Wheaton Warrenville South Girls Finish 15th at State Track Meet

CHARLESTON—Looking to better their counterparts from a decade ago, the Wheaton Warrenville South 3,200-meter relay team of Amy Yong, Mikayla Kightlinger, McKenna Kiple and Hope Schmelzle was seeking history on the final day of the girls Class 3A track and field state championships. They finished second in the finals with a school record of 9:11.27.

“We haven’t had a state champion since 1980,” WWS coach Rob Harvey said.

The WWS girls ranked 15th as a team, tied with Downers Grove North and Rolling Meadows.

“We were all focusing on running our best race,” said Kiple, a first-year performer for the Tigers after playing soccer as a freshman last spring. “I couldn’t be prouder with what we did. We are second in the state in the four by eight.”

One of five teams from DuPage County in the finals, the Tigers established a new school record with what would have been an all-time state benchmark five years ago.

“We ran the hardest two laps of our season,” Schmelzle said.

Pitted against Downers North in both the Friday preliminaries and the Saturday finals, both races had terribly familiar outcomes. Wisconsin-bound North runner Gaby Effrein gave anchor Jillian Kothanek a slight lead on the final leg. Schmelzle made spirited efforts both days to catch the Trojans’ sophomore, only to come up short  on each occasion.

Harvey was aglow after the Friday preliminaries. “We’ve never had three finalists before,” he said. “At least not since I’ve been here.”

The Tigers’ Kasey Gassensmith and Emily Schwartz made the most of their championship opportunities. The latter was one of 21 competitors to clear 10 feet, 6 inches to advance in the pole vault. Schwartz made the first five opening heights on Saturday, ultimately failing when the bar was placed at 12 feet. The career-high height enabled the junior to finish fourth overall.

“I am really happy for Emily Schwartz,” Harvey said. “She lives and dies the pole vault.”

Gassensmith claimed the Tigers’ third all-state performance by clearing 5-5 in the high jump. “The first year (Gassensmith) has been in track, and she is sixth in the state,” Harvey said.

St. Francis’ Katy Garcia also had designs in the high jump after earning all-state inclusion earlier in the Class 2A 300 hurdles. “I have been wanting to get 5-5,” Garcia said. “I was tied for the school record at 5-4. I was glad about my second attempt (in the finals).

The Spartans’ senior cleared the barrier to not only put her name atop the school history books but also claim third place in the middle-tier division.

Wheaton North junior Kelly O’Connor made sure the small Falcons contingent did not go home without a medal. The junior long jumper snared the final all-state medal. “I scratched my first two times (in the finals on Saturday) and was about a foot behind the board (on the final attempt),” O’Connor said. “I still got my mark from (Friday).”