‘Super exciting’ day for Tigers at state - The Edwardsville Intelligencer

CHARLESTON – It was a long day for the Edwardsville Tigers at the Class 3A girls track and field state meet, but it was still a good one.

The 3,200-meter relay team placed fifth to open the day on the track and sophomore Kaitlyn Morningstar finished seventh in the discus to give EHS two state medals on Saturday at O’Brien Stadium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

The meet took nearly 10 hours to complete due to two weather delays, including a four-hour delay in the evening that had sophomore Riley Knoyle waiting to compete in the 1,600-meter run. When the athletes did return to the blue track around 9 p.m., Knoyle finished 20th.

“Today has been super exciting,” EHS coach Camilla Eberlin said. “The 4x800 team ran a tremendous race. They went out there and positioned themselves. They ran their race. Kaitlyn (Morningstar) was the first person to get stopped on the first lightning delay. She got back in the ring and threw her big throw on her second attempt. Her getting seventh as a sophomore is just amazing.”

Running in the second of two heats, the 3,200 relay team of Knoyle, Kaitlyn Loyet, Maya Lueking and Olivia Coll took fourth in 9:32.15. They finished fifth overall, as Naperville North won the first heat and took second overall in 9:20.58. Mount Prospect won in 9:13.29.

The Tigers were running in the third spot throughout the race, but Grayslake Central was able to overtake them near the end.

“I was nervous because I had to hold the position that we were in. Having my teammates there and hearing them screaming their heads off helped a lot. The excitement of being there helped too,” said Coll, who ran the anchor.

“We were so happy with our time. We were hugging and crying. It was exciting. We came here and did better than what we expected to do.”

Edwardsville entered the meet as the No. 12 seed with a time of 9:36.28 from its win at the O’Fallon Sectional.

EHS was four seconds better at the state meet.

The Tigers switched things up Saturday with Knoyle running the lead leg instead of anchor. Loyet, who usually runs lead, was second, followed by Lueking and then Coll.

“I just had to hold the fort down and maintain our spot. It was awesome,” Loyet said.

By earning fifth place, the girls became just the third 3,200 relay team to medal.

The 2006 team of Leah Bateman, Jamie Kantner, Lia Saunders and Liz Speicher finished third in 9:19.38 and the 2007 team of Bateman, Saunders, Courtney Smith and Speicher finished seventh in 9:20.80.

“I love being able to look at the past and see what everyone’s done and compare ourselves. It’s really cool knowing we are part of that,” Loyet said.

It was the final prep race for Loyet, who will run for the University of Tennessee Martin next season.

“I couldn’t think of a better way to end my time here at Edwardsville High School. It was awesome and it’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Loyet said. “It was perfect.”

The other three runners do return next season.

Coll and Lueking are only freshmen and Knoyle is a sophomore.

“It gives us the drive to see what’s to come,” Eberlin said.

In the field events, Morningstar was Edwardsville’s only representative and she came through with a seventh-place finish in the discus.

Morningstar had a throw of 36.51 meters.

“Going into it, I was just thinking that I needed to get top nine so I could medal,” Morningstar said. “Even though I scratched on my first throw, I was able to come back on my second throw and position myself well to medal.”

Morningstar’s throw of 36.51 meters came on her second attempt.

“I was a little nervous because I had to see what the next girls would throw,” Morningstar said.

With the seventh-place finish, Morningstar became Edwardsville’s fifth state medalist in the discus. She joins Theresa Johnson (1983), Michelle Pranger (2009), three-time champion and four-time medalist Emmonnie Henderson (2010-13) and three-time medalist Aaliyah Covington (2012-14).

With two years remaining at EHS, Morningstar hopes she can join Henderson and Covington as a multiple state medalist in the event.

“It was really fun,” Morningstar said. “I learned a lot of things and I know I can only go up from here. Being the only sophomore in my flight was really humbling.”

Scheduled to originally to being her 1,600 race at 5:26 p.m., Knoyle didn’t get onto the track until around 9:30 p.m.

Knoyle finished in 20th with a PR of 5:08.98. She beat her previous best time of 5:10.55 from the Distance Night in Palatine on May 8.

Normal Community’s Ali Ince won in 4:40.85. She also won the 800-meter run in 2:07.06.

Talking before running the event, Knoyle joked “I’ll run it at midnight If I need to.”

Knoyle and the other 1,600 runners were on the line when the meet was delayed a second time by weather.

“We did a stride out and we were on the line ready to go and then I hear we have a 30-minute delay because of lightning. I just walked out with a friend,” Knoyle said. “We were stuck under our team tent for a little bit and we were being thrown around because of the wind. We decided to make a run for it and got on the bus.

“I’ll never forget this.”

As a team, EHS finished 32nd with nine points.

Lincoln-Way East won the team championship with 56 points, followed by Homewood-Flossmoor with 50 points and Whitney Young and Naperville North each in the third with 44 points.

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‘Super exciting’ day for Tigers at state - The Edwardsville Intelligencer
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