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A night to remember
One minor glitch
aside, Richwoods senior Shavantay Thomas couldn’t have asked for a
better way to cap her high school career Tuesday at the 30th annual
Journal Star Honor Roll Meet.
Thomas anchored the
Knights to victory in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays and added an individual
title in the 200 in the one-class, all-finals meet at Peoria
Stadium. The only thing keeping the Illinois Wesleyan recruit from
four golds was a miscue in the 100 meters, where half the field pulled
up short of the actual finish line.
“I’ve been praying
and focusing on this all day,” Thomas said of a 200-meter showdown
with three-time defending champion Blair Wyman of East Peoria. “In the
last 100 everything came together. I kept thinking, ‘You’ve got to
take this, senior year, senior year. You want it, so take it.’ Blair
has been one of my goals since freshman year when I first read about
her. It’s a great note to end the season on.” Thomas
clipped Wyman by .21 seconds to win in :25.42.
Earlier in the meet,
the Knights won the 4x200 by almost 5 seconds and came within .21
seconds of the meet record set by Central in 1989 (1:42.6) . The 1:42.81
clocking — aided by DaShay Johnson, JaBree Mitchell and Donielle Ross
— did set a Richwoods school record
[sic, ed. note: the FAT time of 1:42.81 converts to a
manual tine of 1:42.6 and therefore actually ties the PJS Honor Roll
record]. “Our coach
really wanted us to go for the (meet) record, that’s what we were
going for,” Thomas said. “It’s a little disappointing we didn’t
get it, but it will be nice to have our names on the record board at
school.”
Metamora sophomore
Amanda Duvendack, fresh off a silver medal and a JS circulation-area
record in the 800 at the Class AA state meet, raced to a school record
in the 400. The Redbirds runner ran down Brianne Wille’s two-year mark
with a :57.89 clocking. “That’s what we were going for today,”
Duvendack said of bettering Wille’s :58.5. “That was my goal at this
meet last year and I fell short by a tenth of a second. This was my last
chance (this year) and I’m just really excited I got it.” Duvendack
later ran down Galesburg Kenzie Payton to help the Redbirds win the
4x400 relay in 4:04.99. Lindsay Herman, Ellen Goins and Courtney DeLap
joined Duvendack in the final girls race of the night.
Limestone senior
Nicole Benson was a late addition to the 1600 and the Class 2A cross
country champ won her third HRM gold with a time of 5:07.08 — despite
battling through a back injury. Benson bettered defending champ Cassie
Lohmeier of East Peoria by 15.39 seconds. “After state, I wasn’t
sure with my back (if I could run),” said Benson, who was sixth at
state in the 1600 after placing fourth in the 3200. “But it feels
better, so I thought one more race wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t the time
I expected, but I’m happy.”
Another former state
cross country champ, Notre Dame senior Caitlin Comfort, was a late add
to the 3200 field after the Irish 4x800 relay scratched when sophomore
Kelsey Stockert fainted and was taken to St. Francis Medical Center for
observation. Comfort completed her high school career by winning
the 3200 in 10:58.97 — almost a minute ahead of second-place Tessa
Copple of Elmwood/Brimfield (11:58.04). “The next couple of days
I think it will hit me and I’ll remember I won’t be coming back here
to run,” said Comfort, who was third in the Class AA 3200 at the state
meet Saturday. “My team and my coaches made everything special this
year.” After all tests
came back normal, Stockert was released from the hospital. For
precautionary reasons, Stockert will wear a heart monitor for the next
21 days.
Henry/Midland junior
Kayla Heal survived the 100 mishap to win her second gold in :12.85.
Morton senior Melissa
Fairley cleared 5-feet, 4-inches on her first jump to win the high jump.
“It’s nice to go out with a first
place,” Fairley said.
Rushville-Industry
senior Erin Ealy repeated her title in the 100 hurdles (:15.28).
Elmwood/Brimfield’s
4x800 relay of Hope Huseman, Taylor Nieders, Rosie Nelson and Jacki
McKown gained some state revenge by winning the event in 10:02.77, ahead
of runner-up Canton (10:05.16) and third-place Tremont. At the state
meet, Tremont was fourth and Elmwood/Brimfield — the top seed —
ended fifth.
Illini West senior Amy
Byers repeated her HRM title in the 300 hurdles in :47.88 — .45
seconds ahead of Richwoods junior Jenisha Brittine.
HANDOFFS: Other field
event winners were Rushville-Industry senior Danielle Reynolds in the
shot put (37-5), Princeton junior Alyssa Donner in the pole vault
(9-11), Hall junior Kendall Rush in the triple jump (35-11), Galesburg
sophomore Bailey Jackson in the long jump (16-8¼) and Galva senior
Kayla Johnston in the discus (school record 126-6) ... Annawan/Wethersfield
freshman Shelby Steger won the 800 (2:23.99).
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