Kelly Steffen leads Bloomington to 2nd place in 2A

His long-range dream for glory came true Saturday as the Purple Raiders captured the second-place trophy in Class 2A at the 38th state meet. 

Steffen provided 31 points and Smith 13 as BHS tallied 48 to trail only Springfield Southeast’s 57. Danville, which kept the Raiders from Big 12 Conference and sectional titles, finished third with 46. 

Pontiac, led by pole vault champion Emily Grove, placed 16th with 16 points. Grove cleared a Class 2A record 12 feet, 6 inches. 

“It’s a reflection of all the work we put into it,” said Brent, whose team was fourth a year ago. “We knew if we could put a few people around (Steffen and Smith), then we’d be OK. We did all the things we knew to get the team ready.” 

Steffen’s medal haul featured three seconds and a third. 

“It’s been a great end to my senior year,” said the Indiana State recruit. “I’m ecstatic.” 

The best of her efforts was a Pantagraph area record time of 14.67 seconds for second in the 100-meter hurdles to trail only the wind-aided 14.17 by Amber Farrell of Aurora IMSA. 

“That was my best race ever,” Steffen said. “I was even hitting hurdles so it was an ugly race, but I just felt good. Last year I let the stress of all the events get to my head. This year I came in with a different plan — just be calm — and it worked for me.” 

She improved on Friday’s marks in the triple jump and long jump by spanning 38 feet, 3 inches and 18-0.5, respectively, to place second and third. It took 38-5.5 and 19-3.25 to win. 

“Even though (38-3) was so close to getting that first-place medal, I am not at all upset,” Steffen said. “I’m grinning ear to ear.” 

In the high jump, she tied her outdoor season best of 5-4 to place second to Springfield’s Sarah Maxson (5-9.5). 

Smith, an Eastern Illinois recruit, moved from fifth after the shot put prelims to second with a toss of 39-1 Saturday and later took fifth in the discus thanks to Friday’s throw of 120-11. It took 41-5 to win the shot put. 

“It was nice to know that I improved,” said Smith, third in the 2009 shot put. “My coach told me to just go out there and have fun so that’s exactly what I did.” 

Smith, whose squad will be honored at a reception in the BHS cafeteria at 5 p.m. Tuesday, called the team trophy “the biggest accomplishment of my life.”