Sports

Two Lemont Juniors Medal at Track and Field State Finals

Lemont High School's Vika Marmaite and Jacque Desmond brought home second and sixth-place finishes, respectively.

Entering this year, the best individual finish by a Lemont High School girls’ track and field state finals qualifier was seventh. However, at the final day of competition at the 2014 IHSA Class 3A Girls’ Track and Field State Finals, juniors Jacque Desmond and Vika Marmaite rewrote the school’s record book. Marmaite finished as the state runner-up in the triple jump, while Desmond was sixth in the pole vault. Their dual medalist finishes marks just the second time in the program’s history that two Lemont students medaled in the same year.

Marmaite’s top effort in the final round of the triple jump was 39’07.00”, which matched her best distance from the preliminaries. Alton’s LaJarvia Brown won the state title with a jump of 40’03.50”.

Desmond cleared the 11’00.00” mark in final round of the pole vault, improving on her best height from the preliminary round. Normal’s Brooke Catherine won the state championship after clearing 12’09.00”.

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Both Desmond and Marmaite had standout performances in the preliminaries. In the pole vault, Desmond cleared 10’06.00” mark, which was the top height of any competitor. Marmaite not only advanced to the final round in the triple jump, but also 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. In the long jump, her best effort was 17’02.25”, which was 13th of 31 competitors. She missed reaching the final round in the long jump by just two inches.

Prior to this year, 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.

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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 triple jump effort was third-best among all sectional competitors.

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, which also won the South Suburban Conference-Blue Division title this year, is the school’s ninth sport to be represented in 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. 


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