Latin School goes the distance in winning 2A Girls State Championship

Parekh, Mihas score in four events; Thomas sets new State Meet Pole Vault Record; Ulrich sets new 2A Discus Record

By Michael Newman

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Charleston, Ill. – Veni, Vidi, Vici. I came, I saw, I conquered.

That phrase from Julius Caesar worked  for Latin School at Friday’s IHSA Class 2A State Championship. The Romans worked their way to winning the Class 2A team championship with 69 points. Geneseo had a great meet in scoring 60 points to finish second. Rosary scored in numerous events with no individual championships and finished third (46 points) just two points ahead fourth-place Mt. Zion who scored 44 points.

RESULTS | VIDEOS | PHOTOS

What won the state title for Latin School was the unselfish efforts of Ava Parekh and Marianne Mihas. Their two-star distance runners scored in the four events that they competed in. What made it even more impressive was that it was done in almost oppressive conditions with temperatures in the low 90’s with high humidity.

“It can’t be lost what these kids did today,” Latin School Coach Dan Daly said after they found out that they had won. “They had so many personal goals they wanted to accomplish. They gave all of that up for the success of the team.”

What started the run for this team was not on the track but what happened in the Shot Put. Alice Mihas finishing eighth in the event giving her team two points.

“When they found out what Alice scored in the Shot, the kids were charged up,” Daly added. “That news loosened them up.”

It showed in the 4x800m Relay. Monticello had built up a huge lead heading into the third leg of the race. Latin’s McKenna Fellows cut down the lead so that when Mihas got the baton, she was within a step of the Monticello anchor runner Rachel Koon.

The race seemed to be over. Mihas waited to take the lead until the final lap of the race. She came down the straightaway pointing to her teammates in the stands crossing the line with her arms raised. Latin School had run a season’s best of 9:31.78 for the win. Monticello finished second (9:39.82) with Triad third (9:48.24).

“This was my final high school meet as a senior,” Mihas said. “I wanted to enjoy every moment.”

It was then Parekh’s turn to toe the line in the 3200 Meter Run. You would think that with the heat that surrounded them that this race would be tactical.

It was nothing of the sort. St. Viator’s Mary Grace Hegberg pushed the pace from the beginning of this race. It was just Parekh and Hegberg alone at 1600-meters at 5:14. The field was close to 10 seconds behind the two runners with that deficit continuing to grow.

Hegberg would make little surges to break away from Parekh. It did not work. Parekh made her definitive move with 300 meters left in the race. Parekh crossed the line in 10:29.75. Hegberg was next in 10:36.99. Anna Perry of Eureka was the next closest runner finishing third (11:06.65). Latin teammate Olivia Syftestad finished seventh overall in the race.

Coaches wanted to pull Parekh out of the 800 Meter Run that she was entered in. The junior would have nothing to do with that. The runners came out of the tent for the second section of the event. There was Parekh along with Mihas ready for this race to go.

Mihas did the work in the front in this race. Parekh did the work from the back. “I first started in the back of the pack,” Parekh said. “All of a sudden, people started coming back and I was picking them off one by one. I thought I could finish second.”

Mihas made her move in the final 120 meters of the race to win her second straight championship in this distance (2:13.00). She held off Becca Heitzig of Lincoln (2:13.90) and Colleen Zeibert of Rochester (2:13.99). Parekh moved through the pack to finish fourth (2:16.43) to score six important points for her team.

In a blink of an eye it seemed, Mihas was back on the track for her final section of the 400 Meter Dash. “I went from the track back to the check in tent,” Mihas added. “I had a cooling jacket on. I just propped my legs up trying to relax.”

Sara Addai of Mt. Zion had the lead of the first and final curve of the final section of the 400 Meter Dash. Addai, in her final track meet, won the state championship in 56.68. Addai will be attending Cornell University in the fall concentrating on becoming an English Teacher. Addai also finished fifth in the 200 Meter Dash.

Mihas fought down the stretch to finish second (57.74) with a personal best. Sydney Hartoin of Triad placed third (58.70). Rose Talbert of Monticello won Section 2 of the event and finished fourth overall.

The race of the day came in the 1600 Meter Run. The heat played a part in this race. All but one of the runners in this final section had run a race in hot conditions. Only Elia Ton-That of Northside Prep had not.

The pace was slow as the 12 runners in this section passed the halfway point in 2:38. Hegberg started to pick up the pace. Ton-That stayed close as did Parekh. All three runners went through in 3:53 as the anticipation of kick started to ramp up.

Parekh made the first move as she did in the 3200. This time it was an all-out sprint. Ton-That tried to pass on the right. Parekh would not allow her to take the lead as the pace continued at a break-neck pace. The two runners came down the home stretch together. Neither runner would take their foot off the gas. In the final 15-meters of the race, Parekh hid the steel curb and took one step inside of that curb.

It was the moment that Ton-That needed. She won the race (4:58.11) and became the Chicago Public Schools Girls athlete to win at this distance. Parekh was a close second (4:58.43). Hegberg ended a great meet finishing third (5:03.03). Bea Parr of Latin got her team six big points in finishing fourth. The 14 points in that race clinched the state title for their team. That and Parekh’s final last lap was a blazing 64 seconds.

Parekh said after that race that she could not do anything else. She had given everything in that race. Yet, Mihas and Parekh found the strength of their teammates to race one more time finishing fifth in the 4x400m Relay.

“Our mentality was let’s get one for the team this year,” Mihas said. “There are so many of us that are graduating. If we are going to do it, it was now.”

Geneseo’s second-place finish started by a win from Anne Wirth in the High Jump clearing 5-5.75 on her first attempt. Wirth also had a big day in the Long Jump with a 18-8 mark in finishing second. Julia Finazzo of Galena jumped 18-8.5 to claim the event state title.

Ali Rapps scored big points for the Maple Leafs finishing second in the 100 Meter Hurdles (14.92) behind race champion Brianna Dixon of Rantoul (14.78). Rapps came back to finish third in the 300 Meter Hurdles (46.08) behind Brooke Barkocy of Burlington Central running 44.69 for the win with Ann Molenhouse of Rosary finishing second (45.92).

Rapps and Wirth played a big part in their team’s relay success in both in winning the 4x200m Relay and 4x400m Relay. Rapps pulled away from the field in the final 100 meters to win the 4x200m Relay with their fastest time of the season (1:42.55). Metamora (1:44.37) and Kankakee (1:44.47) finished second and third. Geneseo ended the meet running 4:03.17 holding off Rosary (4:03.71) for the title in the 4x400m Relay.

Lauren Doerr of Morton will be concentrating on soccer when she enrolls at Buter University in the fall. Doerr ended her high school career winning both the 100 Meter Dash (11.88) ahead of Dominique Thomas of Marian Central Catholic (12.11). Doerr came back to run 24.59 to win again in the 200 Meter Dash. Thomas again finished second (25.24).

There was one overall state meet record that was broken in the 2A State Meet. Tori Thomas of Alleman cleared 13-4.25 on her second attempt to set a new state meet record. Thomas also has the All-Time Illinois best of 13-9.75 set on May 25 at a home dual meet.

Jayden Ulrich of East-Alton-Wood River set a new 2A State Meet Record when she threw 160-6.75 to win her second state championship of the day. Ulrich earlier won the Shot Put with a mark of 48-8.25 achieved on her first attempt of the competition.

Jordan Marshall of South Shore International jumped 37-4 on her third-round attempt in the Triple Jump to take the lead. Marshall held on to win the event and the state championship. Morgan Pilate of Mt. Zion jumped 37-03.25 on her first attempt to finish second.

Peoria Richwoods ran out of Lane 7 in the final section of the 4x100m Relay. They had excellent baton exchanges throughout running 49.25 for the state title just by a tenth of a second ahead of Normal University (49.35).