Lemont High School Advances 2 to Track and Field State Finals

Thanks to their performances in the state finals preliminary rounds, Lemont High School juniors Jacque Desmond and Vika Marmaite each still have an opportunity to bring home the school’s first-ever state championship in girls’ track and field. At the 2014 IHSA Class 3A Girls’ Track and Field State Finals, which are being contested at O’Brien Stadium
on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Desmond advanced to the final round in the pole vault, while Marmaite moved on in the triple jump.

Both Desmond and Marmaite had standout performances in the preliminaries. In the pole vault, Desmond cleared the 10’06.00” mark, which was the top height of any competitor. She will be one of 14 final round participants.

Marmaite advanced to the final round in the triple jump, and fell just short of doing so in the long jump. In the triple jump, she posted a jump of 39’07.00”, which was the second-best distance of the day for any competitor. She will be one of 12 final round participants in the triple jump. In the long jump, her best effort was 17’02.25”, which was 13th of 31 competitors. The top 12 distances advance from the prelims, and she missed reaching the final round by just two inches.

The championship rounds for the triple jump and pole vault both are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on May 24.

For the first time since 2004, Lemont High School’s girls’ track and field program saw multiple athletes qualify for state finals competition. Desmond and Marmaite combined for three event titles at the IHSA Downers Grove South Sectional on May 16. Marmaite captured event titles in both the long jump (17’01.50”) and triple jump (37’09.50”), while Desmond was victorious in the pole vault (10’06.00”). Marmaite’s effort in the triple jump was the third-best distance among all IHSA Class 3A sectional competitors.

Lemont’s best performance in girls’ track and field came from Elissa Bitterman ‘12, who finished seventh in the high jump at the 2010 IHSA Class 2A State Finals. Nikole Hoster ‘98 (1600 meter run) and Jessica Semenic ‘98 (100 meter hurdles) each placed eighth in their respective events at the 1997 IHSA Class AA State Finals.

Lemont’s girls’ track and field program had previously qualified for state finals competition in multiple events in the same year six times, most recently in 2004.

Head coach Tim Plotke’s girls’ track and field squad is the school’s ninth sport to advance to IHSA State Finals competition this year. The girls’ bowling squad competed in the IHSA State Finals; the cheerleading squad won the IHSA Medium Division State Championship; the poms/dance team competed in the IHSA Class 2A Competitive Dance State Finals; sophomore Taylor Campos participated in the IHSA Class 2A Girls’ Cross Country State Finals; senior Bridget Lynn competed at the IHSA Class AA Girls’ Golf State Finals; junior Annette Lesnicki advanced to the IHSA Girls’ Swimming State Finals; senior Lisa Gawron took part in the IHSA Girls’ Tennis State Finals; and junior Jimmy Brennan and freshmen Egan Berta and Jake Kirkman each participated in the IHSA Class 2A Wrestling Individual State Finals.