The Evanston Township High School girls track and field program celebrated a rare anniversary Saturday at the Class 3A Illinois High School Association state finals at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
For the 50th straight year – a streak matched by no other high school program in any sport – the Wildkits scored points at the state meet.
Junior Stella Davis delivered an 8th place finish in the 1600-meter run, accounting for 2 points in the team standings.
And even though it’s been a while since ETHS has been a part of the team trophy chase, Evanston has always been on the state map. It’s just one reason why head coach Fenny Gunter takes such pride in his program.
”We always get phone calls from alumni about the streak at this time of year,” Gunter said. “Stella kept the streak alive and took the weight off of everybody else’s shoulders. We tried to keep things light for her (and not put any pressure on), but I don’t think she realized the magnitude of the streak.
“After the race was over, I had calls from three or four alums telling me to thank that girl for keeping it going. And hopefully, she’ll have some help next year.”
Solid performances
Davis, who qualified in the 1600 last year but was eliminated in the preliminaries when she injured her ankle during the race, put together solid back-to-back distance races and scored ETHS’ best distance finish since Enyaeva Michelin won the 800 and was state runner-up in the 1600 in 2018.
Davis posted the 6th-fastest prelim time, 4 minutes 59.80 seconds, on Friday and couldn’t quite match that in the finals, settling for 8th in 5:00.86. Allison Ince of Normal Community won the title, running away from the field to win in 4:44.86.
Davis ran the first half of the race at about a 2:27 split, good for 5th place, but then fell out of contention as Ince and St. Ignatius sophomore Annika Swan (2nd in 4:50.67) pulled away from the other challengers.
The Evanston junior finished strong, according to Gunter, holding off two other runners down the stretch to earn that 8th-place medal and a trip to the awards stand.
“Everybody got hot over the last two laps and started digging down deep,” Gunter noted. “There was a pack of three runners closing in on her at the end, but Stella had just enough left in the tank to hold them off.
Gaining experience
“I think Stella’s savviness helped because she was there last year, too. She learned a lot about how to race this year and coach [Gideon] Yitref helped her stay calm and composed during races. So she was able to get medal. She ran two great races down there and gained some valuable experience. Next year we’ll decide whether she stays in the mile or moves up to the two mile, based on how she does in the fall in cross country. She and coach will have a good plan for success next year.”
Davis wasn’t the only Wildkit to gain experience. Four other underclassmen also reached State this year, although hurdler Nyel Rollins and the 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams weren’t able to advance out of Friday’s prelims.
Rollins, a junior, was clocked in 47.14 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles. Relay runners Bailey Sterling, Hunter Vandergriff, Francesca Decastro and Rollins bounced back from a less-than-satisfying effort in the 400 relay (48.47 in a race where the slowest qualifying team clocked at 47.93) to register a season-best time of 1:42.05 in the 800 relay.
“We have so many girls in that relay pool [potential runners] and we wanted them all to get experience, so we brought 13 girls down there this year,” Gunter explained. “A couple of them were disappointed we didn’t advance in the relays, but as I told them, we were a longshot at best to make it.
“We did run a quick 4 x 100 but they definitely had some nerves in that first race. They were a lot more relaxed for the second race (4 x 200). The three younger girls really ran with a purpose, and Francesca had her best split all season. Hunter was phenomenal, too.”
Gunter and his staff purposely brought a large contingent of young runners to give them a taste of what a trip to Charleston is like. EIU started a “Friday Night Lights” track event for community members down there and for anyone who would like to run on that big blue track, and the Kits took full advantage of that opportunity this year.
“I think it was an eye-opening experience for the freshmen especially,” said the veteran coach. “Now they won’t be asking why we do certain things during the season to get them ready ([for state], because they’ll already know. We’ll still be a young group next year – but we’re on the right track.”
ETHS girls track: Davis delivers points to keep streak alive is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.