CHARLESTON – Batavia senior Kathryn Warner faces surgery next month on the torn labrum in her left hip, a nagging detail and potential occupational hazard.

Warner leads with her left leg when she leaps, and did not compete in the 300-meter hurdles this season until a few weeks ago to prevent any unnecessary pounding.

On Saturday, her grins masked any grimacing en route to the perfect painkiller: a first-place medal in the event at the IHSA Class 3A Girls State Meet.

"Even my mom didn't think I would make it this far in the season," Warner said. "To make it out with a state championship is amazing."

Parents Guy and Lynn Warner erupted with a big crowd of Bulldogs backers as their daughter lunged to the top of the podium at Eastern Illinois' O'Brien Stadium. The title was Batavia's second in the 300 meters in three seasons. Warner's best friend, Wisconsin redshirt freshman Natalie Tarter, took first as a junior in 2008.

Warner imagined how she would break the news of her winning 43.43-second run to Tarter while catching her breath on the infield. She also knew she needed to track down Geneva senior Allie Pace, a longtime friendly rival in the pole vault who captured a title of her own.

Pace cleared 12 feet to match the height that clinched a runner-up finish behind Megan Weller of Lincoln-Way East last spring. She was coming off a personal-record vault of 12-6 during last week's Bartlett Sectional at Streamwood and also had the figure of 13-3 – Sarah Landau's school record – floating in her head.

Even as fans of faraway schools walked by with words of, "Way to go, Pace," the Vikings co-captain felt, momentarily, like her win could have been more complete. A Harvard recruit, Pace settled for knowing she could have fared better despite enjoying her sport's top prize.

"You can't let yourself get content," Pace said, "because when you do, you have nowhere else to go."

Barrington senior Anna Etherington (11-9) finished second behind Pace while Weller, at 11-3, took sixth.

Geneva junior Taylor Wickware made a bid for the Chronicle area's first championship of the day by bouncing to the outside as the first lap of the 800 meters of the race remained bunched up.

Bumpy memories of a crowded preliminary heat on Friday stuck with Wickware and proved her main motivation.

"I got elbowed and pushed in prelims and I really didn't want a repeat of that," she said.

Wickware created a little room for herself and took the lead until the final 175 meters. Familiar face Annette Eichenberger of West Chicago, a teammate during Wickware's summers with the Aurora Flyers club team, surged past along the track's north curve.

Wickware wasn't bitter as she patted Eichenberger on the back in the medal waiting area, happy enough with a sixth-place run in a personal-best 2:14.46.

"Really, I knew they were coming to catch me," Wickware said, "I just didn't want to run this with any regrets."

Geneva placed 14th with 21 team points, as Liza Tauscher's 32nd-place run in the 3,200 was the Vikings' lone Saturday finish outside the top 10.

Double-finalist Alissa Dappas, still behind her decision to forgo competing in college, placed fifth in the 300 hurdles (44.66) and ninth in the 100 hurdles (15.20).

A five-time all-state athlete, she briefly hopped to the top of the podium after receiving her medal in the 300, which came in a PR time.

"I needed one moment to see how high that really was," she said.

St. Charles East's contingent of finalists missed the medal stand, with senior Maya Rittmanic taking 11th in the high jump after falling short of clearing 5-4, four inches shy of the eventual winning height.

Sophomore Mallory Abel was 21st in the 3,200 in 11:18.77, shaving seven places and more than 30 seconds off her debut run on EIU's blue track last season. The Saints will look forward to her return and also retain three-fourths of their state-qualifying 4x100 and 4x400 relays in freshman Brittney Williams and sophomores Kelsey Gentry and Heather Mende.

Batavia sophomore shot putter Haleigh Theurkauf pledged a return to Charleston, as well, after finishing outside the top nine. Her best put came on her second attempt, but at 37-0.25 fell 30 inches shy of her best heave in the prelims.

"I couldn't get the correct mindset in. I was too worried and nervous and I let it affect me," Theuerkauf said.

Warner, a key player in Batavia's third-place team finish in Class AA in 2008 before missing most of last season with hip and shin problems, prevailed in part because she could improve her focus. Her mind wavered at times on Friday as she prepared for additional prelims in the pole vault and 4x400 relay.

On Saturday, she admitted to handicapping the vault as her best shot at a medal entering the weekend. After failing to advance to join Pace in the finals, she tried to make sense of it.

"I kept telling myself, 'It happened for a reason, it happened for a reason,'" Warner said after holding off Harlem's Jenna Combs (43.75) in the 300 hurdles. "This is the reason."

In Class 2A, Burlington Central junior Caille Thommes took fourth in the high jump ahead of freshman teammate Katie Trupp (fifth) and St. Francis junior Katy Garcia (sixth)

"Katie and I, we're already jumping the same," said Thommes, who cleared 5-2, "and I'm a junior. That's amazing."

Rockets edging Spartans also was the theme in the 1,600, where BC's Maggie Gannon (sixth, 5:08.73) and St. Francis' Kelly McShea (seventh, 5:10.01) both medaled.

McShea also was part of the Spartans' seventh-place 4x800-relay with Alyssa Robinson, Ann Kolker and Amanda Gaggoli. Rosary's Anna Deufel took fourth in the 100 and ninth in the 200, while Kaneland's Brooke Patterson, a converted gymnast, cleared 10 feet in the pole vault to take 10th.

Taking fifth in the 200 and seventh in the triple jump and 400 – balky right ankle and all – Aurora Christian freshman Mackenzie Bollinger concluded a promising debut season in the 1A finals.