Girls track and field: Ginsberg sisters lead Prospect to state 3,200 relay title
CHARLESTON - Prospect junior Audrey Ginsberg vividly remembered the feeling from her last trip to the Class 3A state girls track and field meet.
As a freshman, Ginsberg was the lone underclassman on the Knights' 3,200-meter relay team that finished fifth in state.
Two years later, after missing her sophomore season because of the coronavirus pandemic and being forced to deal with a one-day state meet on Saturday, Ginsberg motivated herself through the steamy conditions by recalling her last medal showing.
"That was super exciting because the girls I ran with in my freshman year were so motivating," Ginsberg said. "I felt I could use their positive energy to help the younger girls this time at state."
Ginsberg's leadership and experience were evident in Saturday's state meet. She closed out a stellar showing by the Knights' 3,200 relay with a strong effort in the last lap to lead her team to a first-place state medal in a time of 9 minutes, 13.29 seconds at O'Brien Field at Eastern Illinois University.
"It was really fun, and I'm so proud of everyone on our relay," Ginsberg said.
The one-day 3A meet featured a 30-minute lightning delay in the middle of the afternoon that led to a rolling schedule. Just over an hour later, the meet was delayed for over two hours because of rain and lightning with just three events remaining. The meet was scheduled to conclude late Saturday night.
Before the first delay, Ginsberg had a strong closing in the anchor but her teammates Cameron Kalaway, Hailey Erickson and sister, Lily Ginsberg, set her up with a strong effort. Although the Knights easily won their heat, they had to wait a few seconds to check Naperville North's time from the first heat. The Huskies ended up second with a time of 9:20.58. Unlike past meets, the 2021 state meet did not feature a finals - instead teams and individuals ran in heats and the top nine finishers were determined following the conclusion of the event.
"I wanted to win it for them because they did everything right," Audrey Ginsberg said. "I was so proud of them and it gave me the adrenaline rush that I needed. My sister did a great job on the third leg, and it really motivates me to run after her. She really put me in the right place, and they all did because they ran it perfectly.
"I was so motivated to run for them. We saw Naperville North's team, and knew we could do it and we trusted each other and our training, and felt there was nothing stopping us."
Lily Ginsberg said the Knights were building for a special moment at state after placing first at sectional in a time of 9:23.54.
"I didn't know where the (runner) was, I just told myself to push myself and do my best," Lily Ginsberg said.
Prospect's Daria Tersina had a memorable showing in the 100 to earn seventh place in a time of 12.39. Barrington's Breanne Dunn claimed sixth place in the 300 hurdles (45.58)
Hersey sophomore Anna Harden narrowly missed earning a top-nine placing in the 3,200. She finished first in her heat, but ended up in 11th place (11:21.99). Glenbrook South's 400 relay team of Hayden Nelson, Abby Milott, Daphna Gerber and Sydney Willits posted a fifth-place time of 48.43. Willits had a stellar day in the state meet, adding a second-place medal in the triple jump (12.23) and third-place showing in the long jump (5.82 meters). Milott added a 10th place effort in the high jump (1.58 meters), while Hersey's Natalia Jackowski took ninth.
"The heat was really bad, but going into the race my goal was to medal out of the slow heat because I didn't run a good sectional race," Harden said. "I was watching my time while running. I was checking my time to see what pace I was at."