CHARLESTON, Ill. — York freshman Emma Kern received a surprise last weekend after the Dukes’ 4×800-meter relay advanced to the Class 3A state finals. Although Kern did not run in the Friday prelims race, she was told she would run a leg of their Saturday relay.
“I’m so glad to have that opportunity to run at state,” Kern said.
The Dukes’ relay team of Julie Biggins, Katherine Tomaska, Sarah May and Kern finished 12th with a time of 9:48.94 in the finals — slower than their prelim time of 9:35.72.
Tomaska, a junior, said running on back-to-back days took a toll on her.
“It was hard especially coming off Friday,” she said. “It was tiring. It was a hard race. I didn’t feel my best, but I learned to be ready for the tough competition. It was a really nice experience being out there and very humbling seeing all these awesome teams, and hopefully we can be more a part of it next year.”
Biggins, a senior, said it was a good way to end the season, especially after the Dukes were unable to advance out of the prelims last season.
“It’s an honor to make it to the second day,” Biggins said. “It made me so grateful to make finals. Every single one of us pushed hard to make finals.”
Jeanette Morley (high jump) and Molly Evans (triple jump) competed at state but fell short of their event finals.
Leyden’s Aldana driven to improve
Leyden junior Esther Aldana came to a fast conclusion about the importance of her offseason training to aid her development for next year.
The sprinter set a new personal standard by qualifying for the Class 3A state track meet in the 100- and 200-meter dash. She learned many valuable lessons from her experience at Friday’s state preliminaries.
Aldana placed sixth in her heat of the 100 meters with a time of 12.72 seconds, missing the cut to the finals. The 100 dash has seven heats, with the winner of each heat plus the two remaining best times advancing to the finals.
In the 200, Aldana, hit the finish line in a time of 25.86 to place fifth in her heat, one of five heats. Aldana said her personal best time in the 100 is 12.4 seconds and 25.67 in the 200.
“It’s been a really good experience,” Aldana said. “I’ve never seen so many amazing runners in my life. It’s an amazing experience, and I hope to come back next year and set a personal record.
“My starts were pretty off. … It felt really good to run against girls at that level. I plan on working a lot harder to get my times better in both events. I can’t wait to come back next year.”
Fenwick, Nazareth fall short of 2A finals
Fenwick sophomore Colleen Grogan competed in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at the Class 2A state preliminaries on Friday. She missed the cut to finals in both events, running a time of 15.55 in the 100 hurdles and 47.18 in the 300 hurdles.
“I’m going to learn from this and work harder and push through it,” said Grogan, an Oak Park resident. “Next year, I’m going to make it to the finals.”
Fenwick sophomore Claire Gatermann topped out at 10 feet in the pole vault, missing the qualifying standard of 11 feet for finals. Fenwick junior Margaret O’Brien placed 16th in the 3,200 run (11:44.64) on Saturday.
Nazareth senior Maeve Roach concluded her career with a smile on her face. Although Roach failed to advance to the 400-meter finals after running a time of 1:00.86 in the 2A prelims, she achieved her goal of reaching state for the first time in her career.
“I wanted to make state so badly after failing so badly (in the past),” Roach said. “It was a great way to end my senior year. I was happy to make it here. I pushed myself with such great competition.”
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
