CHARLESTON — Klarke Goranson’s fourth trip to state across two sports left her motivated for what’s to come.
The Manteno sophomore earned a pair of fifth-place medals at the IHSA Class 2A state finals on May 23 at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field.
She ran 2 minutes, 14.30 seconds in the 800 meters and 5:07.85 in the 1,600.
That gave her six state medals through the halfway point of her high-school career: four in track and two in cross country.
“It’s OK,” Goranson said of her state showing. “Not the best, but I had a rough season. So I’m glad I could come out here and get fifth in both.”
She’s not quite sure why things didn’t click in her second trip to Charleston.
“I go and get second and third as a freshman and then I feel like I had more pressure on me this year and it just didn’t go as planned,” Goranson said.
The good thing is she has two more years along with an idea of what’s needed going forward.
“Yeah, I definitely feel like I need to train a little bit harder,” Goranson said. “… It gives me a lot of motivation going into cross and (I’m) just excited to push myself a bit harder.”
She was one of three Panthers to earn a spot on the awards stand. Sophomore Sophia Most won a medal in the discus for the second straight year, throwing 129 feet, 1 inch for fourth place. Freshman high jumper Olivia McElroy tied for eighth at 5-1.
Manteno finished 14th with 17.5 points.
In all, the Panthers had five state qualifiers, the most in recent memory. None are seniors, so the program’s future is bright.
“It was so much fun just having a group of girls to go to dinner with,” Goranson said. “… We have a really young team and I feel like as we grow together, we’ll do really well at the high level.”