By Mark Gregory | @Hear_The_Beard
The Valley View School District has fielded several successful female track and field athletes in the past and for Romeoville and Bolingbrook, they are hoping that success carries over to this season.
Combined, the Spartans and Raiders will send six events to this weekend’s IHSA Class 3A state track and field meet in O’Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
The track events started off nicely for the teams as both of the Valley View 400-meter relay teams advanced to the state meet as Romeoville placed third in a time of 49.10 seconds and Bolingbrook placed fourth in 49.40.
Kayla Perry anchored the state-qualifying 400-meter relay team at the Lockport Sectional.
Romeoville’s squad was made up of Katie Kerwin, Jahnetta Jones, Nia Lee and Kaniyah Rush, while Bolingbrook’s quartet was Claire Young, Karah Evans, Kayla Perry and Kayla Walters.
“I felt really good about the race,” Perry said. “I think we could have done a little better, but it was good enough to advance. We have come a long way with our handoffs and our chemistry and I am really proud of us.”
The Spartans are sending the 800 relay squad as well, as it placed fourth in 1 minute, 45.27 seconds.
That foursome was made up of Kerwin, Jones, Rush and Kiara Carter.
“This feel really good,” Kerwin said. “We have worked really hard to get here and we have put our best effort into this, so I think we deserve it. It feels a lot better having more events at state because we can represent more as a team rather than individuals and we can show how hard we work as a whole team.”
In both events, the Spartans finished outside of the automatic qualifiers, which go to the top two places, so they had to hit the state standard – something the team is proud of.
“It feels really good and we know that at state we can take first or second and not have to worry about the time,” Rush said.
The motivation was easy, however, for the Spartans because no one has taken them as a threat.
“Everyone has this stereotype that Romeoville is just not good,” Jones said. “So, we proved ourselves. We already knew we had it, we just needed to push ourselves to get where we wanted to go. This is just amazing.”
Not only did Lee help the 400 relay advance, she advanced individually in the long jump with a leap of 17-feet, 7.75-inches and in the triple jump, as she placed second with a leap of 36-11.50.
“I had my personal best in both events,” Lee said. “So that felt good. I just want to run on that blue track in an orange uniform and I knew I had to do it.”
Lee’s advancement in the triple jump makes it three straight seasons the Spartans have a triple jumper, but before the season, that may not have been the case.
“Triple jump is my favorite event and it is kind of crazy because this is my first season doing it,” the junior said. “My coach thought I should try it, so I went with it. It was easier than I thought it would be to learn. At first, I was a little scared it would hurt my knee or my foot because it looks hard, but it came fast to me and I am going to state and this is great. Now, I have another year to improve on it.”
Also in the field events, Bolingbrook is sending Rachel McNiel in the shot put as she advanced with a second-place throw of 37-00.
“This is crazy, I didn’t think I would do it,” McNiel said. “My friends support me a lot and they knew I was going to go to state, so that had me pumped up. I am going to work hard this week. I want to hit a 39, which is a foot above state (standard) to prove that I deserve to be down there.”
As a team, Bolingbrook placed sixth with 33 points, while Romeoville was seventh with 32. Lincoln-Way East won the meet with 132 points.