Mustangs, Trojans Sending Large Contingent to Girls State Track Meet

If the state rankings hold true going into the long jump finals at this weekend’s girls Class 3A meet in Charleston, Downers South’s Tori Franklin and Downers North junior Tess Johnson could be battling each other for a state title. 

Franklin, a senior, owns the third best qualifying jump at 18 feet, 1 ½ inches while Johnson, a junior, has the state’s fifth-best qualifying jump of 18-¾.

And the long jump isn’t even Franklin’s best event. The Mustangs’ multi-talented star is the defending 3A state triple jump champion. She won it last year with a leap of 40-¼.

Franklin is just short of her 2010 winning distance as she heads into the state meet with a jump of 39-3 3/4. Nevertheless, it’s the state’s best qualifying jump, and she’ll again be the favorite. 

Franklin also is a threat to take home an all-state medal in the 400-meter dash. Her qualifying time of 58.09 seconds is the seventh-fastest going into the meet.

In addition to competing in these events, Franklin runs a leg on the Mustangs’ 4x400 relay team. The quartet of Franklin, senior Melissa Radek, junior Rebecca Sterns and sophomore Samantha Baeten enabled Downers South to win the Bolingbrook sectional team crown last Friday by a half-point over Hinsdale Central (100 to 99.5) after placing first in the event.

Even though the relay team’s winning time of 4:02.09 puts it 12^th among this year’s state-qualifying 4x400 teams, it could be in the hunt for a state title if it reaches the finals. Franklin, Radek and Sterns all were part of last year’s 4x400 team that placed third in the state.

But Downers South’s track team isn’t just the Tori Franklin Show. Radek will go for a second straight all-state medal in the 300 low hurdles—an event in which she finished sixth last spring.

Sterns, meanwhile, also has qualified in the 800, and sophomore Katherine Strelau came in under the state-qualifying time at sectionals to earn a berth this weekend in the 3,200.

Senior Kathleen Riordan also punched her ticket to state in the high jump by going 4-11 at sectionals.

Downers North

The projected matchup between Franklin and Johnson, a returning state qualifier, bears watching. However, all eyes will be on the Trojans’ 4x800 relay team.

Stephanie Urbancik, a freshman, joins returnees Gabbie Hesslau (sophomore), Gaby Effrein (senior) and Jillian Kothanek (sophomore) on a team that placed third at the 2010 state meet.

This spring, Downers North’s 4x800 team has been running roughshod over opponents. It cruised past second-place Lyons Township at sectionals by almost 11 seconds. The Trojans’ state-qualifying time, 9:23.15, is the fourth-best time among this weekend’s teams, but that’s far from their best clocking this spring.

The 4x800 team turned in a 9:13.27 at the West Suburban Silver meet the previous week. That’s No. 1 in the state and 11^th nationally, according to ESPN Rise’s dyestat.com rankings.

Downers North also will be well-represented in individual mid- to long-distance events this weekend.

Hesslau and Kothanek, who ran the 800 last year at state, both qualified this year in the 1,600 (they finished one-two at sectionals). Effrein, a 2010 state qualifier in the 800, didn’t make the 800 finals last year but hopes to do so this time around.

Senior Samantha Fry was 16^th in the 3,200 at state last season, and will compete this weekend once again in this event.