By Fred Kroner
Four St. Joseph-Ogden entries qualified for the finals of the Class 1A IHSA girls’ track and field state meet in Charleston.
During the preliminary round on Thursday (May 19), pole-vaulter Payton Carter advanced after clearing 10 feet, 7 inches and teammate Savanna Franzen moved on in the 1,600 meters, with a time of 5:22.38.
In the finals on Saturday (May 21), Carter landed in eighth place with a personal-best vault of 11 feet, 2 inches.
Franzen improved from her 11th-place qualifying mark with a personal-best effort of 5:13.71 in the finals. She captured sixth place.
Also reaching the finals were two relays, the 1,600-meter unit and the 3,200-meter unit.
The 3,200 grouping of Ava Knap, Chloe Burkhalter, Kailyn Ingram and Franzen had the seventh-best qualifying mark, 9 minutes, 56.63 seconds.
In the finals, they improved their position by three places and wound up in fourth place with a finishing time of 9:49.37.
The 1,600-meter foursome of Ingram, Ashlyn Lannert, Hope Rajlich and Helene Jones qualified in the No. 8 position with a time of 4:12.30.
In Saturday’s finals, the unit posted a 4:16.64 mark and finished ninth.
The Spartans scored 13 points in the Class 1A state finals and ended in 23rd place. In all, 65 1A schools scored points at state.
SJ-O had four other individuals and one other relay that had qualified for the state meet, but did not reach the finals.
In the 1,600 meters, Knap finished 20th (5:38.12). Grace Schmitz wound up in a tie for 17th in the pole vault after clearing 9 feet, 5 inches.
High-jumper Abby Behrens tied for 18th after making 4 feet, 8 inches.
Rajlich did not run in the 200-meter prelims.
The SJ-O 800-meter relay took 19th place with a time of 1:52.60. Sharing the baton were Rajlich, Schmitz, Emily Elsbrend and Carter.
