Girls Track and Field: Nazareth’s Colette Kinsella, a three-time All-Stater in cross country, set for delayed state track debut

Colette Kinsella’s state track meet debut will be delayed by a day this weekend.

The Nazareth senior, you see, has quite a full plate.

“We have an awards ceremony Friday, and I was going to skip it, but I was told two days ago that I’m valedictorian,” Kinsella said. “A lot going on.”

That academic commitment will preclude Kinsella, a 4.73 GPA student who will study human organization development at Vanderbilt with a business focus, from competing in the 1,600-meter run that holds preliminaries Friday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

But the three-time All-Stater in cross country is still a go for the 3,200 race that will be held Saturday. Kinsella will drive down to Charleston Friday night, and be nice and fresh for her first and only race in Charleston. Kinsella’s time of 11:03.73 from sectionals was the fourth-fastest in the state. She is among the Suburban Life area’s leading medal hopefuls.

“It’s going to be nice to not have that mile (1,600) hanging over my head like the last few times,” Kinsella said. “I feel like I can go a little faster.”

Kinsella, who will run both cross country and track at Vanderbilt, opted to play soccer in the spring instead of run track up until her senior year of high school. Kinsella’s coach had put her more in the 1,600 earlier this spring for speed training and to expand her abilities. She’s only run the 3,200 times three times, taking second to Benet’s Louisa Diamond at both the conference and sectional meets.

“I didn’t think I would do the [3,200] at all this spring, but I asked my coach if I could try it once before conference and sectionals in a low-key meet,” Kinsella said. “For the mile, you kind of go all out the whole time, you have to have a lot of mental and physical strength. The two mile there is a lot more room for strategy and pacing myself which is what I’m used to experiencing in cross country.”

In Charleston, Kinsella and others will be chasing Olney Richland County’s Tatum David, who is seeking the distance triple crown of 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters. David owns the state’s top time this spring in all three, with an IHSA record 9:48.94 in the 3,200.

Kinsella has never run against David, but she is plenty familiar with Diamond from four years of running against each other in cross country and now track competitions.

“All the time, we’ve run together. I’m excited for that, to run with her one more time,” Kinsella said. “We race a similar strategy.”

Diamond, who ran the second-fastest 3,200 time of 10:57.55 and fourth-fastest 1,600 time of 5:09.51 at sectionals, leads a large contingent of Benet state qualifiers. Ohio State recruit Nicole Grimes had the sixth-best sectional pole vault mark of 3.57 meters and has the fourth-best mark statewide this spring of 3.76 meters.

Diamond placed seventh in both the 1,600 and 3,200 as a junior last year. Diamond as a freshman was part of Benet’s Class 2A state cross country championship team.

“It helps a lot when you have such a big group at state,” Diamond said. “A lot of them are underclassmen so it will be cool to show them the ropes. I think my coaches have done a good job training me all year to handle both races. I don’t feel pressure and stress. I’m going to have fun and race and whatever happens, happens.”

The area’s other best medal hope in Class 2A figures to be Glenbard South hurdler Gianna Huerta. Huerta was sixth in the 100 hurdles and third in the 200 last year and posted the fifth and third marks, respectively, at sectionals.

In Class 3A Wheaton Warrenville South senior Haylie Hinckley will look to accomplish a rare distinction – a state championship in two sports.

Hinckley in February became her school’s first girls gymnastics state champion. A three-sport state qualifier, she also made it in diving and posted Class 3A’s third-best high jump mark of 1.67 meters at sectionals last week.

“I was thinking this is so unreachable,” Hinckley said of going to state in three sports. “That was my goal. I didn’t think obviously that it could happen. It’s like ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ I just didn’t expect it.”

On the track, Vanderbilt recruit Bria Bennis and York teammate Katherine Klimek come in with the third and fifth-fastest 3,200 times, respectively, from sectionals. Lyons’ Catherine Sommerfeld posted the ninth-fastest time. Downers Grove North freshman Lily Eddington is seeded eighth and sophomore teammate Ava Gilley 10th in the 800, with Downers Grove North seeded ninth in the 4x200 relay. Hinsdale Central’s Elyssa Chandler posted the second-fastest 300 hurdles time at sectionals and teammate Catie McCabe is seeded fifth in the 1,600 with the Red Devils coming in with the second-fastest 4x400 relay time from sectionals.