Lady Panthers see rough season end on high note

    The Pekin girls’ track team has had to endure a lot of ups and downs throughout the track season. They already had a roster composed primarily of underclassmen and some of the few more experienced girls were injured. Despite having to deal with the girls learning as the weeks went by and stepping into shoes they may not have normally had to fill as soon as they did, the Lady Panthers clawed their way to qualifying for two State track meet events.

    The first event was the 4x800m relay, which was run by Hollie Loper, Hunter Lock, Cari Duwa and Remi Duwa. The four girls ran a time of 10:32.94 at the Eddyville Blakesburg-Fremont District meet, which narrowly made the qualification time. They came into the State meet seeded 22nd in the relay among 2A girls, and while they didn’t run a faster time, they finished where they started. They combined to run a time of 10:36.48, taking 22nd.

    The second event the Lady Panthers competed in was the 1500m run, which Remi qualified for. She snuck in having run a time of 5:24.88 at Districts, resulting in being seeded 20th out of 24 girls. She was able to use what the Blue Oval offered, faster times regardless of distance. Remi shaved off nearly ten seconds, setting her new personal best at 5:15.15, finishing up in 18th place overall.

    All four girls will return next year with hopes of returning to the State meet next year and help bring their younger teammates along for the ride, many which gained valuable experience this season.