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Women’s Track: Zillmer takes Maine South philosophy to Illinois State
Updated: July 2, 2012 9:16AM
Kristen Zillmer was part of Maine South’s rise to one of the best distance programs in the state.
The 2010 graduate twice qualified for the state finals in the 800 meters and was a standout on the cross country team.
Zillmer now is helping Illinois State to national prominence. The sophomore recently captured the Missouri Valley Conference championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:35.82.
Zillmer’s time qualified her for this week’s NCAA regionals in Austin, Texas. She needs to finish in top 12 on Friday to advance to the national meet in June.
Zillmer never thought she’d be running the steeplechase, an event that features four obstacles every lap.
“Growing up, I always played sports,” she said. “Switching to just running in high school was difficult for me. I went to college and I saw the steeplechase. It seemed perfect. It’s kind of crazy, but I thought I’d be pretty good at it.
“I told the coach I wanted to do it.”
Since then, Zillmer’s been fortunate to learn from one of the country’s best. Aisha Praught already has qualified for the Olympic Trials in the event. The senior didn’t compete at the MVC meet, but she’s expected to run this week.
“Having someone to run with is a big deal,” Zillmer said. “She’s made a big impact on me.
“I’ve looked at my times as a freshman compared to her times as a freshman, and I hope to end up being as fast as her, if not faster.”
Another highlight of Zillmer’s spring season was helping the Redbirds’ distance medley relay win at the Drake Relays in April.
“That was a pretty big deal,” she said. “I was on top of the world when that happened. I’ve heard about the Drake Relays since I was young. Winning a race there was awesome.”
Zillmer recognizes the parallels between her career arc at Maine South and the one so far at Illinois State.
“When I got to Maine South, we weren’t very good,” she said. “We slowly kept getting better, though. Same thing at Illinois State. Our program is slowly changing. It’s awesome to put ourselves on the map.
“People are starting to take Illinois State seriously.”
State track and field
The Hawks won the battle of the CSL South in the 3,200-meter relay by edging out New Trier to take the ninth and final all-state spot.
Emma Ropski, Austen Beaugureau, Emily Leonard and Megan Lemersal clocked 9:19.22 in Charleston to beat the Trevians by .28 seconds. New Trier ran nearly 10 seconds faster than the Hawks at the sectional.
Only Beaugureau graduates from the relay foursome.
Maine South’s 1,600 relay team of Taylor Dornik, Anna Kinell, Kristina Grandi and Ropski didn’t get past the prelims with its time of 4:08.11. Dornik is the lone senior of the group.
