To get a true measure of where Natalie Tarter stands midway through her Batavia career, an appropriate testing ground was needed.

Sure, her multiple victories at the Kane County meet and Carlson-Anderson Classic were revealing. Her showing at the Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic — the unofficial indoor track state meet — proved that she belonged among Illinois’ best.
Until she recorded top-four finishes in all three individual events last Saturday in the IHSA Class AA meet, though, the sophomore could have been subject to being short-changed.

“To think about it, it’s probably one of the finest performances by a female athlete in our area ever,” Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. “I know we’ve had state champions in this area, but those are pretty premier events. For her to take fourth place or better in all of them is phenomenal.”

On the Eastern Illinois University track in Charleston, Tarter finished second in the 100-meter high hurdles, third in the 300 low hurdles and fourth in the 100 dash — as Piron pointed out, events that attract some of the state’s best athletes. 

She left O’Brien Stadium with a school-record four state medals to her credit in two years.

Piron noted, however, that after she left the stadium, Tarter said she felt too embarrassed to wear the three she won this year and put them in her bag.

“One of the first things you do when you get an athlete with speed,” the Batavia coach said, “is you find out if she can hurdle. The difference with Natalie is that she’s (also) a fast-enough sprinter to compete at the state level.”

Tarter set career bests in all three events.

In the 100 high hurdles, she was nearly a second faster than her eighth-place time from 2006, evidence of her off-season work at Acceleration in Geneva and smoother, more refined hurdles technique. Tarter (14.17) gained momentum over the last three hurdles to place second to University of Wisconsin-bound senior Egle Staisiunaite of Downers Grove South (13.72).

“I just saw (Staisiunaite) ahead of me,” Tarter said. “It felt like they were all ahead of me. I got over the last three hurdles more quickly than the first three.”

After the Class A 100 dash, Tarter returned to the starting blocks and motored to fourth place in the Class AA 100. She sliced .14 seconds off her prelim time to finish in 12.17.
Ronecia Nash of East St. Louis won in 11.94.

“I practiced it a lot in the season,” she said of the quick turnaround between events, when asked after the 300s. “You kind of get used to it. It just came together, but I’m still a little out of breath.

“It kind of helped that I was still anxious from the hurdles.”

Tarter was matched against three of the meet’s best athletes in two-time hurdles champion Staisiunaite (41.67) and Waubonsie Valley sophomore Shakeia Pinnick (42.65) in the 300 hurdles. She lowered her prelim time from 44.05 to 42.84 in taking third place.

“Running against Egle and Shakeia pushed me,” Tarter said, “the way that, hopefully, I pushed them.”

In Friday’s prelims, Batavia sophomore Melissa Norville finished 19th in the triple jump (35 feet, 7 inches). Courtney Williams, Kathryn Warner, Akilah Anderson and Norville ran 49.86 in the 400 relay.

Geneva freshman Erica Miller ran 26.40 in the 200 and 12.82 in the 100.