CHARLESTON -- Does Batavia belong? Better believe it.
Coach Chad Hillman's Bulldogs proved it Saturday at the IHSA girls state track meet.
Powered by standout Natalie Tarter and her win in the 300 hurdles, Batavia scored 34 points to tie Hoffman Estates Conant for third place and claim just the fourth state team trophy in school history.
"For several years we came down here thinking that's another league," said Hillman. "But this is where we belong, with the (traditional powers) like East St. Louis and Evanston."
Indeed they do.
Tarter took second in the 100-meter hurdles (14.32 seconds) and sixth in the 100-meter dash (12.34). She won the 300 hurdles in 42.14, edging Waubonsie Valley's Shakeia Pinnick (42.82) and then came back and ran a leg on the Bulldogs' fourth-place 1600-meter relay that also included Brooke Bernardoni, Alexis Sampson and Kathryn Warner.
"That's the cool thing about our team," Sampson had said during Friday's preliminaries. "We all have special talents and then we all come together for the four-by-four (1600) relay."
The Bulldogs got five points from Sampson's fifth-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:13.83) and Warner took ninth in the pole vault, clearing 10-6 and picking up a critical team point. Melissa Norville finished 11th in the triple jump, just missing a chance to add another score.
East St. Louis Senior, led by senior Ronecia Nash's four first-place finishes (100, 100 hurdles, 200 and 400 relay), scored 65 points to run away with the title. Barrington was second with 38.
"I wanted a state first-place finish so bad," said Tarter, who probably figured it would come in the 100 hurdles, where she had a higher seed than in the 300. "That was our goal, to get a state championship in some event. We didn't care which one it was."
Nash left little doubt in the 100 hurdles, though, winning in 14.16.
"I didn't feel on my game in the 100 hurdles," said Tarter. "I was a bit disappointed in myself."
"I got a horrible start," said Pinnick, who had Tarter in the lane to her left and Nash on her right and finished fourth in 14.65.
"You need to get out fast and it was kind of hard to come back from that. When they get out like that, it's hard to catch up."
In the 300 hurdles, the two area standouts were again side by side. And again, Tarter got off strong while Pinnick struggled with her steps leading to the first hurdle.
"I don't know what got into me," said Tarter, admitting she was running angry.
"After that first hurdle they were pretty even but something just happened and (Tarter) took off," said Hillman. "She just ran that race well and was always on stride."
Warner was hoping to clear a personal best 11 feet in the pole vault but came up short, clearing 10-6.
"At least I got to get on the podium, or at least stand next to it,' she said. "It got me my medal."
Batavia's 1600 relay came in seeded first based on Friday's prelim time of 3:51.50. They couldn't quite match it, running a 3:52.65 and finishing behind Proviso East (3:47.14), Evanston and Barrington.
"Being the No. 1 seed put a lot of pressure on us," said Warner, a sophomore like Sampson. "I know I was really nervous about that."
She still managed to catch a couple runners after starting the final leg in seventh place.
"It was amazing," Hillman said of his team's effort. "We didn't talk about points or how we'd do as a team. The points have to take care of themselves. You just stress to each kid to do their best in their event."
Girls State Track
Related Content [Click to close/expand]
Facebook App
Font Size
Black Text
Cell Phone Alerts