Steffen: “The last four years are a credit to the girls and our wonderful coaching staff”
By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
No girls’ track and field program in the state – regardless of class – has been more successful during the past four years than St. Joseph-Ogden in Class 1A.
Coach Kelly Steffen’s Spartans secured a fourth consecutive top three finish in state meets on Saturday by scoring 38 points and tying for third in Class 1A at Eastern Illinois University.
“What a fun way to end the season, with a cherry on top,” Steffen said.
SJ-O is the only Illinois school with state trophies in girls’ track and field each of the past four years.
If the so-called experts are to be believed, the weekend performance was surprising.
“In Week 8, in the MileSplit state rankings, we were not in the top 10,” Steffen said. “I posted it on the team bulletin board.”
The unspoken motivation supplied her SJ-O team with the impetus that was needed.
“That sparked a fire,” Steffen said.
The Spartans had state champions in two events and placers in four others on Saturday to secure yet another state trophy.
SJ-O won the team title in 2018, was third in 2017 and second at state in 2016, when the current senior class were freshmen.
“The last four years are a credit to the girls and our wonderful coaching staff,” Steffen said. “We try to utilize our expertise and, in the end, build a lineup to go to state and show up better than expected.”
Sophomore Atleigh Hamilton successfully defended her state title in the long jump.
The SJ-O 800-meter relay was victorious for the second consecutive year as well with three returning runners joining newcomer Danie Kelso.
Hamilton, Hailey Birt and Maclayne Taylor were others on the 800 relay that was timed in 1 minute, 44.81 seconds.
The photo finish was too close to call until the results were posted on the electronic scoreboard.
The second-place DuQuoin team was timed in 1:44.82.
“I had no idea (of the outcome),” anchor runner Taylor said. “I was hoping I pulled through.”
SJ-O was the third team to make the final exchange in the two-lap race.
Even before the results were finalized, Steffen was satisfied with the effort.
“All four of those girls worked really hard,” Steffen said. “It was awesome to watch Maclayne run through the line and outlean the girl (from DuQuoin).”
Hamilton’s school-record long jump mark (18 feet, 7 ¾ inches) from Thursday’s preliminaries held up as she regained her spot atop the podium.
For much of the season, Hamilton was at less than full strength.
“She struggled with a foot injury,” Steffen said. “The season was about gaining strength and rebuilding.
“We worked on patience and trust. Her composure and confidence came out when she was on the track.”
Hamilton also ran legs on three of SJ-O’s placing relays and only took two of her attempts in the long jump final.
“I couldn’t do it without my coach,” Hamilton said. “She kept me positive even when sometimes I didn’t see it.”
Taylor, in her final track meet, couldn’t think of a better way to conclude her running career.
“It’s amazing,” Taylor said. “I’ve had a great four years and am glad to be able to end with another trophy.”
Entering the season, she wasn’t sure if that expectation was realistic.
“We lost some really good sprinters (from the 2018 team) and I wasn’t sure heading into the year,” Taylor said.
Besides the championship events, the Spartans scored points in the other three relays as well as from Taylor, the eighth-place finisher individually in the 100 meters (12.60 seconds).
Each Spartan relay ran quicker than they did during Thursday’s qualification session.
The meet-ending 1,600-meter relay dropped nearly two seconds, capturing second place with a time of 4:05.64.
The runners were Hamilton, Rylee Sjuts, Ashlyn Lannert and Taylor.
“All of them had run at least one other race,” Steffen said, “but they were able to conserve energy during the day in the heat and they all ran well.
“Atleigh did a phenomenal job, starting us off in a minute, and the middle two thrive off the competition and kept us where we needed to be. Maclayne is super strong and is aware or what she’s capable. She planned it out perfectly.”
The eight team points earned by the final relay allowed SJ-O to match the third-place point total of Decatur St. Teresa.
First-place DuQuoin totaled 58 points and runner-up Chicago Latin ended with 46 points.
“The 1,600 was a great finish to our long day,” Taylor said. “We ended faster than our prelim time.”
Taylor was the anchor runner on two state relays, a position she didn’t always embrace.
“I’m not a huge fan of it,” she said, “but I didn’t mind after the fact.”
The 400-relay foursome featured the same runners as the 800 unit. They captured fifth, dropping their time to 50.18 with Hamilton as the anchor, after qualifying at 50.33.
“I love being part of this team,” Hamilton said. “We all have the same motivation. Our splits were very good.”
The 3,200-meter relay cut more than four seconds from the time it achieved 48 hours earlier, closing in 10:12.47 and gaining the seventh-place medal. The relay was seeded 11th entering the finals. The top nine placers in each event score team points.
The long-distance relay included Kailyn Ingram, Hannah Rajlich, Lannert and Sjuts. Rajlich and Sjuts were also members of the state-placing 2018 relay.
Taylor was at state for all four of the SJ-O team trophies, though she was only an alternate as a freshman.
Participating at state for three consecutive years made it tougher for her to confirm her future plans.
“It was tough to figure out which sport (to do in college),” she said.
In the end, she went with basketball and has committed to Lincoln Land Community College.
Besides the squad members who scored team points at state, three others competed at state.
Jenna Albrecht finished in the top half of all triple-jumpers. She placed 20th in a field of 42 competitors with a leap of 34-10 ¼.
Rajlich was 28th in the 1,600 meters (5:52.29) and Cassidy Bagby was 33rd in the 3,200 meters (13:14.28).
In addition to Steffen, the remainder of the SJ-O coaching staff consisted of Gerry Hewerdine, Jason Retz and Matt Umbarger.
