Lyons Freshman Haugen Captures State Title in High Jump

Lyons Township head girls track coach Greg Frandsen realized early that Emma Haugen was on her way to a memorable season as a freshman.

In the Lions’ first meet indoors, Haugen cleared 5 feet-7 1/2 inches in high jump – an all-time school record indoors and just one-half inch from the best height ever cleared by any LT jumper.

Frandsen made her stop.

“I told her she was done for the day,” Frandsen said. “I figured she’d just been going through the heights so quickly and I wanted her to have something to shoot for the next time.”

Haugen had plenty of success throughout the season and although she never jumped higher, she cleared 5-7 for the first time outdoors May 19.

This time, it was really special. Haugen had just won the Class 3A state championship at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Haugen became only the second individual state championship in program history to put the finishing touches on the Lions’ greatest overall season in more than a decade.

“I wanted to place in high jump.  I didn’t think I’d win, though,” Haugen said. “It just felt right, the way I was jumping. I don’t even know. It was just really exciting.”

Senior Lisa Gordon added to the success with an all-state fourth place in the 1,600-meter run (4:55.99 fully-automatic time), her third career all-state medal for a top-nine state finish. She’s the LT only runner ever to break 5:00 in the event.

Gordon was named the team’s varsity Most Valuable Performer and Haugen the MVP for the frosh-soph.

The Lions qualified 17 entries for state, including all four relays, and tied for 18th as a team with 18 points. LT won sectionals (May 10 at home) and the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet (May 4 at York) both in the same season for the first time since 2002 and enjoyed an undefeated outdoor and indoor season for the first time since 1995, a feat also matched on the frosh-soph level.

LT’s only other individual state champion is Samantha Caffey, who won the 100 in 1986 as a senior. LT also has won the 3,200 relay twice (1996 and 2003) and the pre-metric 880-yard medley relay in 1976.

“I knew (Haugen) had the ability of doing it,” said Frandsen, who works specifically with the jumpers.

“After going 5-7 1/2 indoors and knowing the last five years for the winning high jump nobody’s been over 5-8, I knew she was going to be in the hunt. The fact she’s been so consistent almost every meet, I figured she would at least medal and, if she put it together, had a decent shot to win. I thought top-three was definitely possible.”

The 3,200 relay of sophomore Kate Heinz, Gordon, junior Randie Speir and sophomore Amy Bazzoni also made the state finals and finished 12th (9:22.95).

Also qualifying for state as individuals were junior Makayla Hubbard in shot put (13th place, 38-8 1/2), senior Sarah Peters in pole vault (tied for 13th, 10-6), junior Laura Krivicich in discus (20th, 103-5), seniors Helena Hernandez in the 300 low hurdles (27th, 48.86) and Sarah Kreikemeier in the 100 (29th, 12.75), freshman Madeline Bernstein (28th, 2:27.90) and senior Rachel Schwabe (29th, 2:28.4) in the 800 and sophomore Lexy Rudolfski in the 3,200 (29th, 11:57.87), which is run in two heats the second day.

LT’s other three relays advanced to state. The 1,600 relay with senior Melissa Hoo, junior Olivia Cabanban, Heinz and Kreikemeier was 14th (3:59.15), the 400 relay of senior Gabby Pavletic, Kreikemeier, Cabanban and Hoo tied for 22nd (49.18) and the 800 relay of Pavletic, Kreikemeier, Cabanban and Hoo was disqualified because of a dropped baton.

Haugen also competed at state in long jump (22nd, 6-5) and triple jump (28th, 35-2) but did not make those 12-athlete finals. She also qualified for state in the 100 high hurdles, but Frandsen had her scratch from the event because he was concerned it would conflict with her run-throughs for triple and long jump, where she had a better chance of making the finals.

In high jump, 21 girls advanced to finals by clearing 5-3 in the May 18 preliminaries. For the finals, the jumpers opened at 5-1, followed by 5-3, 5-5, 5-6 and 5-7.

Haugen actually got better as the meet progressed. However, she needed her third and last attempt to clear both 5-3 and 5-5.

“Then it was good after that,” Haugen said.

At 5-6, Haugen was the only one among the four jumpers to clear on her first attempt. When Haugen then handled 5-7 on her first attempt, she all but assured herself the title, which she clinched when the other three girls missed. Haugen attempted an all-time school record 5-9 but was unsuccessful. 2002 graduate Carly Christoff cleared 5-8 as a senior at sectionals and was 10th at state (5-2) after taking fourth as a junior (5-5).

Had Haugen also missed at 5-7, she still would have won outright by clearing the best height with the fewest attempts. Frandsen believes she was jumping so well that she could have cleared 5-8 and maybe 5-9 if needed to win.

“At 5-5, she exploded. Then it was like it all came together. The one thing I told her to remember was, ‘Stay tall,’ because she’s upright. Once she made 5-6 on her first attempt, she was in the driver’s seat,” Frandsen said.

“Her best jumps were at 5-6 and 5-7. They were the prettiest. She had the best technique the whole time. I’ve told her the whole year (kidding), ‘You jump at better heights. We might just have to start you at 5-3 from now on,’ because she knows she has to be technically better.”

Frandsen first met Haugen at freshman orientation last March when she was still attending St. John’s Lutheran School in La Grange and seeking a track club. Frandsen began working with her and helped her set a record in winning high jump at the Lutheran Schools Association of Illinois state meet by equaling her then personal-best of 5-4.

In the summer, Haugen competed for the Zephyrs Track Club, of which Frandsen is an assistant coach, although Haugen worked on high jump with Hinsdale Central assistant coach James Conyers. At the USA Track & Field Junior Olympic nationals in Wichita, Kansas in late July, Haugen earned All-America honors by finishing third in her age group at 5-3.

That experience, especially the competing and waiting all afternoon in blistering heat, made a difference at the state finals with temperatures in the low 90s.

“Being in Wichita, being like 110 degrees (on the track), this one wasn’t really as bad,” Frandsen said laughing. “She looked totally comfortable out there, which is nice.”

Haugen also had less pressure in the sense that it was her only event. Usually she is interrupted and has to travel among her four individual events because they often overlap.

When Haugen only advanced in high jump, she had no conflicts for the finals.

“I’m sort of busy sometimes. I’m always running around, but it’s fun. I think that helped because I could just concentrate on high jump,” Haugen said.

“I wasn’t too nervous. I sort of just wanted to get it over with because I was sitting around for a long time.”

Gordon also continued to do her best despite feeling ill on the hot day. In the 3,200 relay, she ran a team- and career-best 2:14 split for the second day in a row as the Lions ran their second-fastest time of the season in a blistering final after a season-best 9:22.40 in the preliminaries.

Gordon then came back and ran the second-fastest 1,600 in LT history, just .31 shy of her school-record 4:55.68 in the prelims.

Oswego East senior Ashley Michalek defended her state title in the 1,600 (4:53.37) with New Trier junior Courtney Ackerman second (4:54.45) after her twin sister, Jessica, took  second to Michalek in 2011. Gordon was just .84 behind third-place Glenbard East senior Lindsey Rakosnik (4:55.15), the 2011 state champion in the 800.

“I just kind of went into (the 1,600) hoping for the best, and it turned out well. I’ve kind of been trying all year to (break 5:00) so to do it at the last meet was definitely satisfying,” Gordon said.

“In a way (the illness) almost kind of helped because it got my mind of anything else that was hurting. I don’t know if it was a little bug, but I was able to get through that. I got sick a couple of times that day and I didn’t really want to tell anyone in the (3,200 relay) because I didn’t want the other girls to worry. I got through that so I knew I could get through the mile. And I had a lot of time between the races so it turned out all right.”

Before this season, the 1,600 school record was 5:08.6 by Katie Ireland in 1997. Gordon first broke the record with a 5:00.33 April 7 at the Lions’ first major outdoor invitational at Downers Grove South.

Gordon will continue her running career at the University of Iowa, where LT girls track distance coach and girls cross country head coach Stetson Steele competed.

“(Steele and I) knew she was capable of running under 5:00. We just didn’t know how far under she could go. It was a good way for her to end it (at state). She deserves it,” Frandsen said.

“Usually when you’re sick, your strength isn’t there, but I was so excited to see that she went for it (in the state finals). She was battling right at the front the whole way. I think some girls in that situation might have held back a little to see how they felt. It was great to see her run like that with that kind of confidence.”

Gordon has the unique distinction of earning all-state medals in three different events. She was eighth in the 3,200 as a freshman (11:00.58) and part of the fifth-place 3,200 relay in 2010 (9:17.51).

On April 13, Gordon ran a school-record 10:46.90 in the 3,200 at Downers Grove North’s Ritter Invite, breaking Jane Simpson's 10:49.7 record from 2005. Since the 3,200 and 3,200 relay are competed so close together, she basically had to choose one event over the other for the state series.

Gordon attempted the 3,200/1,600 double at the Silver Meet and was third in the 3,200 (10:54.15) and second in the 1,600 (5:06.23).

“Coach Steele had the idea of the (3,200 relay and 1,600) and I’m definitely glad I did it because I got so much closer to the girls on the (relay) and I’m thankful for that,” Gordon said. “I think the 3,200 mentally, it’s just kind of tough and especially doubling (with the 1,600), I respect the girls that do that so much. I think if I tried to do that double, I wouldn’t have done as well so this seemed to be the best combination.”

Intense heat and great times made every distance race a challenge at state. Even if Gordon again ran 10:46.90 in the 3,200, she would have finished fifth. Lake Park junior Kaylee Flanagan won in 10:30.47.

In the 3,200 relay, LT finished 3.72 seconds from ninth place even though its 9:22.95 was just .55 slower than its eighth-fastest preliminary time. State champion Wheaton Warrenville South (8:59.03) and second-place Glenbard West (9:00.72) both shattered the previous state finals record time of 9:04.14 from 2008.
 
“Our time would have been (seventh) in state last year. That’s how fast it was. In really was an incredible (3,200 relay),” Frandsen said.

The Lions nearly had other finalists. Hubbard was just two inches from the 12th and last spot for the shot finals, and the 1,600 relay missed that nine-team finals cut by 1.19 seconds. Peters, who set the pole vault school record at 10-9, needed to clear 11-0 to be among the state finalists.

Additional LT state final hopes were hampered when Dambra, the team’s varsity MVP the past two seasons, injured her Achilles heel anchoring the 800 relay at sectionals and could not recover to compete at state.

Even with Dambra hobbling the final 20 meters to the finish, the Lions’ lineup with Pavletic, Kreikemeier and Hoo ran a school-record 1:44.01 at the LT Sectional. That followed a then-record 1:44.63 at the Silver Meet with Cabanban instead of Dambra, who was part of the previous 1:44.71 record from 2010.

At the Silver Meet, the 1,600 relay of Kreikemeier, Dambra, in her only event that night, Hoo and Cabanban won in a conference meet-record 3:57.96. The school record is 3:54.67 from 2009.

Dambra, who will compete at DePaul University, now is among a five conference meet records, a feat unequaled by any other athlete – the 400 and 1,600 relay outdoors and indoors and the 300 indoors.
 
Lyons Township Sectional
May 10
Top three teams: 1. Lyons Township 204, 2. Oak Park-River Forest 121, 3. Lane 63
LT top-six finishers
3,200-meter relay: 1. Kate Heinz, Lisa Gordon, Randie Speir, Amy Bazzoni 9:25.63*
400 relay: 1. Gabby Pavletic, Julie Dambra, Melissa Hoo, Sarah Kreikemeier 49.40*
3,200: 2. Lexy Rudolfski 11:49.11*
100 high hurdles: 1. Emma Haugen 15.99*, 4. Helena Hernandez 17.20
100: 1. Kreikemeier 12.85*, 4. Pavletic 13.03
800: 1. Madeline Bernstein 2:26.01*, 2. Rachel Schwabe 2:27.18*
800 relay: 1. Pavletic, Kreikemeier, Hoo, Dambra 1:44.01*
400: 3. Bazzoni 1:01.37
300 low hurdles: 2. Helena Hernandez 48.32*
1,600: 1. Gordon 5:03.36*, 3. Rachel Walsh 5:34.77
200: 4. Nicole Hladik 27.52, 5. Jess Fuller 28.20
1,600 relay: 1. Hoo, Heinz, Cabanban, Kreikemeier 4:01.24*
High jump: 1. Haugen 5-5*, 6. Jessica Stabenow 4-11
Long jump: 1. Haugen 16-11 3/4*, 4.  Hladik 15-10 1/2
Triple jump: 2. Haugen 35-5*, 6. Sam Stuba 32-2 1/4
Shot put: 1. Makayla Hubbard 39-5 1/2*, Laura Krivicich 31-10
Discus: 1.  Krivicich 103-0*, 3. Hubbard 99-7
Pole vault: 2. Sarah Peters 10-3*, 3. Grace Flynn 9-9

*--State qualifier

West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet
May 4 at York
Team scores: 1. Lyons Township 120.5, 2. York 98, 3. Glenbard West 95, 4. Downers Grove North 65, 5. Proviso West 61, 6. Hinsdale Central 59.5, 7. Oak Park-River Forest 59
LT top-six finishers
3,200-meter relay: 4. Heinz, Bazzoni, Speir, Schwabe 9:41.41
400 relay: Pavletic, Kreikemeier, Hoo, Cabanban 1. 49.69
3,200: 3. Gordon 10:54.15
100 high hurdles: 4. Haugen 17.92, 5. Hernandez 17.95
100: 5. Kreikemeier 13.22, 6. Pavletic 13.34
800: 6. Heinz 2:29.26
800 relay: 1. Pavletic, Kreikemeier, Cabanban, Hoo 1:44.63
300 low hurdles: 2. Hernandez 48.78
1,600: 2. Gordon 5:06.23
1,600 relay: 1. Kreikemeier, Dambra, Hoo, Cabanban 3:57.96
High jump: 1. Haugen 5-5
Long jump: 4. Haugen 16-3 3/4
Triple jump: 2. Haugen 35-4 1/4
Shot put: 1. Hubbard 37-0
Discus: 1. Krivicich 106-5, 4. Hubbard 95-10
Pole vault: 2. Peters 9-6, 6T. Bianca Borrego 6-6

Download the movie