CHARLESTON, Ill. — Emmi Scales waited all season to get an opportunity to test herself.
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The St. Viator junior said she was energized by the chance to compete against the best in the 100-meter dash, the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles, all of which she dominated in the preliminaries of the Class 2A state meet at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field on Friday.
“I’ve been running without any competition for the whole season,” Scales said. “No one was pushing me.”
Scales showed she was ready for the big jump in competition, making program history by winning the state title in all three of events on Saturday.
She clocked a winning time of 12.32 seconds in the 100 dash and came back following a four-minute break due to the rolling schedule to capture the 100 hurdles in 14.01. Then she overcame a wet track to win the 300 hurdles in 42.81. The meet had a two-hour weather delay.
Scales, who shared the honor of East Suburban Catholic Conference track athlete of the year with teammate Mary Grace Hegberg, said she was motivated by the level of competition.
“Coming here and getting back with people coming up behind me and pushing me, I’m glad that I was able to come out on top in all three,” Scales said. “I’ve been working really hard for the past eight months.”
Scales scored 30 points to help the Lions finish fourth in the 2A team standings with 44 points. Hegberg, a senior, was third in the 1,600 (4:49.50) and the 3,200 (10:14.58).
“Emmi was amazing all weekend,” St. Viator coach Bill Stanczak said. “She ran really well and competed so hard. We knew after last year she was going to come back hard and probably do very well at state. She’s a driven athlete, and she ran really well. She had a dominating performance.”
A late entry
Competing in club and high school, Scales said track consumes her daily schedule.
But it wasn’t always her best sport, she said. She started cheerleading when she was 8 years old. Her middle school in Roselle didn’t have a track team, but she joined a club track team when she was 12.
She quickly realized the world of club track was very demanding.
“Club track is very competitive,” Scales said. “I was going to national meets since I was pretty young, so I’m used to the pressure of the competition. That did help me coming into school track.
“But it was cheerleading for a long time first. Ever since I was very young, it was always cheer and dance. Track just came out nowhere. But I like both and am pretty good at both. I’ve been to state competitions for St. Viator and club cheer when I was younger.”
Scales said competing in both pushed her body to the limit.
“Track and cheerleading are two completely different things and create two different types of muscle memory, especially for the hurdles,” she said. “It was a really big disadvantage with muscle memory. … It messed me up a bit. It’s been really bad for my back and hips. I’ve been to physical therapy and the chiropractor a lot to fix things up.”
Scales said she started to limit her time cheerleading to concentrate more on indoor and outdoor track. Hurdles are her specialty, and she also competes in relays and sprints. But she said she still plans to make the occasional appearance at Friday night football games to show off her cheerleading skills.
“Cheerleading has kind of died down for me, but I’m still doing sidelines in the fall for fun,” she said. “I’m a flipper and love tumbling backflips. I used to do winter season, which is competitive. I will not be doing that anymore because I was in a lot of pain.”
Scales said her family taught her to embrace different sports and value competition. Her mother, Anna, was a successful track athlete in high school. Her brother, PJ, is a freshman wide receiver at Johns Hopkins.
“We’re an athletic family,” Scales said, “with my dad playing basketball and a little bit of track (too). … I learned how to stay focused from my mom. PJ taught me about getting out and going hard for everything.”
Bouncing back
Scales was forced to scale back her events during the outdoor season last year after suffering a lower leg injury.
She didn’t compete in the hurdles at state, but she finished eighth in the 200 and 13th in the 100.
St. Viator track assistant Mike Olayos said he said noticed Scales’ disappointment last June.
“She wanted to do better at state last year, and that led her on a revenge tour to prove herself,” Olayos said.
Olayos, a retired coach with almost 45 years of experience in New York and Florida, said he was impressed by Scales during early winter workouts.
“At one of the very first practices in the hallways indoors, we were doing some 80s in a long hallway, and she just looked strong,” Olayos said. “I thought, ‘Ooh, this is going to be a good year.’ She looked faster and stronger. In hurdling, both of these things are essential components.
“She looked like she skipped a couple of steps. In the first couple of indoor races, she dominated the field — looked good and was technically good. I was fortunate to coach a lot of top hurdlers in Florida. You could see Emmi was going to do something special.”
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Stanczak said Scales is a highly motivated athlete, so he knew she was planning to make a big splash at state this season.
“Last year at state, it was tough for her,” he said. “She’s a hurdle specialist. You knew back then that she was going to come back stronger and hungrier.”
‘Quite a show’
Scales was ready to go full-tilt in the preliminaries at the state meet on Friday.
She coasted to the fastest times in her three events, setting the stage for a track trifecta.
“I couldn’t wait for the finals because I wasn’t able to run in the hurdles last year because I was injured,” Scales said.
She cruised to first in each final, although she was pushed for the first 60 meters in the 100 hurdles by Rantoul’s Brianna Dixon.
“She just had a dominating performance, right out of the gates and blocks on Saturday,” Olayos said of Scales. “This is going to be tough to top in her senior season. She put on quite a show. You could hear the ripple through the crowd.
“You hesitate to say the sky is the limit for her, but I know she’s busy setting goals for next year.”
Stanczak said Scales shares many of the traits that made former St. Viator standout Elizabeth Drab an all-state runner.
“Emmi has a relentless work ethic,” he said. “She’s blessed with great parents who will help her with her dreams. What can she do next year now? I think she set the bar high.
“She’s looking to go to a Division I school. She’s totally focused on the next step and what else she can learn as far as getting that extra half-second off her time. We saw last year what she could achieve.”
Soon after claiming her third first-place medal Saturday, Scales pondered her future in track. She’s looking forward to a “few days off” before jumping right back into the summer grind of club track.
“My No. 1 goal is to go Division I,” she said. “I think track is really nice indoors, and that’s a huge part of collegiate athletics. But I think it’s an outdoor sport more for me. Not being able to do it all year round is frustrating, so I feel I get held back a bit. So I’d like to be down South in the future. I’m excited about the future.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the Pioneer Press.