Girls track and field: Dixon’s Olivia Cox among top Sauk Valley-area medal contenders this weekend at state

Olivia Cox has similar expectations for what the state track and field meet will be like in her return trip to Charleston.

But she’d like to leave with hardware this time.

The Dixon senior, a state discus qualifier last year, will compete in the Class 2A shot put and discus at this weekend’s state track and field meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Preliminaries for Class 1A are Thursday, Class 2A and Class 3A preliminaries are Friday, with finals in all three classes Saturday.

Cox did not make the discus finals last year as a junior, but she has good reason to believe she can make it through to Saturday in the shot put. Her throw of 11.17 meters (36 feet, 7¾ inches) at the Rochelle Sectional was the sixth-best throw statewide at sectionals last week. Her personal best is 38-6¾ inches thrown in April at a meet in Sterling, the fourth-best throw statewide in Class 2A this spring.

In the discus, Cox posted the 15th-best sectional throw of 33.91 meters. She has the ninth-best throw statewide this spring of 36.89 meters (121 feet).

“I’m sure it will be more of the same,” Cox said of the return to state. “It’ll just be more of a drive to be medalist this time, because last year I wasn’t. Last year I barely made it to state, and this year I made it well beyond the qualifying mark.

“It’s been doing a lot of weightlifting and a lot of practice that’s helped me out. And last year I had an injury that almost ended my junior season.”

Sterling heads into Charleston fresh off winning the program’s first sectional championship in 20 years.

And the Golden Warriors will be well represented with five entries in the season finale. Sterling is sending its 4x100 and 4x200 relays, Anna Aulwes in the 200, Anessa Johnson in the 100 hurdles and Finley Ryan in the pole vault.

The 4x200 relay posted the 16th-best sectional time statewide of 1:46.89, Aulwes had the 18th-best 200 time of 26.23 seconds, Johnson the 17th-best 100 hurdles time of 16.32 and Ryan the 25th-best pole vault of 2.97 meters.

Sterling coach Tyler Gaumer said the significance of the sectional hardware wasn’t lost on him. The Golden Warriors last won a sectional in 2004 and won the program’s first plaque in 1974.

”I don’t really have a lot of words, and I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Gaumer said. “My dad [longtime coach Max Gaumer] never won one as a track coach when he was coaching. For me to have this opportunity with this great group of kids is incredible.”

Also in Class 2A, Rock Falls junior Arielle Hernandez heads to Charleston after posting the 18th-best 3,200 sectional time of 11:48.35. Hernandez as a sophomore took 18th at state but is confident in her return trip.

″I know I’m not going to be in the same heat I was in last year,” Hernandez said. “I feel like I can prove some people wrong.”

Top area medal contenders on the track in Class 1A include Newman Central Catholic’s Elaina Allen, who had the ninth-best 100 time statewide of 12.56 at sectionals and eighth-best 200 time of 26.03; Fulton’s Brooklyn Thomas, who had the 12th-best 100 of 12.72; Forreston’s Bree Schneiderman, who had the the 15th-best 100 time of 12.77 and 10th-best 200 time of 26.20; Fulton’s Emery Wherry, who had the fifth-best 100 hurdles time of 16.05 seconds at sectionals; Amboy’s Elly Jones, who had the 11th-best 100 hurdles time of 16.56; Bureau Valley’s Addison Wessel, who had the 12th-best 100 hurdles time of 16.65; and Wherry in the 300 hurdles with the eighth-best sectional time of 48.51.

In relays, Bureau Valley had the third-best 4x100 sectional time of 50.58, Forreston the fourth-best of 50.64, Fulton the seventh-best of 51.05 and Oregon the eighth-best of 51.18, while Fulton, Forreston and Bureau Valley had the fourth- through sixth-best 4x200 relay times at sectionals.

In field events, Forreston’s Sydni Badertscher had the seventh-best sectional shot put of 11.26 meters, Erie-Prophetstown Kennedy Buck the ninth best of 11.13 and Newman’s Kennedy Rowzee the 12th-best of 11.01. Oregon’s Grace Tremble had the 10th-best high jump of 1.55 meters and Amboy’s Jillian Anderson the 11th best of 1.53. Fulton’s Paige Cramer had the third-best sectional long jump of 5.33 meters and teammate Miraya Pessman the eight-best of 5.26 meters. Wherry of Fulton had the 11th-best sectional triple jump of 10.47 meters.

• Eddie Carifio contributed to this story