Julia Rodney puts injury setback behind her, helps lead St. Charles North to Kane County title

AURORA — Two months ago, St. Charles North sophomore Julia Rodney found herself on the sidelines in a walking boot.

After spending a good portion of the indoor track and field season dealing with stress reactions in both her shins, Rodney was a little nervous heading into the Kane County Meet about being able to get back to the form that helped her earn All-State honors as a freshman.

But after winning the 4x800-meter relay and 1,600 races, those fears have been wiped away.

“This is exactly what I needed to give me the confidence that I needed,” Rodney said. “Even though I was training in the offseason, it’s just been really hard not running as much. But now I feel a lot more confident in my abilities.”

Rodney’s wins were two of five that the North Stars would accumulate in the meet, as they scored 132.5 points to take a commanding victory in the Kane County Meet at East Aurora.

“Every meet, these athletes set goals for themselves to let them have a say in what they want to do and so they’re more confident about it,” North Stars coach Anthony Enright said. “They were confident about it, and it led to a lot of standout performances. But they’re also so insatiable and want to continue to improve.”

Rodney’s first win of the day came as a part of the 4x800 relay team, with her, Gwen Hobson, Elise Pimsner and Reese Thomas running a 9:29.65, the fifth-fastest time in Illinois so far this season.

“And the crazy thing about it is that we have other options, so that may not even be our final team at state,” Rodney said. “I feel like we have a lot of depth in the 4x800 still, so we’ll see how it all pans out.”

She then went on to win the 1,600, pulling out the deciding move in the final 400 meters to finish in 5:08.21.

Also getting two wins on the night for the North Stars was sophomore Alexzandria Richardson, who won both the 100 (12.49) and the 200 (26.04).

“If you look at her results from last year to now, it’s just night and day,” Enright said. “The work that she’s done with our assistant coaches has transformed her and changed her life where she’s always the one being chased.”

Senior Tosin Oshin had the North Stars’ fifth victory of the night, winning the shot put with a toss of 11.76 meters (38 feet, 7 inches).

Behind the North Stars, Batavia ended up taking second as a team with 94.5 points. It marked the first time the two teams faced off in full strength since the indoor DuKane Conference championships, where the Bulldogs came out on top.

“It’s always fun and exciting facing them,” Bulldogs coach Justin Allison said. “They’ve got a really good team, so hats off to them. But I think it makes conferences a much more exciting event, and our girls will do what they can. But overall, very pleased with where we’re at right now.”

Both of the Bulldogs’ wins on the day came in field events. Sophomore Abby Wirth won the triple jump with a leap of 11.53 meters (37-10), which is the seventh-best mark in the state. Macee Olson also took a win in the pole vault, with the sophomore clearing 3.51 meters (11-6) to share the title with Aurora Central Catholic’s Molly Russelburg.

Allison commended both of them for not only winning their events but also for coming out and racing on the track afterwards, with both athletes helping lead the 4x400 team to a second-place finish.

“We talk about how you’ve got to be a sprinter first in a lot of those events, especially in the jumps,” Allison said. “And we told them that part of their success in those events is their sprinting abilities. I’m really happy with their performances all the way around.”

Finishing close behind Batavia for the bronze was Geneva with 93 points. Sophomore Alyssa Flotte had both of the Vikings’ wins on the day in the 100 hurdles (15.71) and the 300 hurdles (46.05). She also anchored the 4x100 relay team to a school-record 49.08 for second place.

“In the 100 (hurdles), I was just ready to go,” Flotte said. “I just wanted to get those extra points for my team. And in that 300, even though I was seeded second, I really wanted to push myself. And I’m glad I got a personal record out of it.”

St. Charles East (fifth, 63 points) finished with the second-most wins on the meet with three. Freshman Siri Forsell won the long jump with a leap of 5.16 meters while the 4x200 (1:43.97) and the 4x400 (4:01.01) relay teams both took gold on the track.

Burlington Central rounded out the top half of the team standings with 59 points for sixth. Emilie Anderson repeated as the discus champion in the meet, throwing the disc 34.44 meters (113-0).

Hampshire finished right behind the Rockets with 56 points for seventh. Alyssa Garcia took the gold in the 400 in 59.03.

Aurora Central Catholic took eighth in the meet with 39 points. Along with Russelburg, Cecilia Hilby also had a gold medal at the meet, winning the 800 with a lead at the line in 2:16.69.

Katie Kostro had the only win at the meet for Rosary (12th, 15 points), winning the high jump after clearing 1.69 meters (5-6), the third-best jump in Illinois.