Girls track & field: Lester takes title, runner-up finish at 1A state meet

CHARLESTON – It says a lot about expectations when a gold and a silver medal at the IHSA State Track & Field Meet leaves you wanting more.

But that was the feeling for Henry-Midland senior Laney Lester on Saturday at O’Brien Field at Eastern Illinois University.

She led the shot put until the second-to-last throw of the event by Winnebago’s Amanda Gustafson knocked her into second place. So she used that as fuel for her state title in the discus.

“It feels pretty good to have a first and a second. I’m really excited,” Lester said. “It’s crazy to me, especially coming from last year; I was fifth in discus and 22nd in shot put, and so it’s crazy to come back and place really well.”

Lester won the discus with a prelim toss of 39.65 meters that carried over through finals, then took second in the shot put with a throw of 11.98 meters. Gustafson popped a 12.05-meter throw in her final attempt of finals to take the title.

“It was a little bit disappointing, but coming from last year in shot put I placed 22nd and now I placed second, it was really great, especially being a runner-up to Amanda, she’s a great athlete,” Lester said. “I felt pretty good about my throws in the discus. I’m glad that my prelim throw held up and that I was able to place first.”

Her Timberduck teammate Daniella Bumber competed in three events, finishing second in the 400-meter dash in 57.63 seconds, fourth in the 200 in 25.35 seconds and sixth in the 100 in 12.67 seconds. The freshman waited for about two and a half hours before her first race, the 100, then ran in three races in the final two and a half hours of the meet.

“It wasn’t that bad because one of my best friends jumped, so I got to watch her do that, and she did phenomenal,” Bumber said. “My 100, I was pretty proud of it, placed sixth overall. Not a PR, but I was still pretty proud of my time, as fast as I’ve run all year. My 400, a little disappointed [after coming into finals as the top seed], but it’s still second place. I’m really proud of my opponents, they all did such a wonderful job, and congratulations to Ahry [Comer of Golconda Pope County] who got first, I’m so proud of her.

“My 200, total shocker, broke my school record, I was super, super happy about it. A 25.35 I think, as fast as I’ve ever run in my life, and I’m really glad I got to have some of my favorite people by my side while I did it. It’s always fun running with good friends of yours because it’s good competition.”

St. Bede senior Anna Lope also medaled in three events, taking third in the triple jump at 11.06 meters, then running on the Bruins’ sixth-place 4x100 relay (50.72 seconds) and seventh-pace 4x200.

“I’m really proud of how I did in the triple jump. My jump actually carried over from (Thursday). I think I could’ve done a little bit better. I think sometimes it gets hard for me when I’m leaving from the 4x100 to the triple jump and back. If I had a little more time to kind of get myself situated, I think I could have pulled off maybe a championship,” Lopez said. “But I’m still really proud of how I did, and I’m walking home with three medals, so I couldn’t be happier. Can’t really complain in that situation.”

She led off the 4x200, which was a bit bizarre in the fact that 10 teams advanced to the finals. St. Bede tied for the ninth spot – down to the thousandth of a second – so the finals had to be run in two heats because the track only has nine lanes.

But St. Bede blazed to victory in their heat and finished in 1:48.81, taking advantage of their chance with the tie.

“I feel like we ran great. It feels amazing,” Sierah Shaver said. “We wanted to make sure we got a medal, and it feels great. I can’t believe we tied for ninth, and then we beat three teams in the finals. It’s shocking.”

Emerald De La Torre said the team’s goal was to make the most of the opportunity after several tense moments during Thursday’s prelims when they didn’t even know if they’d be running on Saturday.

“It was actually a really scary thing, because we were all by the tent [Thursday] and were all asking, ‘What’s our time, who’s going to go to finals?’ because we saw the tied time – and it was all the way down to the thousandth, which is so crazy,” De La Torre said. “So we found out we were going to two heats, and it was really exciting because we had a second-chance opportunity to prove ourselves. We came out here nervous. We didn’t want to get 10th place. We wanted to get a medal at least, and then we came out and did better than we thought we were going to do. That was really exciting. Winning our heat is a memory I’ll always have.”

A fast start was key to taking care of the nerves in the 4x200, according to Lopez.

“I feel like we started and I had a pretty good lead, so I think it kind of set us up for the rest of the race. And then along with that, I think we kind of just had the pressure going into it knowing that we had to beat at least one team to get a medal,” Lopez said. “So I think that’s something that gave us a lot of motivation to do as well as we did.”

Freshman Lily Bosnich ran the anchor legs in the two relays, and she also claimed a third medal with sixth place in the 300 hurdles in 47.65 seconds.

“It was so cool, and I’m just so thankful that we even got to that position because it’s so crazy that we tied to the thousandth of a second. I know we really wanted to hit out PRs, but I feel like we ran our hardest and no matter what, we all felt good about it. I know for the 4x1 we didn’t hit it, and after the 4x2 I was just exhausted. But we all felt pretty good,” Bosnich said. “It felt really nice, and I love being the anchor because I know my team counts on me, and I know I can push through and get us a good place.”

In the hurdles, she was aiming to beat out the time of her basketball coach, Stephanie Mickley, as an added incentive in the finals.

“I’m going home with three medals, so I cannot complain about that. I wasn’t feeling the best from the beginning, so I knew I wouldn’t perform my best, but I want to thank my basketball coach, because she gave me the best advice,” Bosnich said. “And her time was 46 [seconds] in high school as a senior, so I was really hoping to beat it. I was so close.”

Bureau Valley senior Jillian Hulsing was just happy to get a chance to compete at the state meet in her final season with the Storm.

She never imagined she’d end up in fourth place in the 1A high jump.

After moving into the finals as one of 14 jumpers at 1.55 meters, she matched that leap in the finals, and thanks to fewer misses, brought home the fourth-place medal.

“I was just happy to be here in the first place. I didn’t think I’d make it this far or finish this high,” Hulsing said. “I got my PR, and I just felt good. My steps felt good, and it’s a beautiful day outside, too. I was nervous, had some butterflies. But I knew I made it this far, so I might as well just try my best.”

Princeton junior Morgan Foes channeled the disappointment of missing out on finals in the shot put into a fifth-place finish in the Class 2A discus. Her best toss in prelims and finals was 34.98 meters.

“I came in here ranked in both events and I was very confident. I had nothing to lose, really. I used that to my advantage. It didn’t really go my way in the shot put, but I used that to push forward in the discus,” Foes said. “But I know what I can do in shot put, and I’ll be back next year. I’m definitely going to work really hard because I’m going to be back on the podium twice next year.”