Lick Creek Lady Eagles track team takes third at state meet

The Lick Creek Lady Eagles headed to the SIJHSAA Class S state track meet at Herrin on Saturday looking for their second trophy in as many years. 

The Lady Eagles were looking to finish off a very successful season after winning the Jonesboro/Goreville Invitational, Anna Invitational, EJHS Conference and a regional championship.

Starting out the scoring for the Lady Eagles was Kristin Edmonds in the shot put. Edmonds threw a personal best 32’-10” on her final throw to move into 3rd place. 

“Kristin has worked really hard at the shot. She has spent a lot of extra time to get where she is. There were several days she would do her 1 1/2 hour normal practice, and stay for another two hours to throw, not to mention the Saturdays and Sundays she put in. She earned every bit of it that’s for sure,” Lick Creek coach Matt Denny stated.

First up on the track was Addison Denny in the 100m hurdles. Denny finished with a time of 18.30 which was good enough for  6th. 

“Addie has been working at this really hard, and just missed placing last year. She is going to be a really good hurdler in high school. She spends a lot of time working to get better,” Denny said.

Next up was the 4x100 relay team of Kaylee Stover, Addison Denny, Shae Thorne and Edmonds. They ran a season best 55.78, beating their season best by over a second, finishing in 5th place.

The 1600m run was up next for the Lady Eagles. Brodie Denny and Jadyn Gerardi competed for Lick Creek. Denny ran a personal best time of 5:41, which was good enough for a 3rd place finish in a very fast race. 

Tatum David of St. Joseph Olney ran a state record 5:26 to take first. 

Gerardi came in with a time of 6:00, which was good enough for 8th place. Gerardi is only in the 3rd grade and she was the first 3rd grader to ever place at the state meet. 

“Jadyn is very special, and she has put in her time as well. She has been running before school since January, even when it was 8 degrees. What she does at her age is crazy. She is going to see her share of championships before she is done,” Denny said.

Back on the track was Stover, A. Denny, Thorne and Edmonds in the 4x200 relay. The Lady Eagles again turned in a season best time of 1:58.69 which was good enough for 6th place. 

“These four have been solid all year in our sprint relays, without having a super fast sprinter on our team, they have really stepped up to the challenge and worked very hard on their hand-offs all year,” Lick Creek coach Ryan Vicenzi said.

Brodie Denny and Jadyn Gerardi were up again for the 800m run. 

“Brodie has had this race in her sights since last year when she ran fast enough to break the state record but still finished third. She was devastated last year,” Denny said.

Brodie Denny was able to avenge her loss from last year by winning this years race with a time of 2:30.42, which was almost identical to last years time. 

“Brodie has worked for this since last year, putting in a lot of early mornings and weekends to get this done,” Denny said.

Gerardi finished with a time of 2:55 just missing out on a medal.

The Lady Eagles finished up with the last event of the day, the 4x400 relay. The team of Stover, A. Denny, Edmonds and B. Denny ran a season best time of 4:29.01, which was fast enough to break the state record only to finish second behind St. Claire O’Fallon. 

“The girls  have taken pride in this relay the last few years. The 400 is not an easy race. Addison and Kaylee stepped up to the plate this year, after not having run the 400 in the past. They have a lot of heart and worked really hard to get where they were,” Vicenzi said.

The Lady Eagles finished third with 41 points behind champion St. Claire O’Fallon with 68, and second place St. Bruno Caltholic with 59. Jonesboro finished 4th with 31 points. 

 

 

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
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