Whips win relay, but just barely

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CHARLESTON – Hampshire’s Cassie Kruse tried not to concern herself with the 25-meter lead that Yorkville’s Ali Hester had heading into the final leg of the Class 2A 4x800-meter relay.

“I just want to go out and run as fast as I can,” Kruse said. “I try not to worry about it and stay mentally tough.”

As Kruse came around the final curve, she was closer to Hester, but also had Rochelle’s Michelle Dobbs in her shadow. Kruse held off Dobbs and caught Hester just before the finish line. The question was if she had passed her.

For a couple of minutes, fans at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium watched the jumbo screen and waited. Finally, the results were posted. Hampshire had 9:22.042, Yorkville’s time was 9:22.048. By six-thousandths of a second, the Whip-Purs had a title at the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet. It is their first since Erin Salinas won the Class A discus in 2002.

“Deep inside, I knew we had it,” said Tiffany
Phu, who ran the second leg. “We wanted this so bad.”

Paige Membrano started the race and was followed by Phu, Holly Plichta and Kruse. Hampshire coach Patti Nihells made the difficult decision to replace Autumn Chomenko with Phu in the finals. Chomenko ran with Membrano, Plichta and Kruse and set a meet record Friday. The Whips went 10 seconds faster, and needed every fraction, in the finals.

“Tiffany was sick and didn’t run the 4x800 on Friday,” Nihells said. “She missed practice on Wednesday. Autumn wasn’t happy, it was a tough decision. No distance is too great for Cassie, and the other three put her in a good position.”

Nihells said they would look into getting another medal for Chomenko since she played a big part in getting the team there.

“It was amazing, a ton of fun,” Plichta said. “Cassie’s last leg was awesome.”

Plichta handed the baton to Kruse in second place, but it still appeared to be a race for second until the final straightaway.

Aubert’s big finish: The ninth-place medal draped around Kristina Aubert’s neck was the sixth of her high school running career and more special than most. It would be difficult to top her first one – for winning the Class AA 3,200 as a freshman – but for what Aubert accomplished and overcame, this one might be next.

Aubert never had quite reached her freshman form again in high school until Saturday. Early in the meet, she ran away from the field in the slower heat of the Class 3A 3,200 in 10:49.01, two seconds faster than her state title run three years ago, 22 seconds faster than she’s run this season.

“That race was the most mentally focused I’ve ever been,” Aubert said. “My best time was 11:11, so I didn’t think I could do that. [Woodstock’s] Kayla Beattie inspired me by pulling it off last year.”

A year ago, Beattie took sixth out of the slower heat. Aubert, who ran the 3,200 at the Hononegah Sectional during the windiest part of the meet, was put in the slower heat because of that. Then, she delivered her best run since her freshman season.

“I thank God for this,” said Aubert, who has four state track medals and two for cross country. “I changed my life around in the last year and a half. There was a lot of pressure after winning state as a freshman. I just wanted to not feel like I have to run, but that I wanted to run. I wanted it to be fun.”

Aubert will run next year at NCAA Division I Arkansas State. She was texting coaches and future teammates after her run Saturday. She wants to run the 3,000 meters and the steeplechase in college.

Plichta’s busy day: Plichta was the only local athlete Saturday to compete in three events. She ran a leg on the winning 4x800 relay, took sixth in the 3,200 and was 12th in the 1,600. That’s 14 laps in 80-plus degree temperatures.

“I’m doing fine. It’s my senior year and I want to medal in all three,” Plichta said after the 3,200. “After the 3,200, the 1,600 will seem short.”

Plichta may have been a little tired, but she still put in a standout performance. Had she not run in the 4x800, she would have had more left for the 1,600, but the Whips probably would not have been state champs.

“She took one for the team,” Kruse said.

How ’bout them Hornets? This might be one of Harvard’s biggest weekends this side of Milk Days.

The Hornets won their first boys sectional track and field title Friday at Genoa-Kingston, then grabbed Class 2A regional championships in baseball and softball Saturday.

Missing qualifiers: A few boys state track and field qualifiers were omitted from Saturday editions of the Northwest Herald.

At the Class 2A Grayslake Central Sectional, Crystal Lake Central’s Mike Bondi advanced in the 800. At the Class 3A Huntley Sectional, Dundee-Crown’s 4x800 team of Nate Kirchhoff, Jon Clark, Ryan Smith and Mike Wiechmann also advanced.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.