One
champion, many medals, all winners
Class A
girls' state track local results
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(Photos will be posted tomorrow)
By Rick
L. Hobler
[MAY 17, 2004]
My favorite
sporting events are the ones where there are no losers. And while
some sports enthusiasts (mostly guys) would say no such sporting
event exists, I disagree. I covered one such event this past
weekend.
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The IESA Class A
state track finals in East Peoria this past weekend, would qualify
as an "all winner" event. Some girls were crowned state champions,
many more were awarded medals for finishing as one of the top eight
athletes in the state, and the rest of the approximately 1,000
girls, as far as I could see, were also winners. And as I reflected
on the state track meet on a long drive out of state yesterday, I
couldn't recall a single young lady who gave anything less than her
personal best. Giving one's personal best always fits my definition
of a "winner."
Indulge me a moment
while I commend the last category of winners first. At this age
level (and even at the high school level), I define "winners" as
athletes who give their best individual effort regardless of their
individual ability level. "Effort" is deserving of encouragement,
praise and reward. And what I observed this year was nothing short
of amazing!
I saw a little girl
who cried as she ran the entire mile. I also saw her finish that
mile. I saw another local young lady who left the track momentarily
to "get sick," and then I saw her return to the track to finish her
race. Another young lady had what I would describe as a "panic
attack" just before her race began. She told one of the IESA
officials and me that she "just couldn't do it." After a short
encouraging talk from the IESA official and a couple of Kleenex from
my pocket, she decided to try to run her race. I saw her finish
second. I saw her calm, smiling and a little more mature as she
walked off the track. I saw others competing with scuffed up knees,
wrapped ankles and knee braces -- but regardless, they finished
their events. I saw girls who knew they were finishing last run just
as hard, maybe harder, than those who finished first.

On top of that, I
heard girls encouraging, cheering on and befriending other girls,
even though that "other girl" was a competitor on the track or in
the field. I heard the fans cheer just as loudly for the last-place
finisher, regardless of what school she was from, as they did for
the top finisher. I didn't hear one bad attitude expressed by any
girl anywhere around the track.
Great efforts plus
great attitudes make each of these girls winners. Congratulations to
each girl who competed and for the hours of commitment it took to
get you to the state finals. Now to the other recognized winners.
[to top of second column in
this article]

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Logan County was able to garner one state champion this year, that
being Chester-East Lincoln's eighth-grade 4 x 200-meter relay team
consisting of Ashley Bonaparte, Bridgette Hyde, Emily Berglin and
Kelsey Bunner. Having obliterated their competition all year, this
fine group of girls was no less dominating as they faced the entire
state of Illinois. The relay team won their event with a state
record time of 1:51.55. Only four seconds back was the relay team
from Carroll Catholic, who brought home a fourth-place finish.
At the team title
level, while no local team won a state championship, the
eighth-grade squad from Chester-East Lincoln was able to mount up
the fourth-highest point total in the state. Due to a tie for first
place, this gave C-EL the third-place state trophy. Carroll
Catholic's team came in sixth at the eighth-grade level.
Congratulations to these eighth-grade squads on their winning team
efforts!
The county schools
also brought home a load of medals. Medals are awarded for the top
eight finishers in the state. Medals were awarded to competitors
from Carroll Catholic, Chester-East Lincoln, Mount Pulaski and West
Lincoln-Broadwell.
Multiple medal
winners at the eighth-grade level included Kate Schonauer of Carroll
Catholic, Ashley Bonaparte and Bridgette Hyde of Chester-East
Lincoln, and Rachel Robertson of Mount Pulaski. The seventh-grade
level produced one multiple medalist, Hilary Hobler from West
Lincoln-Broadwell.
A complete (I hope)
list of medal winners and their events follows:
Seventh grade
Shot put: Nettie
Duncan (C-EL), Chrissy Schonauer (CC)
Long jump: Hilary
Hobler (WL-B)
100 meter: Hilary
Hobler
Eighth grade
Long jump: Rachel
Robertson (MP), Kate Schonauer (CC), Ashley Bonaparte (C-EL)
100 meter: Ashley
Bonaparte (C-EL), Kate Schonauer (CC)
200 meter: Ashley
Bonaparte (C-EL), Kate Schonauer (CC), Rachel Robertson (MP)
400 meter: Bridgette
Hyde (C-EL)
4 x 100 relay: Mount
Pulaski, West Lincoln-Broadwell (Browning, Elliott, Hobler and
Sheen)
4 x 200 relay:
Chester-East Lincoln, Carroll Catholic
And to those who say
"bah, humbug" to my suggestion that every girl was a winner this
weekend, I say: "You should have been there!" Way to go, girls!!!
[Rick
Hobler]
Respond to the writer at
rhobler@lccs.edu.
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