Payton Carter Shines for St. Joseph-Ogden with Pole Vault Win at Illini Prairie Conference Meet
By Fred Kroner
Senior Payton Carter was the lone St. Joseph-Ogden athlete to win an event on Tuesday (April 30) in the 10-school Illini Prairie Conference girls’ track and field meet at Pontiac.
Carter was victorious in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet, 5 inches.
She also had runner-up finishes in both the 100-meter (personal-best 12.96 seconds) and 200-meter (26.94 seconds) dashes.
The other SJ-O runner-up was high jumper Macy Reed-Thompson (4 feet, 8 inches).
Savana Franzen took third in the 1,600 meters (5:22.56).
The Spartans’ 800-meter relay was also third. The runners were Katie Ericksen, Iris Davis, Lilly Ahart and Madison Clampitt. Their time was 1:53.16.
High jumper Lyla Frerichs was fourth (4 feet, 6 inches).
Three of SJ-O’s relays ended in fourth place.
The 400-meter grouping of Carter, Davis, Ahart and Ericksen was timed in 52.72 seconds.
The 1,600-meter unit completed the race in 4:22.05. Sharing the baton were Clampitt, Jones, Ericksen and Franzen.
The 3200-meter relay featured Sophia Kasper, Chloe Burkhalter, Kiah Riesel and Hannah Mock. Their cumulative time was 11:09.33.
In the team race, Tolono Unity was first (193 points), followed by Monticello (80 points) and SJ-O (77 points).
SJ-O will return to action on Friday (May 3) in their own Spartan Classic.
