New records, surprise finishes highlight state finals

CHARLESTON, Ill. — The Ronecia Nash-Toni Graham showdown started early in Saturday’s Class AA girls track finals at O’Brien Stadium. Nash, a senior at East St. Louis, and Graham, a senior at Conant, are the state’s two best sprinters and went head-to-head in three events.

Even though Nash got a leg up on Graham in their first event, with a state record time of 46.23 seconds in the 400-meter relay, Graham got even in the 800 relay.

Getting the baton on the last leg with Conant running in first place, Graham outlasted East St. Louis’ Timeka Watkins and won the relay in a personal best one minute, 38.96 seconds. As she crossed the finish line, Graham let out an yell and gave the crowd the No. 1 sign.

“It was important for me, because we were consistent with our times this year and this was my responsibility to bring it home,” Graham said.

Joining Graham on the state title-winning relay and on the 400 team were seniors Briana Millar, Emily Quinones and Destiny Arps.

East St. Louis’ record in the 400-relay broke the old mark of 46.28 set by Morgan Park in the 2001 finals. Conant finished second in 46.47.

“It was never me against [Nash] because there are a lot of other competitors, and I don’t know if she’s worried about me at all,” Graham said. “Girls like to talk and you hear a little of this and the other. [Before the 800 relay] we thought, ‘Lord, we need extra help.’ Being from the suburbs you get a lot of flack. You wanna talk, but we can hear it and it’s on.”

Individually, Graham finished second to Nash in both the 100 and 200 dashes. Nash won the 100 in 11.88 to Graham’s 12.06, and also the 200 in 23.86 to Graham’s 24.32.

Those finishes helped Conant tie for third in the team standings with Batavia, each scoring 34 points.

East St. Louis won the team title with 65 points, the first for the school since it split with East St. Louis Lincoln. East St. Louis coach Nino Fennoy coached at Lincoln and won 14 state titles from 1978-1993.

Barrington, the state champion a year ago, finished second with 38 points.

Grant senior Bailey Wagner saw her two-year reign as state shot put champion come to an end in the finals. Even though Wagner’s preliminary throw of 48-feet, 11.5 inches carried over to the finals, she could not match Mahomet-Seymour’s Daniella Bunch. In the finals, Bunch broke her own state record set Friday of 49-1.5 with another record throw of 49-4.75.

Wagner scratched on her last two throws, ending an emotional state meet.

“I tried my hardest but second place is not too bad,” a teary Wagner said. “I was trying to go all out and I messed up my technique even more. I knew that I had pressure on myself and I’m my toughest critic. I think that it got into my head and I overanalyzed things too much. But there’s nothing I can do.”

But teammate Tori Zigler, who finished fourth in 44-9.75, helped Wagner through the pressure-filled process.

“It helped because we stayed up late talking and strategizing,” Wagner said. “She’s here to help me relax. And I’m upset about losing, but she’s a shoulder to cry on and is my best friend.”

In the discus, Wagner redeemed herself with a state title, her first in the event. Wagner’s state record throw of 157-8 held up from Friday’s preliminaries, and she finished ahead of Jordan Harris of Champaign Centennial. Zigler was fourth.

Zigler’s and Wagner’s efforts helped Grant finish fifth in the team standings with 30 points.

State records weren’t confined to the field events. Barrington’s 3,200-meter relay team of Rebecca Tracy, Kala Bingham, Samantha Learch and Molly Glantz set a state record of 9:04.14, breaking the old mark of 9:07.89. Wheaton North held the previous record, set in the 2006 finals.

In a surprising finish, Batavia junior Natalie Tarter beat Waubonsie Valley junior Shakeia Pinnick in the 300 low hurdles 42.14 to 42.82. Pinnick was the favorite in the event after beating Tarter at the Waubonsie Valley sectional last week.

“I just focused on my race and I knew I had a good lane [No. 4], and there was no turning back when the gun went off,” Tarter said. “I knew my steps were off in the sectionals and I pictured it in my head the whole week of practice. This was a huge shock. I just wanted a first place so bad.”

Pinnick, who has advanced Downstate for three consecutive years in at least three or four events each year, has yet to win a state title. She finished fourth in the 100 high hurdles.

“I wasn’t working on my steps and I was off today,” Pinnick said. “At sectionals, I guess I wasn’t running as fast and my step pattern was OK. But here I was running faster. I’m disappointed, because it seems like every time I get the chance something bad happens. I didn’t get out good in the 100 hurdles, my steps were messed up [in the 300]. It just didn’t work out.”

Another surprise was Sandburg senior and Illinois recruit Kristin Sutherland winning the 3,200 in 10:31.34. Sutherland, the Class 3A state cross-country champion, never ran track until this year. Sutherland used to play soccer in the spring.

“Last year I didn’t make the soccer team so I ran on my own,” Sutherland said. “I wanted to go out last year but it was too late in the season and this year I knew I wanted to run. I wanted the track experience before I went to college. I wasn’t planning on running the [3,200], I was just going to do the [1,600].”

In Class A, St. Gregory junior Regina George nearly won the 800, but couldn’t catch up to Stepanie Brown of Downs Tri-Valley. Brown ran a state record time of 2:10.96 and George was second in 2:12.23.

“I wanted to give it my all in the 800, but she got me good in the stretch,” George said. “I was happy I was able to run this year and it shows I got stronger. I thought I was going to scratch from the 800 to concentrate on the 400 and 200, but I didn’t.”

George also placed fourth in the 400 in 57.53, sixth in the 200 in 26.05 and 12th in the high jump (5-2).

Walther Lutheran's 800 relay team of Morgan Ransom, Deanna Richardson, Emma Schmidt-Swartz and Jazzmyn Harvey won a state title in 1:44.10 over Rushville.

Bureau Valley’s Alisa Baron set a state record in the 400 with a time of 55.66.