Sports
Track: Five Naperville Girls Win Sectional Titles
Under tough conditions, Waubonsie junior Morolake Akinosun and North sophomore Hope Turner each advance to state in two events.
Corrected
In a spring that has not been conductive to great track and field results, Friday’s Class 3A Naperville North Sectional provided similar conditions to the ones seen by girls all spring.
With temperatures in the low 50s and a competitors forced to run into a stiff breeze, the amount of qualifiers to the state meet at Eastern Illinois University next weekend were cut down significantly, with only eight at-large qualifiers the entire night moving on. The top two in each event automatically advance.
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That even tripped up several of the meet’s stars. Neuqua Valley sophomore Savannah Carson missed qualifying in the 100 meters by 0.1 seconds, but managed to advance in the 200, finishing second to Plainfield North junior Cessily Jones.
But Jones’ big win denied Waubonsie Valley junior Morolake Akinosun a chance to advance in the 200. She finished third.
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Akinosun’s win in the 100, with Jones following her, denied her Aurora Flyers teammate, Carson, a chance to advance.
“It’s kind of been a rough night in general,” Akinosun admitted. “I’m happy that I qualified in the 100 and the 400. I’m more upset that Savannah didn’t make it in the 100 than I am that I didn’t make it in the 200. I would have given anything to see Savannah next to me in the state finals. She’s definitely a teammate before a rival school. She made it in the 200, so she’s doing that for me.”
Akinosun won the fast heat of the 400, but wound up second overall. Plainfield Central junior Jenna Moody topped her time of 59.17 by winning the fourth of the five heats in 58.78, squeezing Naperville Central’s Jenny Alberts out of a trip to state in the process.
It was that kind of night all night in just about every event, which is why Carson took no chances in the 200. Facing the prospect of not advancing to the state meet in any event, she made sure she advanced in the 200.
“I was just kind of running for my life, because I was scared out of my mind,” Carson said. “I’m not going to lie. I needed to make it to state in something.”
Naperville North sophomore Hope Turner advanced to state with a unique combination of events, winning the discus with a personal-best throw of 112-5 and finishing second in her main event, the pole vault.
“Pole vault is my main sport, but last year, the coaches told me that I should try discus because I have really long arms,” Turner said. “I just kept it up. The hardest part is running back and forth (between events). There was no time to rest or take anything in.”
Neuqua Valley finished second as a team behind runaway sectional champion West Aurora. The Wildcats’ lone win came from junior Jasmine Maclin in the shot put (38-9.5). Their other state qualifiers include junior Kate Kondry in the triple jump, the 4x800 relay team and junior Stephanie Jackson in the 300 hurdles.
Akinosun will be joined at state by senior Chloe Hamilton (shot put). Naperville Central’s only title came from the 4x800 relay team of 4x800 relay team is Jenny Alberts, Kailey Mikulec, Hannah Wood and Alex Cushing. Central’s other qualifiers were senior Liz Crissy (high jump), junior Amanda Fox (3,200) and the 4x400 relay team.
Sports Writer Paul Johnson inadvertently named the Naperville North team rather than the Naperville Central 4x800 relay team.
