Sandwich’s Claire Allen qualifies for state in both throws

Wednesday’s Class 2A Geneseo Sectional got stressful for Sandwich junior Claire Allen in the discus.

Allen entered the sectional with the top seed in the event, but took until her final throw to reach the state-qualifying standard.

On her final attempt, she tossed the discus 117 feet, ¼ inches to punch her ticket to the IHSA State Meet on May 20-21 in Charleston.

“It was a little stressful because I knew there’s competition as good as me and with the discus I was struggling a little bit more than I thought I would be,” Allen said. “I finally hooked it on my last throw.”

Allen said she was struggling to get through the wing all the way.

“That was the biggest part,” Allen said. “My coach calmed me down so I could figure it out and then on my last throw I hooked it. I started crying (when I realized I qualified).”

The shot put wasn’t nearly as stressful for Allen as she had a state-qualifying mark on her first attempt and threw her sectional-winning 39-0 ½ on her second attempt.

“I just think I knew I had that one pretty well,” Allen said. “I’ve been working on the shot a little more than discus. I had the perfect release and everything so it was fine.”

Allen won’t be the only Sandwich athlete at state.

In an unexpected result, the Sandwich 4x800-meter relay team of Joanna Rivera, Erin Lissman, Alana Stahl and Molly Roberts placed second in 10:16.51, cutting 25 seconds off their seed time and moving up three spots.

“It’s crazy,” Roberts said. “This is my senior year. I never thought it would be possible and to have it happen is a dream of mine and everyone else on the team.

“I think the weather (helped us cut time). We’ve been running in 30-40 degree weather all season. Now we finally got a warm day to actually show what we can do.”

On the final lap, Roberts battled Rock Falls anchor Emily Garcia but outkicked her to send Sandwich to state.

“I stayed behind her and tried to keep calm,” Roberts said. “We’ve been practicing 200s a lot, so I knew if I could be by her at the 200, I would just use everything I had and go for it. The last 50 meters when everyone was cheering, I thought we did it. I almost started crying the last half of the race. I was just so emotional.”

La Salle-Peru senior Emily Strehl qualified for state in the triple jump, Plano is sending Armoney Clay in the 100 and Sasha Helfgott-Watters in the pole vault and Morris junior Joy Dudley qualified in the 3,200.

Strehl fell short in the long jump, placing third at 16-1 ¼ and the 100 hurdles, taking fourth in 16.98 seconds, before earning a state berth in the triple with a leap of 33-4 ¾.

“I just wanted to stay focused, especially because of the hot weather today,” Strehl said. “Getting on the board and not fouling was also important to me to get a good jump.

“I was a little nervous going into it because of the competition in our sectional. I just tried to stay confident and do my best.”

Clay blazed down the track in 12.93 seconds to beat Geneseo’s Addison Pischke (13.06).

“It’s unbelievable because two years ago during COVID I lost motivation for track and this year to comeback and achieve my goal of going to state in the 100 meters, I’m so in disbelief,” Clay said. “I cried with my mom and I never cry. I’m so proud of myself.”

Helfgott-Waters credited extra work in the offseason for her earning a state berth by clearing 9-3.

“I’m very excited,” Helfgott-Waters said. “I tried very, very hard last season and this year I finally put in all the work and was able to qualify, which is super exciting.

“This season I had a lot more time because last season was cut short due to COVID. I also trained the entire year because I also go to Rise Athletic Club for supplemental training. Being able to have all that training and have a full indoor and outdoor season was super helpful.”

Helfgott-Waters said her mentality helped her Wednesday.

“For me, pole vault is a super mental game,” Helfgott-Waters said. “I just stayed out of my head. I did the technique I needed to do and just did exactly what my coaches have been telling me.”

Dudley is a returning state qualifier but said she faced a tougher field this season, but she managed to place second in the 3,200 in 12:44.10.

“It feels really great,” Dudley said. “I qualified last year but there wasn’t too much competition. This year there was a lot of good girls so I was really nervous, but I just feel like all my hard work finally paid off.”

Dudley said she just tried to stay with the leader, Galena’s Avery Lynn Engle, who finished in 12:33.92.

“I made sure to hang on the other girl’s shoulder and not overexert my energy but also make sure that I was sticking with her,” Dudley said.