Hamilton wins long jump and 200-meter dash at Illini Prairie Conference
By FRED KRONER
St. Joseph-Ogden’s Atleigh Hamilton continued her domination of the long jump and 200-meter dash events on Tuesday (May 25) in the Illini Prairie Conference girls’ track and field meet at Hicks Field, in Tolono.
The senior has been the long jump victor in all seven of her outdoor meets after leaping 17 feet, 9 inches to earn a conference title.
She won the 200 meters in 26.00 seconds and has been first in that race in six of her seven meets.
SJ-O went 1-2 in the pole vault. Grace Schmitz cleared 11 feet to capture the top prize. Teammate Payton Carter (10 feet) was second.
Hamilton had a runner-up finish in two events. She covered the 400 meters in 59.30 seconds. She also ran the anchor leg on the runner-up 400-meter relay.
She teamed up with Carter, Raegan Crippen and Hope Rajlich for a time of 51.38 seconds.
The Spartans’ other second-place finish came in the 800-meter relay. The foursome of Carter, Crippen, Schmitz and Rajlich stopped the clock in 1:52.58.
SJ-O produced top 10 finishers in 17 of 18 events and captured third place in the 10-school meet.
Tolono Unity won the conference championship with 165 points. Runner-up Monticello had 133 points and SJ-O ended with 116.
Other field event leaders for SJ-O were Abby Behrens (third in high jump, 4 feet, 7 inches), Crippen (third in triple jump, 31 feet, 4 inches), Yamilka Casanova (sixth in triple jump, 27 feet, 7 inches), Ashley Eldridge (seventh in shot put, 29 feet, 9 inches), Casanova (eighth in long jump, 12 feet, 8 inches) and Alyssa Hamilton (10th in discus, 75 feet, 6 inches).
Two SJ-O relays finished in third place.
The 1,600-meter foursome of Ashlyn Lannert, Malorie Sarnecki, Helene Jones and Kailyn Ingram was timed in 4:25.28.
In the 3200-meter relay, Sarnecki, Ava Knap, Ingram and Addie Allen were timed in 10:30.03.
The most competitive race for the Spartans occurred in the 800 meters. Teammates Jones and Lannert were running virtually stride for stride as they crossed the finish line.
Jones finished in 2:34.72. Lannert was timed in 2:34.73.
Other team leaders in running events were Rajlich (sixth in 200 meters, 27.54 seconds), Taryn Sexton (sixth in 3,200 meters, 13:58.12), Jayci Hayes (sixth in 100-meter hurdles, 20.91 seconds), Kaytlyn Baker (seventh in 400 meters, 1:07.63), Maya Chahine (seventh in 3,200 meters, 15:08.45), Chloe Burkhalter (eighth in 1,600 meters, 6:03.11), Macy Reed-Thompson (eighth in 100 meters, 14.35 seconds) and Haleigh Maddock (ninth in 100 meters, 14.37).
SJ-O will return to action in a Class 1A sectional meet on Wednesday (June 2) at home in its own 17-school event.
