Kankakee’s depth and six event wins too much in winning 2A team title

 

Scales and her triple win; New 2A record for Heitzig in 800m; David wins big distance double

 

 

By Michael Newman [email protected]

 

 

Charleston, Ill – Where some teams had some colonels and majors on their roster, Kankakee had all the generals in this battle for the team championship. The Kays scored in seven events with six of them state championships to dominate in the 2A meet scoring 74 points to win their first 2A state championship on a rainy afternoon at Eastern Illinois University.

 

Normal University seemed to score all over the place as they had 51 points to finish second. Geneseo placed third scoring 47 points. St. Viator missed a trophy scoring 44 points to finish fourth.

 

Kankakee looked fresh in their attempt for a state title just going after good lanes and making to the finals. They exploded in a great way on Saturday. Freshman Naomi Bey-Osborne had a big day in her first state meet winning two individual titles and a part of two relay victories.

 

The pressure of the big race did not seem to bother her in those two wins. She had a commanding lead coming off the turn in the 400 Meter Dash to run a huge personal best of 56.53 to win the state title with Mia Rodriguez of Marian Catholic running 57.59 to finish second. Bey-Osborne again ran her best when it counted in the 200 Meter Dash. She held off a charging Kayda Austin of Cahokia to win a state title in a 25.22 time. Austin (25.60) and Kankakee’s Neveah Lowe (25.75). Lowe earlier in the meet finished third in the 100 Meter Dash (12.68).

 

Their three relay wins were stellar. Bey-Osborne anchored the 4x100m Relay to a state title. Their handoffs were superb between Saniah Stewart, Lowe, Sydney Ramsey, and then to Bey-Osborne gave the Kays a 48.35 win ahead of Mt. Vernon (49.05) and Normal University (49.12). Jakita Autman stepped into the lineup with Stewart, Ramsey, and Lowe and still did not miss a beat. Kankakee dominated the 4x200m Relay running 1:41.65 for a two second win ahead of Peoria Richwoods (1:43.73) and Normal University (1:44.35).

 

It was somewhat of a surprise that Kankakee did what they did in the final event of the meet. The Kays had not been among the state leading teams in the 4x400m Relay. When the time was right, this quartet executed a win to perfection. Kankakee ran Ramsey, Aniya Lewis, Autman, and Bey-Osborne in both the prelims and the finals. Where they were just trying to get to the finals on Friday morning, they were trying to seal the state championship deal in winning the 4x400m Relay. A 58.04 anchor by Bey-Osborne improved their team time by 10 seconds from sectional to finals running 3:57.93 for their sixth win of the meet. A charging Becca Heitzig ran a 56.74 anchor leg to move Lincoln to second-place (3:58.96) ahead of Peoria Notre Dame (3:59.20).

 

Na’Kyrah Cooks of Kankakee was in 10th place after the prelims of the Long Jump on Friday. Cooks jumped 17-10.25 on her final attempt to win the state title as Hanna Ling of Payton Prep did not improve on her prelim mark of 17-8.25 but still finished second. Annie Wirth of Geneseo jumped 17-8 in the prelims which was good enough to finish third.

 

It is incredible to think that Emmi Scales of St. Viator only placed eighth in the 2021 finals of the 200 Meter Dash. That chip on her shoulder and staying healthy all season was part of the reason this junior left Charleston with three state titles.

 

Another reason is that Scales is talented and fast on land and over hurdles. We had an indication how good she was indoors. We saw proof of that on the “Big Blue Oval.”

 

Her finals race in the 100 Meter Hurdles was a thing of beauty. She was pressured by Brianna Dixon of Rantoul throughout but still ran a personal best of 14.01 to win state title #1. Scales said afterwards that if she didn’t nip the final hurdle, she would have gone under 14-seconds. Dixon ran a personal best of 14.25 to finish second. Kennedy Ross of Lindblom (15.04), Ali Rapps of Geneseo (15.07), Anna Barr of Normal University (15.22) finished third through fifth in that race.

 

Scales was not bothered by having to come right back in the 100 Meter Dash. It was something she had been doing all season. Scales had a slight tailwind of +1.1 m/s when she ran 12.00 in the Friday prelims. She was slowed by a -1.5 wind in her face when she came out of the blocks. Scales was still in charge in this race holding off Lamonica Bryant of Westinghouse for her second win in 20 minutes. Scales winning time of 12.32 was just 15 hundredths of a second ahead of the Westinghouse sophomore (12.47).

 

Scales final race in the 300 Meter Hurdles was perhaps saving her best for last. She came off the curve with the lead and then extended it over the final three hurdles to run a personal best of 42.81 to win her third state title. Rapps was more than a second behind Scales finishing second (44.01). Gianna Huerta of Glenbard South was a surprising third (44.38).

 

“I am so surprised with my performance. I have been working so hard for this day,” Scales said after her day was complete. “As I got into the blocks for the 300 Meter Hurdles, the rain started coming down. It seems like I have been running in the rain all year. I would rather had rain instead of wind. All I did in that race was push.”

 

Push is what Becca Heitzig does in the first lap of the 800 Meter Run. She sets a hard pace and dares other runners to come after her. Such was the case for the Lincoln sophomore in Saturday’s finals of the 2A 800 Meter Run. Heitzig pushed the first 400-meters in 62.34 on the first lap. Only Colleen Zeibert of Rochester was within two seconds of the lead running 63.82.

 

Where most runners in this event tend to slow down in the third 200, Heitzig just kept on pushing. She seemed to look to tie coming down the home straightaway to cheers of the crowd. When you are having a record run, it may seem that way. Heitzig crossed the line with the only state meet record of the day in 2:09.99. It broke an old eight year old record set by Karina Liz in 2014 of 2:10.75.

 

“I have had the goal to go under 2:10. That finally happened,” said Heitzig. “It is always a goal to pick up the first 200 of the second lap. I heard them announcing that Colleen (Zeibert) was coming. I kept thinking I had to push it.”

 

Zeibert ran a season’s best of 2:13.83 to finish second. Isabella Orozco of Aurora Central Catholic led the pack finishing third (2:16.24) ahead of Ashleigh Anderson of Mt. Zion (2:16.72).

 

Mt. Zion came from behind to win the 4x800m Relay behind a 2:15 anchor by Sofia Munoz. Munoz overtook Lakes Community in the final lap and then held on to a 9:38.04 winning time. Lakes ran 9:39.84 to finish second.

 

Tatum David of Richland County had been thinking about this day to be at this state meet since she won the 2A Cross Country title as a freshman in 2019. COVID-19 came, and she moved to Florida for the next 18 months. An injury slowed down her progress at the end of last fall. Her sectional race where she misjudged the pace and thought she would be in the first section of the 3200 Meter Run fired her up for this day.

 

The field for this race was one of the toughest with five runners toeing the line with times under 10:40 and ready for faster times. The two hour rain delay that hit this meet lowered the temperatures to about 60 degrees and calmed the wind. That weather was a distance runner’s paradise.

 

Mary Grace Hegberg of St. Viator set the pace in the first mile of this race. It was not tactical. It was just going hard for a fast time with David in a pack that included Elia Ton-That of Northside Prep, Mia Kotler of Latin School, and Delaney Fitzgerald of Normal University passed the first mile in a swift 5:09.

 

This breakneck pace was starting to take a toll. Fitzgerald dropped from the pack in Lap 5. Kotler followed the following as clicked off 76 second laps from 1600-meters to 2400-meters. David was siting on the shoulder biding her time deciding when she would go.

 

That happened with 600-meters left in the race as the Olney junior made a quick spurt away from Hegberg and Ton-That. The two respond but David had opened a three second lead at the bell.

 

Game. Set. Match.

 

David’s stride looked smooth in the final circuit of the track. She ran her final 400 in 68.4. Her final 1600-meters was a negative split of 4:55. It was the time that she had run in the prelims of the 1600 Meter Run the day before.

 

David’s final time of 10:04.02 is currently #6 in the United States. Her time moves her to fifth all-time for either the 3200 Meter Run or 2-Mile Run.

 

“I just kept telling myself to try to stay with them for the first mile,” David said after her win. “The time is definitely not what I expected today. I was just hoping to break 10:20.”

 

This was one of the all-time best 3200 Meter Run races held at this track. Ton-That dropped her personal best down to 10:12.45 to finish second. Hegberg, who made this race with her pace, finished in third in 10:14.58. It is tough to remember three runners under 10:20 especially in a state race. Kotler, only a freshman, ran 10:28.03 to finish fourth. Her time puts her #6 among freshmen in the United States. Fitzgerald just added to  great track campaign running 10:39.21 in that race. 10 runners broke 11-minutes in that event on Saturday.

 

David had her mojo going when the 1600 Meter Run finals were going among a steady rain. The pack separated quickly in the first lap with Hegberg in the lad at 70 seconds with David, Ton-That, and Ava Parekh of Latin School close to her. 2:23.8 for Hegberg at 800-meters and the order did not change. Just before the bell sounded, David took the lead at 3:38.2. Hegberg and Parekh stayed within a second. Ton-That was starting off the pace.

 

David completed the final lap in 69 seconds to win her second state championship in 4:47.52, a personal best. Parekh had gone through a season of injuries. She powered through in this race passing Hegberg in the final 100-meters desperately trying to catch David. Parekh held the position for second in 4:49.22. What a great way to end the season. Hegberg again had to settle for third (4:49.50) in what was her fourth all-state track performance in her career. Ton-That, last year’s defending champion, had a great meet finishing fourth (4:55.59).

 

All the field events were moved indoors because of the inclement weather that hit Charleston on this Saturday. The Shot Put and the Discus stayed outdoors.

 

Alice Sotelo of Sterling was second after the prelims of the Triple Jump. She surpassed Reese McCuan of Lincoln in the finals. McCuan had lengthened her lead jumping 37-1 in her second round jump of the finals. Sotelo responded jumping 37-3 on her final attempt. McCuan fouled on her last attempt giving Sotelo the win.

 

Annie Wirth of Geneseo won the High Jump for the second year in a row. Wirth won the event when she cleared 5-8.75 final attempt. If she missed, she would have finished second behind Rantoul’s Brianna Dixon who had a best clearance of 5-7.75. Wirth had the bar raised to 5-10 where she cleared a personal best height. Wirth is currently ranked #11 in the United States.

 

Sydnee Scott of Normal University cleared 11-7.75 on her second attempt to win the Pole Vault. Natalie Papes of Providence Catholic finished second clearing 11-5.75. Papes had a great meet clearing on the opening attempt in each of her first four heights. She missed on all three attempts at 11-7.75.

 

Madelyn Bishop of Rockford Boylan did not improve on her prelim mark of 43-1. It was still good enough to win her the state championship. Madison Swope of Carbondale had a 42-6-75. Prelim best to finish second.

 

Swope, who was fifth after the prelims of the Discus, threw 130-11 on her final attempt to capture the state championship. Claire Allen of Sandwich, who had the lead after the prelims, threw 130-7 to finish second.