Marian Central’s Remke family ready for state run

A puffy foot never stopped a football player.

A puffy foot wasn’t going to stop Kaitlyn Remke, the daughter of a football player, who’s no powder puff, and who’s as tough as any athlete walking [or limping] in Marian Central‘s building.

Remke, a three-sport athlete who will play college tennis in the fall, developed a blister between two toes on the day of the Class 1A Lena-Winslow Sectional last week. The senior limped around school all day, and at some point the blister became infected.

But what’s a little pain for the daughter of Joe Remke? Joe Remke was a state champion defensive lineman for Marian‘s football team and coach Don Penza during the Hurricanes’ glory days in the late 1980s. Like Penza, Remke is in the Marian Central Athletic Hall of Fame.

On Thursday, Joe Remke will experience another athletic high when he watches his three daughters – Kaitlyn, Jenna, a junior, and Lainey, a freshman – compete at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field, the same stadium where he once played football for EIU’s Panthers.

“So now we get to run around it, and he gets to watch all of his daughters compete,” said Kaitlyn, who will represent Marian at state along with her two sisters, sophomore Kalia Parris and freshman Addie Leitzen. “It will be a really cool moment for my family, something that not a lot of people get to do.”

Kaitlyn and Jenna ran at state last year, but the addition of Lainey to this year’s state squad makes it even more special.

“They’re all so excited, especially for my little sister, Lainey,” Jenna said of her family. “She’s a gymnast. She does diving, gymnastics, basketball. This is just crazy because she doesn’t really run track. She just did it because we do it, and she’s really good at it.”

Despite her infected foot last week, Kaitlyn Remke, the oldest of five children of Johnsburg residents Joe and Julie, who also have two sons (sixth graders James and John), went out and competed anyway in the May 15 sectional in Lena. That’s what tough athletes do.

“I put my spikes on for the [4x100 relay], and my foot was shaking,” the 5-foot-8 Remke said. “It was really hurting, but I still had to run.”

Marian’s 4x100 relay qualified for state on time (51.73, fourth place), with Kaitlyn Remke’s foot throbbing in pain as she handed the baton to Leitzen. The day wasn’t over for the Hurricanes, however, and not for the eldest Remke sister either.

Before running the 300 hurdles, after having gingerly removed her track spikes, she realized she couldn’t fit her swollen left foot back in them. So she laced on everyday running shoes or “trainers” – and raced. A football player might winced at the thought of doing that.

She finished second, clocking a state-qualifying time of 49.60 seconds.

“That’s a big shout-out to my coaches,” Remke said. “Coach (Nick) Reid helped me through that day. That was really hard. I was really anxious because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to run. ... Coach Reid and Coach (Steve) Thomas helped me push through it.”

When it was time for the 4x400 relay, Remke, who said she could now barely move, was out.

In stepped baby sister. Marian head coach Emily D’Antonio called it “a gamble,” since freshman Lainey doesn’t have much experience running track, but it paid off. Lainey teamed up with sister Jenna, Parris and Leitzen to run a state-qualifying time of 4:18.73 (fourth).

“It was really nerve-wracking,” Lainey said. “I wasn’t really ready, but I’m really glad I got to experience it. The coaches definitely had me prepared to do it before I did it.”

Jenna Remke, Parris and Leitzen ran on three state-qualifying relays, including the 4x200, which finished third (1:48.88) but beat the state-qualifying time. Lainey also ran on the 4x200 relay.

Jenna Remke said she recruited Parris to run track last year. Paris is a soccer star who also plays volleyball and basketball, and last year she ran on a relay at state. She might anchor all three relays in Charleston.

“She’s just incredible,” Jenna Remke said of Parris. “She came out this year and was a second away from state-qualifying and the Marian school record in the 400 after not showing up to practice in weeks because she’s always at soccer. .. She is so quick on the basketball court. She just flies down the court.”

Parris’ potential as a track runner excites. She “runs like a soccer player,” D’Antonio said, so the coaching staff works with her on her stride.

“When you’re running for track, it’s incredibly technical,” D’Antonio said. “When you run for soccer, you’re not necessarily running with the intent of winning a race.”

Leitzen went 4 for 4 at Lena-Winslow, as she also qualified for state in the triple jump with a winning mark of 10.47 meters. Like the Remkes, she’s athletic (she also plays tennis and basketball) and comes from a big family. She is the second oldest of Jeremy and Abby’s five children, four of whom are boys.

Leitzen said she wasn’t expecting to make state in four events. She tried the triple jump for the first time this year, and it became her favorite event.

“It’s just fun to do,” she said, crediting “all of the support from my family, coaches and teammates” for her success.

“With three more years ahead of her, the potential she holds is astounding,” D’Antonio said of Leitzen. “By the time she’s a senior, she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

It’s almost like Leitzen is a fourth Remke sister.

“They’re all very supportive and kind,” Leitzen said of the sisters.

The leader is big sister. Kaitlyn Remke was the Northwest Herald Girls Tennis Player of the Year last fall, qualified for state three times and will play the sport for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

“Kaitlyn’s very organized,” said Jenna, who competed at state tennis with her big sister last fall and played basketball with her this past winter. “Lainey and I are more relaxed. We just kind of go with it. Kaitlyn will be warming up for her event 30 minutes to an hour early. (Laughing) Lainey and I will be waiting for the last call.”

Come Thursday, it’s all business, and a chance for the three Remke sisters to compete together, likely, for the last time.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, just the experience of all three of us going down there,” Lainey said.

Lainey’s sisters have her back.

Said Kaitlyn, who’s ready to pass the baton in more ways than one: “I told Lainey right before she ran the 400 [relay at the sectional], ‘Not a lot of [schools] get to send three sisters down to state. Just treasure this while it lasts. Enjoy the race. Enjoy every minute of it because it will go by really fast.’ That’s the goal downstate: Enjoy it, enjoy it, especially competing Thursday and hopefully Saturday. Just take it all in.”

Dad will be watching, enjoying it and taking it all in.