Wickware Earns State Medal; Geneva Runners End Storied Prep Careers; Kluck Clears 11 Feet in Pole Vault

CHARLESTON—The storied prep careers of Geneva runners Liza Tauscher, Rachel Hammond and Tess Ehrhardt came to a close with the conclusion of the girls Class 3A state track and field meet at Eastern Illinois’ O’Brien Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Fixtures on the Vikings’ back-to-back state-championship cross country teams as freshmen and sophomores, the three seniors closed out their final running campaigns with mixed success.

Ehrhardt advanced to the 1,600-meter run finals with her semifinal performance on Friday, making the state cut that fell at 5 minutes and 10-plus seconds.

Hammond was not so fortunate, faltering over the final 800 meters at the same distance to fall out of contention.

“I’m just happy to be here,” Hammond said of her advancement out of Hoffman Estates’ sectional as an at-large qualifier. “I ran my fastest for as hard and long as I could.”

Tauscher, meanwhile, ran in the first heat of the 3,200 run on Saturday morning.
Running in the lead pack with West Aurora senior Elisia Meyle, Tauscher traversed the famed blue track at Eastern Illinois in 11:24.05 to place 17th overall in the no-preliminary race.

“I just didn’t have it today,” said Tauscher. “I think I’m happy to close this chapter (on my career). It’s kind of disappointing. I’m glad high school is (almost) over. I’m ready to move on to (the University of Kansas).”

Ehrhardt, one of three Geneva athletes to participate in finals, was unable to duplicate her time from the Friday preliminary and failed to place in the 12-man field.

But Taylor Wickware made sure the Vikings did not leave central Illinois empty-handed.

The Miami of Ohio recruit, who was also part of the Vikings’ cross country teams as an underclassmen, made her second straight finals appearance at 800 meters.
Sixth as a junior, Wickware advanced out of the third heat on Friday by staying on the heels of eventual champion Lindsey Rakosnik of Glenbard East.

Learning her lesson from last year when she was squeezed in heavy congestion at the gun lap, Wickware emerged from an equally tight pack over the final 300 meters on Saturday to run a career-best 2:14.03.

It was nearly six-tenths of a second lower than her time last spring, and the personal record upped her position two slots to fourth overall.

“That’s all I could try for was to beat my time from last year,” Wickware said after the final race of her Geneva career. “I started to close the gap (with about 250 meters to go). I am really happy with the way I ended up finishing my year.”

Senior Erin Kluck was one of 21 competitors to advance to the final day in the pole vault.

Restarting the competition at 10 feet, Kluck bowed out at 11 feet.

“It was a great feeling to make finals,” Kluck said. “I was expecting to get down here. I felt strong, confident.”

Kailie Briza, the last of the Vikings’ six individual state qualifiers, failed to make finals in the long jump.

East St. Louis won the Class 3A team competition.