Track athletes can be quite finicky about their footwear.
But Homewood-Flossmoor’s Olivia Oliver simply had to wing it during Saturday’s finals of the Class 3A girls track state meet.
“My sprint spikes apparently disappeared,” Oliver said after anchoring the Vikings’ 400-meter relay to the championship in an impressive 46.97 seconds. “I was running in my jump spikes.
“We were like, ‘Everyone needs to run 10 times faster because I’m running in my jump spikes.’”
Maybe it wasn’t 10 times faster, but Oliver’s lead-in runners certainly did their part.
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A great start from Kaylah McCall gave H-F the early lead, while Jacqueline Bassey and Trelyn Newkirk extended it from there. Oliver had a comfortable cushion over the field when she received the baton.
“I wasn’t even paying attention if anyone was behind me,” Oliver said. “I just needed to get to my mark as fast as possible. I didn’t want to be the one to mess it up.
“After last year when we dropped the baton in prelims, we wanted to come out and show everyone what we could do.”
H-F’s quest to win the Class 3A team title fell short as the Vikings took the second-place trophy with 47 points. Naperville North won with 53 points. The Huskies had just one championship, but earned points in 10 events to slowly piece their way to the title.
For McCall, the 400 relay wasn’t her only appearance at the top of the podium. McCall fended off a tenacious field in the 100 hurdles to win the title in 14.06.
McCall’s finish was just a eyelash in front of Naperville North’s Halle Bieber, who was the runner-up in 14.13.
“I had to focus on my race and not worry about anyone else,” McCall said. “I was aware. Everybody is going for it, so I had to feel it. I was like, ‘They are coming.’”
Akila White took McCall’s place on the 800 relay that placed second to DeKalb, while the 1,600 relay of Amiya Barnes, Jaylyn Scales, White and Asanti Denton finished third in 3:54.13.
Denton also took fifth in the 400, while teammate Trinity Daniels was fifth in the triple jump at 38 feet, 5.25 inches.
It was also a banner day for Thornwood’s Jasmine Mitchell.
Mitchell did all her damage during Friday’s preliminary round where she tossed the shot put 45-10 and the discus 147-8. Mitchell’s distances stood up in both events Saturday for a pair of state titles.
Mitchell, a junior, won the shot by more than three feet and the discus by more than seven.
“Everything went well,” Mitchell said. “(Friday’s) marks were much better than (Saturday). I wanted to get to 46 in the shot, but it is still OK.”
Mitchell’s 20 points, along with five earned by teammate Morgan Reed’s fifth-place finish in the shot put with a 40-10.75, pushed Thornwood into seventh place.
Crete-Monee’s top effort came in the 800 relay, which finished third in 1:40.52. Lyn’Nikka Vance, a part of that tean, took sixth in the 200 with a 25.01 and seventh in the 100 with a 12.15.
Bloom’s Hannah Morris took fourth in the long jump with an 18-10.75.
In the 2A meet, Rich Central’s Jayla Campbell was the champion in the 400 with a 56.05. She added a fifth in the 200 with a 25.67 and third in the triple jump with a 38-5.75.
Steve Soucie is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.