Girls track and field: Surging DeKalb hopes for strong state showing

DeKalb girls track and field coach Max Crowninshield said a strong showing at Metea Valley has the Barbs ready for Eastern Illinois this week.

The Barbs took second at the sectional and qualified five athletes for the Class 3A State Championship in Charleston.

“We’re really excited. We had a lot of girls turn it on at the right time,” Crowninfield said. “We’re ready to go down there and put on an even better performance this week. I’m really excited to see what they’re able to do.”

“We’re really excited. We had a lot of girls turn it on at the right time. We’re ready to go down there and put on an even better performance this week. I’m really excited to see what they’re able to do.”

—  Max Crowninfield, DeKalb track

Kaneland has four athletes competing in the Class 2A meet, Indian Creek (1A) and Sycamore (2A) each have three athletes competing and Genoa-Kingston has one athlete in three events. Class 1A starts Thursday, 2A and 3A start Friday and finals for all classes are Saturday.

The top 12 in each field event as well as the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 advance to Saturday. The top nine in the sprints, relays and hurdles advance to the finals.

For the Barbs, Sariyah Watson, Korima Gonzalez, Jayme Redmond, Sydney Miles and Joscelyn Dieckman qualified.

Dieckman enters as the top seed in the pole vault with a height of 3.87 meters, tied with Naperville Central’s Kait McHale, and Crowninshield said it’s been a good battle between the two of them. Dieckman won the unofficial indoor state meet earlier this year.

Watson is seeded eighth in the 400 meters (57.96), while Gonzalez is 13th in the 800 with a seed time of 2:18.07, but she’s only 0.15 off a top-eight showing.

Crowninshield said it was a major breakthrough for Watson, a UIC commit, to clock in under 58 seconds. She’s set personal records in back-to-back weeks. He added that Watson has a great mindset, something he said about all his athletes, including Gonzalez.

“Both conference and sectionals were a big step forward for her,” Crowningshield said of Gonzalez. “She set a PR in conference and was right next to it in sectional. I think she’s in the conversation of people who can make the finals. If she turns it up we’re hopeful she’ll be able to get there.”

Redmond’s top mark in the shot put is 11.13 meters, 0.6 off a top-12 seed. Crowninshield said he was hoping for a top-two spot for Redmond at the sectional and was excited when the senior came out as the champ.

Myles is one of 21 athletes seeded eighth with a 1.57 in the high jump. She was outside of the top two at the sectional on the tiebreaker but hit the qualifying mark.

“She’s young in the sport and really enjoys it and attacks it,” Crowninshield said of Myles, who also plays softball for the Barbs. “She’s got a couple more things to work on with her form. The jump that got her to state wasn’t her best, so hopefully she can build off it. She’s right on the edge of making it to Saturday in the high jump.”

In Class 1A, Indian Creek junior Reagan Gibson enters with a 3.81 seed in the pole vault, 0.15 off of the next highest competitor. Sophomore Ellie Bend is in a tie for 11th in the seeding with a 3.07.

Jolee Larsen is seeded outside the top 12 in both of her events, with a 12:15.42 in the 3,200 and a 5:42.94 in the 1,600.

For Sycamore, Karissa Clawson and Malerie Morey qualified but did not medal last year. Morey is seeded 13th in the pole vault with a seed height of 3.13 meters. Clawson is outside of the top 12 with a 1.54 seed in the high jump. First-time qualifier Alyssa Stacy is seeded outside the top nine with a 12.7 in the 100.

Senior pole vaulter Jessica Phillipp is the highest-seeded Kaneland athlete, seventh in the pole vault (3.42). Junior teammate Cora Heller is just outside the top 12 at 3.12 meters. Amari Eddington is in the bottom half of the seed distances in the triple jump, but just an improvement of 0.1 meters would put her in the top 12. Olivia Pastovich also will have to shave some time for a top-nine finish, coming in seeded toward the bottom in the 300 hurdles (48.32).

For the Cogs, Ellie Logsdon is seeded sixth in the 400 with a time of 57.78. She’s outside the top nine in the 200 (26.01) and the 100 (12.49).