By Randy Sharer | rsharer@pantagraph.com
CHAMPAIGN — Kelly Steffen has made winning multiple events look so easy for so long, it was a jolt when the degree of difficult finally caught up to her in the Big 12 Conference Track Meet on Friday.
The Indiana State recruit, who won two events and placed third in another, fouled her first three attempts in the long jump for the first time in her career.
That meant no berth in the finals and no 10 points for the top seed. That gave Danville just enough room to displace four-time defending champion Bloomington, 101-94.
Danville, which had seen its share of expected points slip through its fingers in recent years, got 40 from Destiny Carter, who won the 100-meter dash (12.54 seconds), 200 (25.56), 400 (57.74) and long jump (18 feet, 1.5 inches). Her 400 was a meet record.
“You’re not going to stop her from scoring,” said BHS coach Roland Brent, whose team edged third-place Normal Community West by a point while Normal Community took fourth with 72.5.
Steffen began her day by winning the high jump at 5-3, but the long jump was contested simultaneously and she narrowly missed posting a mark to get in the finals.
“I’ve got to learn from it and move on,” said Steffen, who bounced back to defend her triple jump title at 36-10 and take third in the 100-meter hurdles (16.53 seconds).
“Nobody wants to scratch all three jumps, but I guess I’d rather it happen here at Big 12 than happen at sectional or state.”
Normal West jumped into the title chase when No. 2-seeded Bailey Kerschieter upset NCHS star Marie O’Leary in the 800, 2:20.75 to 2:21.23. O’Leary led through a 70.2 first lap, but Kerschieter moved in front with 100 to go.
“I’ve seen success, but not like this before,” said Kerschieter, who rated the win the biggest of her career. “I just fought to the end. She’s a great person. I’ve trained with her in the past.”
Kerschieter warmed up by anchoring the winning 3,200 relay (10:00.34) with a 2:24.6. Putting her in the lead were Hannah Magnuson (2:28.4), Jaci Clark (2:31.3) and Brianna Jacobs (2:35.9).
O’Leary, the 2009 champion in the 800, regrouped to dominate the 1,600 from the gun and defend that title in 5:12.16.
“Bailey ran a really good race in the 800,” O’Leary said. “In the 1,600, I didn’t want to get stuck behind people.”
The Missouri recruit blasted to a 30-meter lead with a 72.7 first lap.
“I was just going to go out really hard and try to hang on and finish it,” she said.
West’s distance power kept going in the 3,200 where freshman Emily Brelsfoard won in a personal best of 11:10.33 ahead of NCHS ace Carly Pederson (11:30.87). The gusty conditions made the homestretch a challenge.
“The weather was perfect on that (backstretch) side,” Brelsfoard said. “Then you come over here and it’s like a hurricane on this side.”
Brelsfoard later notched a personal best of 5:17.19 for second in the 1,600.
West’s Kirstin Thompson defended her discus title with a toss of 127-0, well below her season best of 143-4. She blamed pre-meet rain for making the ring slick.
“Also, the discs started getting wet and that made them slippery, too,” she said. “It was hard to get a really good release.”
West’s Taylor Kirby, the 2009 pole vault runner-up, moved up to first with a clearance of 10-6. She didn’t attempt to go higher because of a pesky crosswind that was mostly in her face.
“I wish I could have kept vaulting,” said Kirby, whose school record is 11-6. “You always want to try for a personal record.”
Condia Smith of BHS wanted to up her shot put personal best of 40-4.25, but settled for defending her title at 37-9.
“I was stopping between the kick and the power,” Smith said. “My momentum was all gone.”
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