Dusti Smith chased down a state championship.
The Stark County junior’s anchor leg helped lift the Rebels to the Class 1A 4×800-meter relay state championship on Saturday, May 23 at the 2026 IHSA girls track and field state finals. This marks the first state title by a relay in the Stark County program history.
“We thought we could win a state title since (the Lincoln Trail Conference meet),” Smith said. “… We knew we got it. We were really looking forward to today. We were pretty nervous because we knew we had a chance.
“I think we all didn’t want to let each other down.”
SC, which saw its 4×8 take fourth place at last season’s state finals, clocked in at a season-best 9 minutes, 24.77 seconds on the O’Brien Field blue track at Eastern Illinois University.
Smith took the baton in third place and proceeded to run a half-mile time of 2:10.44. Her final kick was able to overtake runner-up Winnebago (9:27.26) on the home stretch for the win.
“By the last turn, I saw that I was getting closer,” she said, “and I was like, ‘This is my chance’, so I just gave everything I had to pass them and give as far ahead as I could — just make it to that finish line.”
Cheyenh Smith (2:18.62) started off the race, handing the baton off to Norah Rorem (2:26.58), who gave away to third leg Paytin Terwilliger (2:29.13). Dusti Smith then turned a personal-best split by over 15 seconds.
Smith’s final run produced just the seventh state champion in Stark County girls track and field history.
“I could not believe it was happening,” she said of approaching the finish line with the lead. “This is really it. We’re in first right now. I was like, ‘No one’s getting me at this point.’ … It was so exciting.”
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall. Bill Welt contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Stark County wins title with a dramatic final kick at IHSA state track meet
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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