PREP GIRLS TRACK: After tough trip in 3,200, Staunton’s Roller finds best stride in 1,600 – Alton Telegraph

CHARLESTON – Abby Korak, the competitor, would like to retain state championship as an ambitious goal.

Abby Korak, the intellect, understands that for any Class 3A distance runner, winning state may be unattainable unless Katelynn Hart moves out of Illinois.

“Honestly, she’s amazing,” Korak said of the junior from Glenbard West who never trailed in three races covering 5,600 meters Saturday. “I give her credit, she works really hard. It’s nice to dream, but I think it’s realistic to just stay with the pack instead.”

Edwardsville’s Korak led the pack well off the pace set by Hart in the 1,600 meters at the Class 3A state meet at Eastern Illinois and became the Tigers’ first girls track state medalist in the distance event. Korak finished eighth in 5 minutes, 5.46 seconds, hitting the line in a cluster of nine runners with times between 5:04.55 and 5:07.75.

Hart posted a time of 4:52.99 to complete her day as the star of the three-class meet. She also won the 800 in 2:13.11 and the 3,200 in 10:24.33. It gave her a third distance Triple Crown – cross country, 1,600 and 3,200 – in three years after winning those races as a freshman and sophomore.

“I watched her every single race this weekend,” said Staunton sophomore Lydia Roller, a four-time distance medalist in Class 2A. “She’s an idol. She’s crazy, I don’t know how she does it.”

With Korak and 10 others in the Class 3A 1,600 racing for best of the rest behind Hart, Korak got the medal she wanted, though conditions – a flag-whipping wind hitting runners coming into the stretch – kept some times higher than Friday’s prelims.

“The wind was definitely a factor today,” Korak said. “I wouldn’t say it made the race or it broke the race. But it definitely affected the stretch right here. It was a little bit hard, especially leading the pack for about half the race. The times were a little slower on the board today, but that’s OK because I was still able fight with all those girls.”

Despite her fastest time ever, Korak’s was the 12th of 12 to qualify for the finals out of 27 that got to the state prelims. She moved up to make the podium Saturday.

“I was just hoping to compete,” said Korak, who broke her own school record with a 5:00.92 in prelims that saw eight 3A runners break five minutes. “I was hoping the times would fall with it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get under five today. It’s OK though because I was hanging with everyone.”

Roller’s day in 2A ended on a high note with her second-place performance in the 1,600 after making a bold move in the final 300 meters. She finished in 5:11.80 after setting a school record at 5:04.99 in the prelims the day before.

Roller encountered more peril earlier in the day in the 3,200, in which she had produced times of 11:02.43 in the sectional with a school-record 10:50.25 in a distance invitational April 20 in Palatine. Roller led early before faltering and settling for a fourth-place state medal in 11:24.96.

“My shoe came untied going into the sixth lap,” Roller said with a smile. “I know it shifted my focus on to my shoe and it really shouldn’t have. It was a really hard race mentally because I was on the lead — and the wind. … I hate making excuses for myself, but today was pretty tough.”

Wind gusts also made the back half of Rory Drew’s run to a Class 1A medal more challenging. The junior became Carlinville’s 25th state medalist in an individual event when she placed fourth in the 400 meters in 59.84 after winning her prelim heat in 59.16 Thursday to earn the No. 3 seed.

“The wind was really a bummer today,” Drew said. “My time was a little bit slower than it was on Thursday. But I’m happy with the finish. The last 200, it was pretty bad.”

Both of Alton’s finalists won Class 3A medals. Senior Jeanea Epps, with the 100-meters field running with the wind at their back, ran ninth in 12.25 seconds. She is the Redbirds’ first state medalist in the 100. Senior Bria Thurman placed seventh in the shot put at 41-03.5 to join Redbirds Jewel Wagner (sixth in 2015) and Dedra Jackson (eighth in 1986) as medalist in that event.