McHenry’s Conway clears both jumps on 1st try to reach finals

McHenry's Ashley Conway starts her approach on her way to clearing 5 foot 3 and qualifying for the finals during Friday's preliminary round of the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. (Travis Haughton photo)

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CHARLESTON – The stage was much larger, the opening height was higher and, unlike any other meet this season, McHenry freshman Ashley Conway was on an island, away from anyone to offer her constructive criticism.

She handled it all without a sweat.

Conway, one of the top Class AA high jumpers in the state, cleared both her jumps on the first attempt Friday at the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium. Conway made 5 feet, 2 inches, then 5-3 to earn a spot in today’s finals.

Jacobs’ Sarah Ross also had an uneventful performance in the pole vault, making 10-6 and 10-9 without a miss to advance to the finals. Ross had the second-best vault (11-6) coming out of last week’s sectional meets.

Other local competitors to qualify for today’s finals were Huntley triple jumper Krissy Bergquist and Crystal Lake South’s 4x800-meter relay team of Marianne Collard, Stephanie Woods, Emily Lenzini and Chelsey Tyllia.

“I wasn’t doing well in warmups, but I fixed my steps,” said Conway, who has jumped 5-7 this season. “My steps have been off a little bit. I hit the bar on my first jump [at 5-2], but it stayed on.”

Conway made 5-2, then left to measure her steps for the long jump, before returning to make 5-3. The competition was stopped at that point and will start again today at 5-2.

Ross did not run the anchor leg of Jacobs’ 4x100 relay because that race was running at the same time she was vaulting.

“I would have run it, but I knew it would have interfered with the pole vault,” Ross said. “We were seeded 35th in [the 4x100] and I’m seeded second in pole vault. Some of the girls were upset a few days, but they got used to it and understood.”

Crystal Lake South, which won the McHenry County, Fox Valley Conference and Class AA Huntley Sectional meets, qualified entries in 10 of the 18 events. The Gators experienced disappointment in Friday’s preliminaries, although the day got off to an encouraging start when the 4x800 relay ran a 9:26.78 to grab the 11th qualifying spot in a 12-team field.

“I was a little disappointed in myself at first, but then I heard my split and that we got into the finals, and I felt better,” Tyllia said.

Bergquist was a surprise finals qualifier in the triple jump, where she went 36-7 1/4.

South’s 4x400 team ran 3:58.89 and was 13th, missing the finals by four spots. Still, that time was faster than the time (3:59.63) that Tyllia, Aimee Schuh, Kellie Schuh and Diana Stec ran two years ago to take sixth in the finals. Tyllia, Collard and the Schuhs made up this year’s 4x400 team.

“Even if we don’t make it, we’re one of the beat 4x400 teams in the state,” Aimee Schuh said.

Kellie Schuh also was a few spots from making the finals in the 300 low hurdles and the triple jump.

“I was disappointed with the triple jump,” Kellie Schuh said. “I went 36-3 and scratched twice. In the 300s, I was a little bit of a mental case and still thinking about the triple jump, but [Huntley sophomore] Amy Fanella was over there [warming up for another heat] and told me to relax. That helped.”

South had another close call when sophomore Kristina Aubert missed the 1,600 finals by one spot.

“I feel like I could have gone with them,” said Aubert, who was sixth in the fastest heat. “My heart wasn’t set on the [1,600] like it is on the [3,200].”

The 3,200 is run only on Saturday at the state meet. Aubert, Richmond-Burton’s Lindsey Wilkins, Woodstock’s Elise Beattie, Marengo’s Sarah Sprague and Dundee-Crown’s Kelsey Seiler will run in the Class AA 3,200 today. Hampshire’s Holly Plichta will run in the Class A 3,200.

Bergquist