OTTAWA – Big track and field meets such as Wednesday’s Interstate Eight Conference girls meet bring out something the two- and three-team meets schools have filled most of their schedules with because of COVID-19 just do not.
“This is my senior year, so I wanted to win something in conference just one year instead of getting second or third. So I went for it,” said Sycamore sprinter McKenzie Reser, who leaned so far forward at the finish line to make sure she beat runner-up Olivia Yarbrough of Kaneland that Reser fell onto the track and skinned up her hands for the victory by a tenth of a second.
“I used my peripheral vision, and could see the other girls coming. I knew I had to lean. I went for it, and I just leaned too far and fell. That’s how it happened, but it was definitely worth it.”
The Kaneland Knights dominated the evening on their way to six first-place finishes, 165 team points and the conference championship.
“The competition is way different out here at a meet like this. Everyone’s excited to see each other, everyone’s excited to see each other compete, and it’s more competitive. To actually win, it feels amazing.”
— Kaneland's Matilyn Mumm
Cora Heller with a 3.20-meter jump in the pole vault; Olivia Pastovich with a 52.50-second run in the 300-hurdles; Lindsey Andrae with a 2:36.06 in the 800; Matilyn Mumm with her 1:01.64 in the 400; the 3200 relay team of Rose Dallal, Allison Gonnella, Caroline Nosek and Andrae; and Mumm, Andrae, Pastovich and Jessica Phillipp with their cherry-on-top, night-capping 4:21.56 victory in the 1600 relay scored triumphs for victorious Kaneland, which literally ran away with the team title.
“For me personally, it started off a little rough in the triple jump [with a third-place finish], but it was awesome to come back in the 400, get a PR and get some team points,” Mumm said. “And then to win [the 1600 relay], it was a great way to end the night.
“The competition is way different out here at a meet like this. Everyone’s excited to see each other, everyone’s excited to see each other compete, and it’s more competitive. To actually win, it feels amazing.”
Sycamore [89.5] finished a distant second, paced by Reser’s winning 13.45 in the 100 and a 27.67 in the 200. Karissa Clawson added a win in the high jump, clearing 1.55 meters.
La Salle-Peru [80] placed third, led by Emily Strehl’s wins in the long jump [4.94 meters] and the 100-meter hurdles [17.17].
“It feels like how it used to be tonight, and I like that,” Strehl said. “Back before COVID, there would be a lot of people here like tonight. That’s what I like most about having all the teams. I’m happy with what I got tonight.”
Morris (65) took fourth place behind the strength of its relay teams – with Isabella Sallese, Alexis Johnson, Kyla Kjellesvik and Ava Smith winning the 800 in 1:55.41, while the 400 team of Maddie Rushing, Johnson, Kjellesvik and Smith won in :52.79 – and a pair of victories from distance ace Joy Dudley.
“My coach, because I’m running the mile later, wanted me to be more relaxed [in the 3200], stick with the top pack, and then later I could actually start kicking it in,” said Dudley, who won the 1600 [5:39.97] and the 3200 [12:36.58].
“I thought it worked well, but I was getting antsy. I might have kicked it in a bit too early.”
Sandwich (59) placed fifth, just ahead of sixth-place Rochelle (40). The Indians were led as usual by the Claires – Claire Roberts with a 10.24-meter win in the triple jump and school record-setting thrower Claire Allen with victories in the discus with a 42.09 and the shot put with a 12.09.
“I think I did really well in discus today,” Allen said. “But I think the heat really got me in shot because I was sitting for a while waiting for shot to go. I need to throw further to get to state, but I think it’s great as long as we can throw and be in a meet like this.
“We didn’t get to last year.”
Neither seventh-place Plano (39) or eighth-place Ottawa (19.5) managed any varsity event victories.
Armoney Clay (:13.58 in the 100; :28.52 in the 200) and Sasha Helfgott-Waters (2.59 in the pole vault) scored third-place finishes for the Reapers, with Joey Siena’s :55.64 third in the 300 hurdles the top finish on the night for the host Pirates.
“I felt pretty good tonight,” Siena said. “I think it was my best race yet.
“It’s been fun seeing all the different teams here today and seeing how they compete against each other.”