St. Peter Track & Field Finish Strong At IESA State Meet

Eight events, six student-athletes and four finishes in the top 13 marked an historical 2 days for the St. Peter Track and Field team at the IESA (Illinois Elementary School Association) Class A State Championship Track and Field Meet at the Eastside Center in East Peoria, IL last weekend. The team of six competed among over 2400 athletes at the premier event marking the end of the 2013 track season.

Distance specialist 8th grader Charlie Zimmer led the way with an All State 7th place finish in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:00.52. Zimmer stayed conservative throughout the race letting the field set the pace until he moved up to 7th place in the last 250 meters. His only threat was Derek Shaffner of Peoria Christian who challenged Zimmer down the stretch, ultimately finishing .12 seconds behind him while Zimmer held on to 7th place. Charlie Zimmer ran a similar race in the 800 meter run the following day but ultimately finished 9th behind a group of strong competitors in the heat before him. It appeared that Zimmer had another All State finish wrapped up as he placed 6th in his heat in a wild race to the finish. However it wasn't meant to be as 3 athletes from the 2nd heat placed in the top 8 including Mitchell Maushard of Peoria St. Philomena who beat Zimmer by .05 seconds. For his effort Zimmer broke his own St. Peter School record with a time of 2:18.32.

8th Grade athlete Maddie Bryan broke into the top 10 in the High Jump competition. With a repeat jump of 4ft 6in which earned her a trip to the state meet, Bryan performed well ahead of her seeded place. Bryan made the height in her first attempt while most others in her flight took 2 or 3 attempts to clear the bar, thus putting her in 10th place with the highest finish in a field event at the state meet for any St. Peter athlete.

MaryGrace Phelan finished 13th in the 8th grade girls 800 meter run with a St. Peter School record breaking time of 2:38.08. Phelan ran a nearly perfect tactical race, going out strong in the first lap, passing multiple competitors with 250 meters to go and hanging on for a strong finish well ahead of where she was originally seeded. While still feeling the effects of her record breaking 800 meter performance, Phelan went on to anchor her 4x400 relay team less than one hour later. The day prior Phelan also competed in the 100 meter hurdles finishing 39th with a time of 20.45 seconds.

Also competing for the St. Peter Rockets was 7th grader Therese Hein in the 200 meter dash. With 30 mph wind gusts turning into the final stretch, Hein ran a solid race with a time of 29.99 seconds, good enough for 26th place. 6th grader Anne Tavierne competed in the 1600 meter run with a very respectable time of 5:59.64 earning her 24th place in the event.

The girls 4x400 relay team of Anne Tavierne, 8th grader Katy Huber, Maddie Bryan and MaryGrace Phelan finished up the meet for the St. Peter Rockets by placing 3rd in their heat under very gusty conditions and 25th overall with a time of 4:47.23. 

While St. Peter's elite were competing in East Peoria the majority of the team competed in the Aurora Conference Championship Meet at Aurora Central Catholic, placing a strong 3rd overall. Full coverage of the Conference Championship Meet will be covered in a future blog.