BELLEVILLE – Abby Korak capped off a successful freshman year for Edwardsville’s girls cross-country and track teams as she won the 1,600 meters at the IHSA Class 3A Belleville West Sectional and advanced to next weekend’s IHSA state track meet at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium.
On Friday, she was was a member of the 4 x 800 Edwardsville relay team that advanced to Saturday’s finals.
Korak won the 1,600 sectional event in a time of 5:15.53. Korak was also part of the winning 4×800 sectional relay team that reached the state meet, running with Lorie Cashdollar, Victoria Vegher and Madeline Miller.
“I’m really excited,” Korak said. “I was really proud of myself and the team qualifying in the 4×8. I am really glad we made it to finals.”
With Korak having achieved so much in her first year of high school running, she’s anxious to see what the future may hold. “I’m excited to see what our team can do in the future and see all our times improve,” Korak said.
“I knew there were going to be a lot of girls in the (1,600) race who would push me,” Korak said about the sectional race. “They were all right on me and I just knew I had to start kicking it in or I was going to get beat,” Korak said.
The state meet began Thursday in Charleston and runs through Saturday; the finals in all three classes take place Saturday, May 20.
