CHARLESTON - After proving in preliminaries she belonged among the elite, Metamora sophomore Amanda Duvendack sealed the deal Saturday at the Class AA girls track and field event at O'Brien Stadium.

Duvendack ran a record-setting, second-place 800 meters to highlight a day of ups and downs for Journal Star-area competitors on the blue track at Eastern Illinois University.Duvendack, however, was not the only record-setter. Richwoods senior Donielle Ross put her name in the JS-area record books as well, in finishing fourth in the triple jump. The day also featured a 3-4 finish from Notre Dame senior Caitlin Comfort and Limestone senior Nicole Benson, respectively, in the 3200. Benson added a sixth-place medal in the 1600 and Ross was eighth in the 400 to round out the medal haul for JS-area athletes.

Duvendack hung with Ashley Verplank until the Bloomington senior pulled away on the last lap to win in a near-record time of 2 minutes, 7.96 seconds. Duvendack finished in 2:10.20. "After yesterday's performance, I think I had a huge wall torn down in my head, that wall that said I can't compete with these girls,'' said Duvendack, who had the top seed coming into the finals. "I knew Verplank would be a great competitor. I just went and tried to stay with her, but she outdid me. But that's OK. She's a great role model and I'm just happy to get the opportunity to run against her.'' Duvendack broke Bethany McCoy's school record of 2:10.9, and also eclipsed a 30-year old JS-area all-time mark. The clocking surpassed the 2:10.74 of Washington's Tami Essington, a converted time from a Class AA 880-yard title in 1978.

Ross popped a 38-foot, 5-inch effort on her second triple jump attempt to move up three places from seventh in prelims. The jump bettered the 37-9 1/4 JS-area record set in 1999 by Lacretia Carroll of Central. "I set out with a goal this year (to set the area record) and I accomplished it,'' said Ross, whose eighth-place 400 came in :57.27 seconds. "I was focused on getting a 38 today and I did. I'm really proud of myself. I just kept the determination and pulled it off.''

In the 3200, Roselle Park junior Lindsay Flanagan set the pace early, with Benson settling in second and Comfort fourth behind Orland Park Sandburg senior Kristin Sutherland, the Class 3A cross country state champion. Sutherland caught Benson on the third lap of the eight-lap race and eventually ran down Flanagan to win in 10:31.64 - five seconds ahead of her. Comfort passed Benson on the fifth lap and finished third, in a career best 10:42.95. "I didn't care how I did as long as I got a good time," Comfort said. "I knew it was going to be so hard, but it's so exhilarating. This crowd is amazing. Not only that, but the girls I'm running with, all of them are unbelievable athletes and it's a privilege to run with them. "I wanted to run my best race on this track, so I'm happy.'' Benson was fourth, in 10:49.51. "Flanagan pushed the pace and I tried to get on her shoulder the first 1200, but she kept pushing and I fell back a little bit," Benson said. "Two people passed me and I got out of contact with everyone for a little bit. It's disappointing, but I'm happy with the way my senior year ended.''

Verplank proved to be the nemesis once again in the 1600, where Benson started strong but faded late to place sixth, in 4:59.57. Benson broke to the front early and pushed her lead to five seconds at the end of the third lap, but Verplank kicked in gear and surged ahead with about 300 meters remaining. The North Carolina recruit defended her title in 4:54.99, better than two seconds ahead of runner-up Liz Phillips of Lockport. "I tried to go with (Verplank), but I didn't have anything left in my legs,'' Benson said. "But I was real happy to be at a 2:20 (split) at the 8, because that gave me the mindset of getting in the 4:50 range. Usually I don't fall off that bad, but the last 400 was tough.'

Morton senior Melissa Fairley did not improve on her 5-foot, 3-inch prelims height and did not medal.

East St. Louis won the team title. Ronecia Nash won three events for East St. Louis and anchored the victorious 4x100 relay, which set a state-meet record (:46.23).

CHARLESTON - A week of rest to overcome sickness did Amanda Duvendack good. The Metamora sophomore turned in a dominating performance in the 800 meters Friday to highlight the Journal Star-area contingent at the Class AA girls track and field state preliminaries at O'Brien Stadium.

Also advancing to today's finals were Limestone senior Nicole Benson (1600), Richwoods senior Donielle Ross (400, triple jump) and Morton senior Melissa Fairley (high jump).

One week after battling through illness to run a season best at sectionals, Duvendack scorched the blue track at Eastern Illinois University with a 2 minute, 11.73-second 800 - a time almost seven seconds better than her previous best. "I had a good recovery week and it paid off," Duvendack said after she won her heat by almost four seconds. "I knew I had it in me. All year I've been waiting to peak, and I think I had a lot adrenalin going into the race." Duvendack came in as the 17th seed but finished well ahead of McKinzie Schultz of Lisle Benet (2:14.19) and favorite Ashley Verplank of Bloomington (2:14.26). "I just decided before I got out here that I wanted finals tomorrow and I didn't want to go home yet," Duvendack said. "I do have a good kick at the end, but sometimes it's not enough, so if I stay with the top half I usually can do a lot better. (On the final lap) I was just like, 'I want this and I don't want them to have a chance to catch up.' "

Benson ran stride for stride with Verplank for the first 3 1/2 laps of the 1600 before the defending champion pulled away to win the heat, in 4:58.98. Moline's Aisha Praught surged ahead of Benson with about 50 meters left, but the Limestone senior fought back to get second by two-hundredths of a second, in 4:59.68 - one of six sub-5-minute 1600s. "I got to see the first two heats and each winner was faster than five minutes, so I knew what I had to do going in," said Benson, whose time was the fifth best of the day. "My kick at the end I knew would carry me through. I pushed pretty hard the last 200 meters. We pushed each other, and it felt good at the end." Gurnee Warren junior Heather Olson ran the fastest 1600, in 4:58.56.

Benson competes in the 3200 meters today, along with Notre Dame senior Caitlin Comfort and East Peoria junior Emily Gustafson. "I'm really excited for the 3200," said Benson, who owns the season's best time in the event (10:40.2). "I think it's going to be pretty fast with everyone in it and I'm looking forward to the finals in the 16."

Ross advanced with the fifth-best time in the 400 meters (school record and Journal Star area-best :56.66) and the seventh-best triple jump effort (37-1). "I just wanted to focus on my race," Ross said of finishing second in her 400-meter heat to Belleville West junior Yolanda Suggs. "Regardless of what place I got, I wanted to race my race and I definitely did. I'm proud of (my time)." Ross made sure she did not have a repeat of last year, when she ran the ninth-best time in prelims but could not advance because a slower runner automatically qualified by winning an earlier heat. Evanston junior Adrienne Slaughter ran the fastest 400 (:55.80), and Harvey Thornton senior Alexandria Smith takes the top seed into the triple jump (38-8).

Fairley was one of 14 to clear 5 feet, 3 inches in the high jump. She made the height on her final attempt. "This feel awesome," Fairley said. "It was kind of stressful that last jump, but you have to give it your all. Freshman year I came and didn't go to finals, so senior year I wanted to get to the last day. "I'm hoping to get 5-6 (a school record) while I'm here, but all I can do is do my best."

AROUND THE TRACK: Mahomet-Seymour junior Danielle Bunch set a state-meet record with a toss of 49-11/2 in the shot put. Bunch set the state season record at 51-03/4 at the Corn Belt Conference meet.