I made it in the (3,200 relay)," Salinas said, looking on the bright side. "At least I'm going."

Salinas is indeed headed for Charleston. That's because earlier in the evening she anchored Bartlett's 3,200-meter relay team, which finished fifth overall but qualified for Charleston at large.

The quartet of Salinas, Schneider, Samantha Bass and Kristen Schneider finished in a time of 9:35.80.

Dundee-Crown junior Kelsey Seiler qualified for state in the 3,200 run, finishing fourth in 11:27.80.

"I was kind of iffy about making it," Seiler said. "My coach wanted me to run the (3,200-meter relay), so we had to make a decision (Friday) morning. I was nervous.

"Laps one through four were OK, five and six were hard and seven and eight were better. They had the time up (on the scoreboard), so I was so relieved."

Streamwood senior Krissy Kunavich finished sixth in the discus with a personal best distance of 114 feet, 10 inches on her first attempt but could draw no closer to the qualifying standard of 117-6."

"I'm glad I PR'd for my last meet, but I wanted to go to state," Kunavich said. "The 114 was my first throw, so I thought, 'Oh, I can get 117-6', but my throws just kept going down."

Not every runner who didn't qualify for Charleston was complaining, though.

"It was my first year in track," Larkin senior Brianda Ocampo said after taking her turn in the mile. "I'm pretty satisfied with what happened. I ran like an (eight-minute mile) when I first started, so to go from that to 7:11, then 6:50 tonight -- that's pretty good. I'm proud of myself."

Class A: With 64 total points, Hampshire finished among the Top 5 as a team competing in the Class A Rockford Christian Life sectional.

Leading the way for the Whip-Purs were Holly Plichta, Autumn Holze and Jenna Ballard, who each qualified in individual events.

Plichta won the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:13.1. Holze will represent the Whips at state in the shot put after a toss of 32 feet, 2¾ inches, while Ballard qualified in the 300 low hurdles at 50.3

The Whips will also send both the 3,200 relay team and the 1,600 relay team, which finished below qualifying times at 10:24.5 and 4:18.4 respectively.

Also finding success in Rockford was St. Edward's Ashley Lucas, who will compete in the 3,200 after finishing just behind Plichta with a 12:44.4. The Green Wave will also send their 3,200 relay team, which booked a 10:45.8 to advance beyond the sectional.