Sanders Claims 2 Medals at State

Richwoods Junior thrower Jewel Sanders accomplished what seemed unthinkable at the beginning of the season - winning medals in both throwing events at the IHSA State Championship. Expectations had been high all season in the discus for the returning All-Stater from 2004 who owned an 8th place medal from last year's State meet. However, her shotput history, while commendable had not been at the same level of her discus work. 2005 represented a breakout year for Jewel in the shotput.
In the discus Jewel entered the State meet as the 2nd seed. Sanders appeared tight due to high expectations in the opening round of the event on Friday. She finished the day 6th in her flight with a best of 128' 3". Jewel approached the Saturday finals determined not to merely be satisfied to be there. Her best throw of 137' 11" moved her into 3rd place.
The shotput proved to be the reverse of the discus for Jewel. With few expectations in the event, Sanders appeared relaxed. At the end of the day by virtue of her 39' 5½" throw she suddenly found herself in 7th place and vying for a medal. When she returned Saturday for Finals she was unable to improve as some of the field advanced past her.
Sanders' medal performances in two individual event is the third time that such has been achieved in Richwoods Women's Track history. A double medal performance at State previously having been accomplished only by Ann Henry in 1980 when she finished 6th in the 800 and 8th in the 1600, and by Tracy Smith in 1993 who took medals with 3rd in the 400 and 5th in the 200.

Knights Place 8th at Sectionals

Richwoods managed to ride the coattails of state qualifier Jewel Sanders to an 8th place finish at the 2005 IHSA Sectional Championships which were held at Bloomington High School. Sanders won the shotput with a throw of 38' 9". Despite a huge throw of 145' 10", which would have won the state championship for each of the last 5 seasons, Jewel could only claim 2nd place to the 148' 0" of Bloomington's Emma Schmelzer. The Sanders and Schmelzer discus throws are the top 2 seeds for next weekend's state championship. The next best discus mark is 136' 8".
Knights' freshman distance runner Katie Grinstead ran a p.r. of 12:03.5 and finished 3rd in the 3200 missing state meet qualification by one place. Senior Brittney Wallace placed 5th in the 300 hurdles. Richwoods' 4x800 relay of Olivia Coker, Alesha Guard, Sravanthi Veguna and Alie Stowell and 4x400 of LaPorschua Lindsey, Deja Davis, Markesha Fondren and Brittney Wallace both received medals on the strength of their 6th place finishes. Results Photos

Late Season Updates

• On April 23 Richwoods traveled to Urbana for what apparently will be the final running of the North Central Invitational. The meet saw the meet begin in damp conditions with a wind chill in the mid-teens. Despite the difficult weather conditions the Knights produced a number of season best performances and finished in 5th place in the meet. Results
• The Knights proved to be poor hosts to Manual and defeated the Rams by a 134-17 score. The meet marked the 58th consecutive dual meet victory for Richwoods and raised the season record to 6-0. The highlight of the meet was in the shotput where Jewel Sanders became the first Knight to break the 40' barrier and set the Richwoods record at 40' 8"Results
• Notre Dame received far better treatment from the host Knights. The Irish came in fired up and ready to compete allowing them to end the Richwoods win streak by a 100-51 count. The dual meet win streak began March 26, 1998 and endured over parts of 8 seasons. Results
• Richwoods next made its annual trek to the Palatine Relays. The Knights ran reasonably well but could score only a single point in the event. Following the event RHS freshamn sprinter Shavantay Thomas was diagnosed as having a stress fracture in her foot and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Results
• Friday May 6 saw the Mid-State 6 Conference Championship meet held at Peoria Stadium. Despite the Knights production of 22 season best performances they could muster no more than a 3rd place finish with 122 points behind Champion Notre Dame's 192 and Pekin's 152. Jewel Sanders claimed both of the throw championships with distances of 139' 5" in the discus and 39' 4.5" in the shotput. Senior Pole Vaulter Shauna Wills claimed the Knights' only additional gold. Results