BELLEVILLE – Marquette Catholic’s Sammy Hentrich and Laura Hewitt qualified for next week’s IHSA Class 1A state track meet in the shot put and long jump, respectively, while Father McGivney Catholic’s Kaitlyn Hatley qualified for the 800 and 1,600 meters with a pair of top-two finishes in the sectional track meet held Friday at Belleville Althoff Catholic High School.
Nashville was the team champion with 145 points, while the host Crusaders came in second with 134 points, Marquette was third with 47 points, Dupo came in fourth with 42 points, Okawville was fifth with 37 points, Madison came in sixth with 36 points, Trenton Wesclin was seventh with 33 points, Red Bud was eighth with 32 points, McGivney was ninth at 18 points and Patoka rounded out the top ten with 14 points.
Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran was 11th with nine points, Breese Mater Dei Catholic came in 12th with three points and New Athens was 13th with a single point. Metro-East Lutheran also competed, but did not score.
Althoff had a pair of qualifiers in the 100 meters, with Alaina Lester winning with a time of 12.37 seconds and Nariah Parks second at 12.43 seconds. Hentrich was sixth with a time of 13.55 seconds, while Cara Rainey of the Knights had a time 15.11 seconds. In the 200 meters, Parks won with a time of 25.68 seconds, while teammate Caitlyn Conrad was second at 26.37 seconds to qualify, while Dupo’s Katrina Houston matched the state qualifying standard of 26.89 seconds to advance. The Explorers’ Caroline Rea had a time of 30.53 seconds, while Rainey came in at 34.54 seconds.
In the 400 meters, the state qualifiers were Parks, with a time of 57.89 seconds, and Okawville’s Lauren Haacke, who came in at 1:03.89. Hatley won the 800 meters with a time of 2:27.46, with Eris Nelson of the Crusaders also qualifying for state with a time of 2:29.28. Marquette’s Kailey Vickrey was third at 2:30.61, but did not qualify.
In the 1,600 meters, Nelson and Hatley traded places on the podium, with Nelson winning at 5:24.87 and Hatley second at 5:35.74 to qualify. Nelson also went through to state in the 3,200 meters, winning with a time of 12:04.04, with Red Bud’s Adrienne Vallet second at 12:30.61. The Explorers’ Katy Johnson came in sixth at 15:25.66.
In the 100 meter hurdles, the qualifiers were Dupo’s Alyson Ellis, with a time of 17.73 seconds, and Madison’s Caurie Wilson, who came in at 18.69 seconds. In the 300 meter hurdles, Okawville’s Lydia Luechtefeld won with a time of 49.94 seconds, with Ellis coming in second to qualify at 50.36 seconds. Hentrich was third at 50.38 seconds for the Explorers.
In the relay races, Nashville won the 4×100 meter race with a time of 50.80 seconds, while Dupo qualified by placing second at 52.43 seconds. In the 4×200 meters, the Hornets won with a time of 1:48.68, with the Crusaders coming in second at 1:52.96 to qualify for the state meet. The Explorers came in sixth with a time of 2:09.75. In the 4×400 meters, Althoff won with a time of 4:17.20, while Nashville was second at 4:27.11, and Marquette was fifth at 4:46.77. In the 4×800 meter race, Nashville won with a time of 10:52.70, while the Explorer team of Vickrey, Johnson, Paige Rister and Ava Certa came in second to qualify for state, having a time of 11:04.41.
In the shot put, the Crusaders’ Anaya Davis won with a throw of 11.11 meters, with Hewitt coming second to advance to state with a toss of 10.57 meters. Nashville’s Alyssa Cole won the discus throw, going 31.16 meters to qualify for state, with Lebanon’s Laura Kraemer second at 27.20 meters. Hewitt was fourth with a throw of 26.37 meters, but couldn’t advance to state.
Nashville qualified both of its high jumpers for the state meet, with Emma VanHise winning, clearing the bar at 1.52 meters, while teammate Hailey Baugh was second at 1.47 meters. The Hornets also qualified their pole vaulters, with Sophie Schubert winning, going over at 2.13 meters, and Angel Meyer second at 1.98 meters.
Althoff’s Anna Lester won the long jump with a distance of 5.23 meters, while Hentrich came in second to qualify for state, going 4.63 meters. The Explorers’ Tristan Fraley was ninth at 4.10 meters, while Rainey went 3.19 meters. In the triple jump, Wilson won the event to qualify with a distance of 9.30 meters, with Nashville’s Paityn Matecki second at 9.21 meters.
The Class 1A state meet will be held next Thursday, June 10, at its traditional site of Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium in Charleston.
Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.
