Published: May 10, 2008 03:29 am         

Sectional ends in a tough way

PAXTON — Excitement and frustration are the two words that seemed to sum up Friday’s IHSA Class A Paxton-Buckley-Loda Sectional track meet.

Oakwood/Armstrong-Potomac senior Stephanie Denius and Bismarck-Henning sophomore Jessica Brito both came into the meet with thoughts of qualifying in four events.

And when the meet started, both of them excelled in their field event, but when the day ended they were both thinking about what could have been.

“I’m excited that I made it in three events, but I’m disappointed that I didn’t make it in the 100,’’ said Denius, who finished in the 100 with a time of 13.13 seconds. She either needed to finish in the top two or run a 12.94 to qualify. “I went in four events last year, so I’m disappointed that I’m only going in three this year.’’

Denius did advance in the triple jump, with a career best 36 feet, 5 inches, in the 300 hurdles and the high jump for the Comets.

“The only thing that really went well was the triple jump,’’ she said. “I jumped awesome today and that surprised me, because it was so cold.

“If you would have told me that I was going to jump 35 feet today, I would have said you were crazy and then I end up going 36 feet.’’

Coming into Friday night, her best jump this year has been 35-1½ and her school record was 35-9.

“I’ve been nervous since I woke up this morning, and then I scratch on my first attempt in the triple jump,’’ said Denius. “I didn’t think I jumped that far, but my coach said that it looked pretty good.

“On my second attempt, I got 36-4 right off the bat and then on my next attempt I got 36-5. That was good enough, so I didn’t jump in the finals.’’

It was a similar story for Brito in her first event of the day as she jumped a career best of 17-0½ in the long jump.

“Everything started off really well for me with the long jump and making the finals in the 200,’’ Brito said.

Bismarck-Henning teammates Kayla Savalick, a senior, and Chelsea Robinson, a senior, kept things going in a positive direction for the Blue Devils and Vermilion County.

Savalick won the 100 hurdles in a time of 17.35 seconds, while Robinson was third in the shot put, but she had a state-qualifying throw of 36-2.

“It really started out well and we felt things were going our way,’’ Bismarck-Henning coach Susan Kentner said. “The only disappointment was our 3,200 relay team taking a good shot and they just missed qualifying.’’

The first major disappointment came in the 100 as Denius, the top runner in the prelims, finished fourth.

“I didn’t get out of my blocks well. I felt like I was moving quick and we were all so close,’’ she said. “I beat some of those girls before and I just missed the qualifying time.’’

While Denius was dealing with the emotions of just missing, Brito had her own turning point of the meet.

In the 800 relay, the Blue Devils were fourth entering the final exchange zone. Something happened in the handoff between Keisha Hoskins and Brito.

“I was so pumped for that race and we dropped the baton,’’ Brito said. “There was no chance to recover and make it to state after that.

“I was really down. I felt like I let my teammates down.’’

Brito had to turn around and run her 400, where she finished second with a disappointing time of 1 minute, 2.39 seconds.

“Instead of focusing on what I had to do in the 400, I was still thinking about what had happened in the 800 relay,’’ Brito acknowledged. “Thankfully, I ran fast enough to qualify for state.’’

Denius had a little time after her disappointment in the 100 to collect her emotions and focus them on the task at hand.

She ran a 48.12 in the 300 hurdles, winning the event by more than three seconds.

“Yeah, I got really mad after the 100 and I was determined to go fast in the 300 hurdles,’’ she said.

Hoopeston Area junior Erika Ramos qualified for state in the 800 with her second-place finish. It is the third straight year that Ramos has qualified for state in that event.

St. Joseph-Ogden won the sectional title by 10 points over Monticello (87-77).

Bismarck-Henning was third with 52 points and Oakwood/Armstrong-Potomac took fourth with 49 points.