MTZ girls track qualifies in 10 events for the state final

By BLAKE FAITH
Staff Writer

The Mt. Zion girls track and field team qualified in 10 events at the IHSA 2A State Track Championship last week at the IHSA 2A Sectional at Charleston.

In the 400 meters, Brooklyn Kondritz finished in fifth place with a time of one minute and 55 seconds. In the 800 meters, Camille Mavis flashed in sixth place with a time of two minutes and 23 seconds.

Renee Ballard and Ellie Fritzche finished in second and seventh place in the 1600 meters with a personal record and qualifying times of five minutes and 17 seconds and five minutes and 30 seconds. Fritzche then qualified in the 3200 meters with a second place finish and personal record time of 11 minutes and six seconds.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Jinna Hiser and Kendal Smith finished in first and second place with qualifying personal record times of 16.20 seconds and 16.22 seconds.

In the 4×200 relay, Tayetum Flanigan, Taylor Larson, Josie Morelli and Hillary Owens finished in second place with a qualifying time of one minute and 48 seconds. In the 4×400 relay, Larson, Avery Sommer, Kondritz and Owens finished in fourth place with a qualifying time of four minutes and 11 seconds.

In the 4×800 relay, Sommer, Mavis, Ballard and Brooke Doyle finished in third place with a time of 10 minutes and two seconds. Kondritz qualified in the pole vault with a first place qualifying jump of 3.43 meters. Smith then qualified for the triple jump with a third place jump of 10.94 meters.

“The meet didn’t go as planned and I know that some of them dealt with nerves because of wind delays, restarts and even a rerun,” Head Coach Kelly Fox said. “In my 28 years of coaching experience, I’ve never dealt with what we had to deal with in the Pole Vault, 4×800, 4×400. You’ve hard the saying before “Life’s not fair” and several of them had to deal with frustration and disappointment. Dealing with adversity is part of our sport and we can all grow from our experiences. We can’t go back and change the result and none of what happens takes away from what we have all achieved so far. Let’s continue to build this fire inside of us.”

These Braves will compete in the IHSA 2A State attack and Field Championship Prelims on Friday at EIU. If they qualify for the final, they’ll compete on Saturday.