By John O'Malley

Post-Tribune

A third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles and a fourth-place showing in the 300 hurdles at last year's state meet gave Munster's Whitney Freeman a taste of success.

Mustangs coach Michelle Duffy is working on helping Freeman become even better by the time the state meet rolls around the first weekend in June.

"Whitney has form any hurdler would be envious of," Duffy said. "It's just a natural ability she has. It's great to watch her. We have some things we're trying to tweak and some elements of her race -- form things -- that we have to fix if she's going to be a state champion.

"She definitely has the talent to do it, but it's all in her hands. She's even-tempered and mild-mannered in terms of her demeanor. She's aware of where she stands and her competition. She knows exactly who's standing in her way and nipping at her heels. She knows every meet and every race counts."

The defending Northwest Crossroads Conference champs placed 12th at the state meet last year, and return every state-qualifier from last year's team. The Mustangs also have some new incoming talent that could help as well.

"We have a lot of new faces and we're trying to put people in some events they might not have participated in before," Duffy said.

Other returning state qualifiers for Munster are Kyela Specht, Colleen Boyle, Lainey Williams, Lyndsey Kunz, Jessica Goodrich, Allison Boyle, Freeman and alternates Alex Doctor and Kaitlyn Hobbs.

* Lowell, which placed second a year ago, should be competitive once again. Key performers for the Red Devils include Carissa Thiel (weights); Allison Manchester (high jump) and Jordan Lump (hurdles).

* Kankakee Valley should be strong as well. The Kougars feature senior Alexa Schiavone and sophomore Felicia Sytsma (distances) and Tiffany Conley (jumps, sprints).

* Other NCC athletes to keep an eye on include Andrean's Erin Boyle (middle distance) and Beth Conley (distance) and Griffith's Sam Marker (sprints and hurdles), Stephanie Negrete (weights) and Chrissy Leslie (distances).

 

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