Girls track and field: Joliet West runs past Joliet Central in Crosstown Classic

JOLIET – Joliet West’s Jerie McClellan said her form last season wasn’t the best.

“My arms used to go all over, and I didn’t even come out of the blocks straight,” McClellan said. “I have worked a lot on my form, and now it feels a lot different and a lot better.”

McClellan used her new form to help the Tigers defeat Joliet Central 64-32 in the Crosstown Classic on Wednesday at Central’s fieldhouse.

Running with her new style – head perfectly still, arms pumping straight up and down – McClellan ran a blistering third leg in the 4x200-meter relay to help her team gain the victory with a time of 1:54.45, and later cruised to a win in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.64 seconds. McClellan also finished second in the 55-meter dash, as her time of 7.52 was edged by teammate Morgan Pork’s time of 7.49. The two were part of the 4x200 relay team, along with Saniyah Nobles and Corrine Thomas

“The 200 is my favorite race,” McClellan said. “I like to have a little bit longer to get my lead back. I don’t have a lot of endurance, so the 200 is just go as hard as you can for as long as you can. I try to go fast at the start and get through that curve, then the last 100 is just maintaining it.

“I think we could have a pretty good year. All the girls are working hard. Our 4x200 and 4x100 relays are pretty strong, and I want to get my time in the 200 down to the 25s and compete at state in that, too.”

West coach Nathan Atkinson was happy with McClellan’s performance, as well as the rest of the team despite some team members fighting off a bit of sickness.

“We did pretty good,” Atkinson said. “Some of the girls were a little sick and didn’t run some of the races they usually run. Morgan Pork fought through it, and Corrine Thomas.

“Jerie McClellan has put in a lot of work since last year. She was all over the place, arms flailing around, but she was always fast, and now that she’s smoothed out, she is special.

“It’s fun to get together with Joliet Central. A lot of the girls know each other. We are a young team, but we have a lot of talent, and they are all pushing each other.”

While Joliet West performed well in the sprints, Joliet Central had the edge in the distance events, thanks to junior Nereida Jiminez, who won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:12.39 and was the anchor leg in the winning 4x800 relay team, coming from behind to win the race.

Not bad for a relative newcomer.

“This was the first time I have run the 1,600 all season,” she said. “I just like to get out there and run. I did cross country last year, but I wasn’t able to do it this year. Most of the time I run the 400 and 800, but I ran the 1,600 today.

“We have a pretty good team, and all the girls are working hard. We want to go out there and get our personal records every time.”

Central coach Neal Brockett was also happy with his team’s showing.

“We did pretty well,” Brockett said. “It’s fun to get together with West. We started this last year, and they hosted it, and now we hosted it this year. A lot of the girls on both teams know each other from going to grade school together or competing against each other, so it’s a fun meet.

“We’ve been doing pretty well so far. The team has some veterans and a lot of newcomers, so the vets have done a good job of getting the new ones adjusted to high school track and field.”