Above: It was bittersweet as Luther North stands with the 1A team trophy (Mike Newman photo)

By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

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Charleston – There are life cycles that you appreciate when they have completed their run. That was the case in Saturday’s 1A IHSA State Meet when three eras came to an end. All were appreciated by the fans that witnessed the meet after an hour delay due to thunderstorms.

The first was the performance from a small group of athletes from Luther North High School located on the northwest side of Chicago. At the beginning of May, it was announced that the school would shut down at the end of the school year due to declining enrollment.

The last hurrah by the Wildcats was a loud one. Nine athletes made the trip to Charleston. Kayla Armstrong, Jada Williams, and Natasha Bernett qualified in nine individual events and part of all 59 points scored to win the team championship. It was the first (and last) state championship in the school’s history. Warrensburg-Latham finished second with 52 points. It was the second year in a row that the Cardinals finished second. St. Joseph-Ogden scored 42 points to finish third.

When the announcement was made that they had won, there was jubilation of the Luther North contingent. The cheers turned to tears realizing what they had accomplishment as well that this was the end for the school.

It started in the 400 Meter Relay with the threesome along with junior Cameron Boone. Armstrong came from behind in the final leg to pass St. Joseph-Ogden’s Zea Maroon in the final five-meters to give North the win (49.41-49.50). That was just the beginning of a momentum swing that would push them to the title.

Before the start of the running events, Bernett finished fifth in the Triple Jump. It was then her turn in the 100 Meter Hurdles as she finished fifth in the event. Armstrong and Williams followed placing second and eighth. Armstrong followed with another come from behind win. She passed Milledgeville’s Rebecca Waite again near the finish to pick up the win (57.14) ahead of Waite (57.51). Bernett followed with another come from behind win as she passed Chester’s Morgan Atchison over the final hurdle for the win (45.52 – 45.73). Armstrong and Williams completed the scoring for Luther North as they finished fourth and seventh in the 200 Meter Dash.

It was inspirational of what the three athletes accomplished on this Saturday afternoon. It was not desperation but knowing that the extra effort that they gave produced something special.

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The second area was that of the reign in the weight events by Kathleen Young of Warrensburg-Latham. Coming into her final IHSA State Meet, Young had gone undefeated in the Shot Put during her Illinois career and lost only once in a meet in April of 2016 in the Discus. She had won three straight years here in Charleston in both weight events.

She had a five-foot lead heading into the finals of the Shot Put. The event was moved indoors due to the rain. It did not seem to bother Young who was all business like in the ring. She fouled on her first attempt and threw 48-0 on attempt #2. When Chloe Lindeman of Fulton, who was in second, could not improve on her 43-1.5 best, it clinched the final championship in the event. She spent a little longer in the front of the ring before she started her spin. She usually would go in and just throw wasting little time. This was a moment to let sink in. It was a moment to treasure. She threw 48-5 that did not improve the 48-11.5 in the prelims. She was greeted by her parents and her eyes watered. It was a special moment.

Young improved on her prelim best in the Discus throwing 150-0 to win by 15-feet ahead of Salt Fork’s Katie Witte.

“It was a goal of mine after I won the state title in eighth grade, I thought I could win in all four years and I did that,” Young said. “All I could do was ride his out. It has been great.”

Eight tries in four years. Eight titles. What a career.

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Anna Sophia Keller of St. Anthony will have the legacy of perhaps the most decorated distance runner in the state’s history. She won the 1A state cross country title four straight years. On Saturday, she would attempt to win the 3200 Meter Run for the third time and the 1600 Meter Run for the fourth time.

Each race was methodical slowing pulling away from her competition until the final part of the race when she would pick up the pace. Daly Galloway of Dwight and Claudia Magnussen of Pana were within seven seconds of Keller with three laps to go. The St. Anthony senior picked up her pace including closing in a final 70-second lap to cross the line in 10:36.64 for her tenth state title. Galloway finished 22-seconds back (10:58.11) with Magnussen third (11:02.45).

Galloway and Keller were even at the half way point going through in 2:33. That is when Keller took off. She said after the race that she wanted to save a little for the 1600 Meter Relay that she would run. Nevertheless, Keller ran her fastest final 400 in her career (68-seconds) to cross the line running 4:58.42. It was her 11^th state title.

“I won the 3200 but I knew I had to save something in the 1600 for the relay for my teammates,” Keller said afterwards. “I ran my fastest last lap ever (68 seconds) but I still had something left for that race.”

As she came down the final straight, fans gave her a standing ovation. It was so deserving for this champion.

1A Highlights

Hamstring problems hampered Courtney Sockwell’s senior season so much so that she did not think she would be able to defend her titles in the 100 and 200 Meter Dash. Her second-place finishes at her sectional races raised a little concern heading into this weekend. When she ran the fastest prelim time in the 100 Meter Dash on Thursday, all those concerns were erased.

She got off to a great start in the 100 Meter Dash finals running 11.95 for the win with a +3.1 m/s tailwind. Kayla Armstrong finished second (12.14). Sockwell defended her 200 Meter Dash final as she ran 25.33 to win the race ahead of Rebecca Waite (25.86).

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Arielle Summitt wanted to defend her 800 Meter Run title but a back injury held her out of the meet the week before her sectional races. She did what she needed to do to qualify for both the 800 Meter Run and the 1600 Meter Run. Her 800 final was a glimpse of what we saw from her last year. Summitt let Audrey Harrod of Hinckley-Big Rock lead the first 400-meters of the race as the two passed by in 65.1 seconds. Summitt took the lead with 300-meters to go and never looked back. She defended her state title (2:13.17) finishing three seconds ahead of Harrod (2:16.58). Summitt came back to run 5:08.67 to finish second behind Keller in the 1600 Meter Run.

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St. Joseph-Ogden ran into some bad luck in their first three relays of Saturday. In the final lap of the 3200 Meter Relay, Faith Houston was holding off Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s Chelsea Pawlak on the first curve when Houston stepped on the steel curb losing her balance and he baton that flew into the infield. It was a shame since Houston and her teammates were running a great race considering they had the final qualifying time into the finals. Pawlak went on to win the race for her team (9:40.25). St. Joseph-Ogden was disqualified after Houston retrieved the baton but did not return to the rack from the same spot she left it.

Then there was the 400 Meter Relay where they finished second behind Luther North. In the 800 Meter Relay, Warrensburg Latham’s Taylor George passed Sydney Gallo in the final 50-meters for the win (1:44.15) ahead of the Spartans’ 1:44.95. Everything went right in the 1600 Meter Relay final as Abby Miser pulled away from Seneca’s Eva Bruno to give her team the win (4:03.26) ahead of Seneca (4:05.20). It secured their third-place team finish.

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Sophomore Janika Peitzameier stood in disbelief after she found out she won the 100 Meter Hurdles (14.55) just eight hundredths of a second ahead of Parker Francisco of St. Joseph-Ogden (14.63).

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Two of last year’s event champions defended their titles in the field events. DaeLin Switzer of St. Teresa cleared 5-6 to win the High Jump for the second year in a row. Kristin Slaughter of St. Anthony cleared a season’s best of 12-6 to win back to back titles in the Pole Vault.

There was no change in the lead from the prelims in the Long Jump as Keith Country Day’s Paige Yoder jumped 18-1 to win the Long Jump. Tarynn Mays of DuQuoin jumped 37-2 on Saturday for a come from behind win in the Triple Jump ahead of Orion’s Danielle Taets.