The only thing harder than winning two individual Class AA championships on Saturday was to defend one.
Waukegan’s Shakedia Jones, who defended the 100 and 200 meters spectacularly, was the only double-winner and the only repeater. Four other defending champs failed to repeat.
Mt. Assisi’s Cassidy Wall was fifth in her defense of the 1,600 meters, won by East Peoria’s Jenelle Deatherage. Wall did win a second state title, taking the 3,200 meters away from defending champ Jenny Zehr of Hersey. McHenry’s Stacy Pierce finished second in the high jump behind St. Charles’ Gina Lambert, as both cleared just 5 feet 4 inches. York’s Danielle Fonzino was second in her bid for a third 800-meter championship.
The 3,200: Wall, who won the Class AA state cross country title last fall, was the clear winner in the 3,200. She took the lead on the sixth lap and finished in 10:51.92. Zehr, who had the early lead, finished second in 10:59.3.
“I knew I was going to double, so I didn’t want to go out and kill the 2-mile ,” said Wall. “I was going to let whoever was leading do the work and get away from the wind. With two two laps to go, Mr. Bradna says most people are not ready for someone to kick out and lead. It was a good position to get everybody when they were not ready.”
Regarding her performance in the 1,600, Wall said: “I don’t really know what happened out there. This is the first time I’ve ever doubled in that big a competition. I had to try it and see what happened.”
The 1,600: East Peoria’s Deatherage did not attempt a double. She put all of her energy in the 1,600, as did runner-up Julia Peterson of Crystal Lake Central. Third-place finisher Kristin Kuldanek of Sandburg, who led most of the way, ran a leg on the 3,200 relay team. Fourth-place finisher Ruth Kipping of Quincy won the 800, while Wall ran the 3,200.
“Not doubling helped me a lot,” said Peterson, who ran 5:03.96. “I was fresh and I thought that would be an advantage. There were so many others running either the 3,200 or 800. I wanted to medal.”
The 800: Kipping was too much for the field in the 800. The 6-foot Quincy freshman, who was third in cross country, took the lead with 300 meters to go and couldn’t be caught.
“I was supposed to start sprinting at 300 meters but I had to go around some people,” said Kipping, who was a standout for the Quincy basketball team last winter. “I didn’t know how I could do it, but I did.”
Fonzino rallied down the stretch but couldn’t overtake Kipping. Fonzino also anchored York to fourth in the 3,200-meter relay with a 2:16 leg.
A day to remember: Stevenson’s Tammy Renda had a career weekend. She won the shot put and finished second in the discus. Just as impressive as her victory was a personal record in the shot by more than a foot with her winning throw of 42-3 1/4 and a PR in the discus by more than 4 feet with a toss of 134. She was third after the preliminaries at 40-1 in the shot and third in discus with 130-6. Glenbard North’s Maggie Isaac won the discus in 148-6.
Class A: Erin Anderson of Herscher won the Class A high jump for the second year in a row, jumping 5-8. Last week, she won the sectional with a jump of 5-10.
Anderson was hoping to duplicate that feat, but it wasn’t to be. “I think I got a little tired,” said Anderson. “After 12 jumps, you just aren’t that sharp.”
