Plano's Robinson doesn't let nerves get to her - The Beacon News - Aurora (IL)

CHARLESTON -- She may have been nervous but it didn't show.Plano's Jenin Robinson was smooth and fluid as she ran a near-flawless race Saturday to take second in the 100-meter high hurdles at the state track meet.

That makes two medals in two trips to the Class A finals for the Reaper sophomore, who was fifth last year.

She ran a 15.22 to finish second only to Kewanee Wethersfield's Chelsea Humphrey, who finished in 14.72 seconds.

'My coaches (Tim Gipe and Jon Walker) kept telling me I could do it.

But I was warming up 45 minutes before I was supposed to be because I was so nervous,' said Robinson.

'I knew there were a lot of people (in the finals) with times up by me.

Finally, they told me I needed to just sit down.

I didn't think it was such a big deal last year because I didn't know any better.'

Now that she's thinking about continuing to compete in the sport in college, she knows better.

While Aurora Central Catholic's Tominque Boatright led all area competitors with a first and two second-place medals (see accompanying story), Robinson had the highest finish among the other nine medal-winning performances by area competitors.

Tops in Class AA competition at Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Stadium was Neuqua Valley sophomore Jennie Whitman, who took fifth in the triple jump.

Batavia senior Kelli Schumaker was seventh in the high jump, Rosary freshman Janae DeBartolo tied for seventh in the pole vault and Waubonsie Valley senior Lauren Shimmon (300 hurdles) and St. Charles North freshman Kyndra Curtin (100) each took ninth.

Also in Class A, Sandwich junior Vicky Klinger tied for fifth in the pole vault, Indian Creek freshman Kara Boston took seventh in the discus and the Aurora Central Catholic 3200 relay team of junior Lisa Blatner, sophomore Andrea Taylor, senior Alexandra Contreras and sophomore Elizabeth Rhodes took eighth.

Chicago's Morgan Park (77 points) ran away with the AA team title as runner-up Evanston finished with 48. In Class A, Elmhurst Timothy Christian had 53 to South Holland Seton Academy's 37. ACC was fifth with 28.

Whitman has come a long way in a very short time.

She didn't start triple jumping until midway through her freshman hear.

The sophomore's best prelim effort of 35-5 Friday ranked her ninth among the finalists.

She went 36-5 on her last of three attempts Saturday to jump up four places.

'My goal the whole season was to go 36 feet,' she said.

'Before that last jump I was just talking to myself, trying to pump myself up.

And then, I just jumped.'

Pole vault was contested for the first time this year and the area was represented well in both classes, although DeBartolo was subdued after going only 9 feet to tie for seventh.

'I've gone 9-9 but on a different (12-foot) pole,' said DeBartolo, who switched to a 13-footer for the state meet.

'It's longer and I've practiced with it before and was getting up to 10 feet this week.'

A strained lower back she sustained at the Suburban Catholic Conference Meet probably had more of an impact on her performance.

'It hurts,' she said.

'But it's surprising; there are a ton of girls here who are all doing so well.'

Geneva freshman Sarah Landau, who had cleared 9-0 at sectional, made 8-6 and finished 13th.

'That's pretty good.

I thought she stayed cool under the pressure,' said Geneva coach Suzy Yaeger.

'Now that's she's been down here and gone through it, she can just focus on getting better.'

Klinger also overcame some adversity to clear 8 feet and earn her medal.

'I separated my shoulder in the first (indoor) meet this year at Braidwood so I wasn't able to vault for a while,' she said.

'I knew I wouldn't be up there in the top contenders but I thought I had a chance (to medal).'

She credits assistant coach Glen Ross and his boys vaulters who include defending Class A state champ Joel Ross and state qualifier Dan Christensen, with speeding her development in the event.

'Joel and Dan are always offering tips and they've been very encouraging,' she said.

Members of ACC's relay unit felt they made amends for Friday's effort, when they barely qualified for the finals of the 3200 relay.

They were the 12th, and last, qualifier by a mere 2.56 seconds with their time of 10:03.82.

In the final, they improved by almost seven seconds, running a 9:56.9 to move up to eighth.

That's also an improvement, by one place, from last year's team that also included Blatner.

'That was a lot better,' said Blatner, who was one of the ACC team members who convinced Taylor to come out for the sport.

This was her first year in track and the two usually vied for fastest leg on the relay.

'After yesterday we felt we should have (qualified) better,' said Taylor.

'I knew I had to kick it in.'

* Schumaker, making her third appearance at state, was pleased to reach the finals for the first time. The event opened at 4-foot-10-inches and she went through the first three heights (5-0, 5-2) without a miss before going to her third attempt to clear 5-4. She then missed three at 5-5, which would have tied her career best.

'On my last attempt (at 5-4, the bar) jumped off, twisted and fell back on,' she said. 'I guess the third time was a charm. It's kind of sad it's my last year but I'm kind of glad to be done.'

* Shimmon was in sixth place in her race before tripping on the final hurdle. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt on the spill.

'I don't know what happened,' she said. 'I'm just really disappointed. I was really confident coming into this meet but it didn't work out as well as I hoped. Still, it was a great year. I have no regrets.'

* Three area seniors competed in the Class AA 3200-meter run, which features no Friday preliminaries. Waubonsie Valley's Joy Braun just missed out on a medal, finishing 10th in 11:13.11, Plainfield's Bonnie Miller was 26th in 11:43.85 and East Aurora's Lizet Diaz was 28th in 11:45.84.

* In the Class A 3200, Aurora Christian's Rebekah Brunner finished 15th in 12:08.22. Plano's Kristen Zaininger had also qualified for the event but scratched from it after qualifying for the 1600 final on Friday. In that race, she finished just out of the medals, taking 10th in 5:24.14.