State, part I

For all intents and purposes, the area Class AA girls track and field teams conduct their state meets on back-to-back weekends.

The IHSA calendar suggests the glory is reserved for next weekend at O'Brien Stadium on Eastern Illinois' campus, but reality is another matter altogether.

Upstate Eight Conference schools St. Charles North and Waubonsie Valley have the plum assignments of hosting the two local sectionals tonight, and the results from last year provide compelling evidence for unequalled brilliance.

Wheaton Warrenville South was at Streamwood last year, where eventual state champion Barrington led a parade of 33 at-large qualifiers in addition to the 36 automatic bids for the 18 events.

This year the Tigers are headed to Waubonsie Valley, where at the corresponding sectional last spring at West Aurora there were 74 state qualifiers.

The 38 individuals and relay squads that met the state-qualifying standards at West Aurora not only led the entire state but also duplicated the combined efforts of eight other sectionals.

"We are in such a hotbed of talent right here with the western suburbs and the Fox Valley," WW South coach Rob Harvey said. "The track sectionals are all about running the time."

"(Waubonsie Valley) is just an unbelievable sectional," Batavia coach Chad Hillman said. "It's as tough as it comes. You have to be on your game, but that's the way it should be."

"It's pretty much like running the state meet at our sectional," said Neuqua Valley coach Gretchen Parejko.

"It makes you better as a team."

The festivities at St. Charles North are hardly chopped liver.

"We're going into it knowing we're going to have to run that mark or make that height," Geneva coach Peter Raak said. "That's one of the best things about the sectional is the high level of competition."

In addition to Geneva, which gave Batavia a run for its money at the Western Sun Conference meet last Friday, St. Charles East, South Elgin and Wheaton Academy join the fray with the host North Stars.

Batavia headlines the local contingent at Waubonsie Valley, which also features West Aurora, Rosary, Aurora Central Catholic, IMSA and St. Francis.

Kaneland and Burlington Central are at the Quad Cities sectional in Moline on Saturday, and Aurora Christian is the lone area Class A entrant at Lisle tonight, where Anna Morgan is the leader for the Eagles.

The Waubonsie Valley sectional is in a league of its own, with coaches and fans alike looking forward to the prospect of two more encounters between Shakeia Pinnick and Natalie Tarter.

The juniors from Waubonsie Valley and Batavia, respectively, have yet to lose this outdoor season in any event and are both coming off four-event victories at their conference championships.

"If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best," Hillman said. "It is going to be one heck of a showdown."

"(Pinnick) is just ridiculous," Benet coach Scott Brooks said. "I don't know if I've ever seen a kid in the area that good."

Pinnick is the two-time reigning state runner-up in the 300 hurdles, and Tarter, third in the event last spring, was second in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 100 dash.

Barring an unforeseen episode, the two will meet in the 100 hurdles for the first time in state competition.

"It's always fun running against Shakeia," Tarter said.

"She's great," Pinnick said of Tarter.

West Aurora sophomore Shanice Andrews could very well be the wild card in the 100 hurdles.

The Blackhawks' girls program has been resurrected; in the course of this decade West Aurora has experienced the lows of barely scoring double digits at the conference meet to challenging its perennial powers for league supremacy.

And Andrews, a two-event state qualifier, is one of the many reasons.

"The Sundowners (an Aurora-based summer track and field travel team) have definitely helped us a lot," West Aurora coach Teresa Towles said. "We have definitely come a long way. I think Shanice can compete with both (Tarter and Pinnick)."

Tarter, Pinnick and Andrews have the three fastest outdoor times in the state this spring.

Rosary has no intentions of going empty-handed to the state meet; Monica English is a twin threat in the shot put and discus, and freshman Amy Kus leads area high jumpers with a 5-foot-5 leap at Kaneland earlier this spring.

"(Kus) may be an even better bet in the (100) hurdles," Rosary coach Vic Mead said after Kus captured the Suburban Catholic Conference crown on Monday.

Aurora Central will be in its one and only Class AA sectional tonight; girls track and field expands to three classes next spring.

"For us as individuals, it's a good thing," Aurora Central senior middle-distance ace Jamie Nagel said.

"Team-wise, it's hard because we just don't have the numbers."

At St. Charles North: This sectional showcases not only arguably the best team in the state -- Barrington -- but also a platform for a budding rivalry filled with intrigue and an undercurrent of the-other-side-of-the-tracks gamesmanship.

St. Charles East junior Lizzy Hynes, a two-time all-state performer in the mile, and St. Charles North sophomore Steph Strasser, third in the 3,200 last spring, are both slated to run in the two longest individual events.

"It's been, like, the plan all along," Hynes said of attempting the 1,600-3,200 double. "(The 3,200 state final) wasn't as fast as I thought it would be. I want to save something for the mile, because I want to go under five minutes."

The melodrama between Hynes and Strasser is further complicated by the inclusion of Lake Park indoor state champion Lindsay Flanagan.

"I think it's going to be a very good race," said Flanagan, who will skip the mile. "I definitely would like to go somewhere in the 10:20s. It should be very competitive."

"Lindsay is amazing," Strasser said after finishing second to the Lancers' standout at the Upstate Eight Conference meet.

Geneva sprinter Erica Miller was the lone entry -- in two events -- for the Vikings at the state meet last spring, but Raak has high hopes.

"We're going to load up on the relays," Raak said. "We're hoping to take a bus down there (to Charleston)."

At Moline: Kaneland junior Lindsay Gierke, sixth in the state last year in the 300 hurdles, anchors the Knights' hopes at Moline.

Gierke will attempt to qualify in the two 100-meter races as well as the 200 dash and 300 hurdles.

"We're looking for a number of girls to run their personal bests at the sectional," Kaneland coach Pat Sheetz said.

Lindsay Gruenke is vying for another trip in the 400 meters, and Andie Strang is a threat in the 800.