Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009

Pain was last hurdle for Cahokia senior; Bejoile is top Class 2A track and field athlete

On the same day last May, Laquitsha Bejoile experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of ... another victory.

With one state championship in hand -- the Class 2A 100-meter hurdles title -- the Cahokia senior and Cahokia assistant coach Greg Crockett sought out the trainers' room at Eastern Illinois University to find an ice pack for Bejoile's aching right foot before the finals of the 300-meter hurdles.

"That was the most difficult race I ran all year because the more pressure I put on my foot, the more pain,'' Bejoile said. "For me to be able to overcome that obstacle was really big.

"Before the race, though, coach Crockett came over and said to me 'Bejoile, pain is temporary. Championships are forever.' I took that thought and ran with it."

A mere 44.92 seconds after starting, Bejoile had the 300-meter hurdles state championship and Cahokia had the third-place trophy in the Class 2A State Track Meet all but wrapped up.

The dominant hurdler in the metro-east during the 2009 season, Bejoile went undefeated in the 100 meter hurdles and lost just once in the 300 last spring as she captured the honor as the News-Democrat Class 2A Track and Field athlete of the year.

"She was outstanding all season," said Cahokia coach and Bejoile's great uncle Roscoe Dowell following the state meet in Charleston. "She was disappointed after not doing as well as she had hoped last year and she worked hard to improve in all phases.

"Laquitsha was much more focused this year and she's also much stronger.''

Headed to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale on a track scholarship, Bejoile said it took a while to realize what she had accomplished.

"It sunk in a few days after the state meet. It's just making history, I think. I'm proud, everybody else is proud,'' Bejoile said. "To be the first girl to win two state championships in school history. It's overwhelming. It really is. It took a lot of work.

Bejoile said she felt the pressure of being one of the favorites in both events. To ease some of the pressure, the Comanches coaching staff took the team to see a movie the week of the state finals.

"The pressure was more the kind that I put on myself. I knew that this was it. It was now or never for me to win a state championship,'' Bejoile said. "We went to see "Dance Flick" and just laughed a lot and had a really good time. I was still nervous, but that took a lot of the pressure off.''

Still a bit nervous, Bejoile overcame a terrible start in the finals of the 100-meter final to win the first of her two titles, finishing with a time of 14.48 seconds.

"I remember two things about that race. The first was the start when got out bad and was a half a stride behind the field by the time we got to the first hurdle,'' Bejoile said. "The other was being able to chase everybody down and win the title.

"My feelings after the race? Well, it hadn't sunk in yet, but it was a combination of joy and relief.''

After getting some treatment for her foot and the inspirational pep talk from Crockett, Bejoile had little trouble in the 300-meter hurdles as she eased to the finish line first.

"That one hit me a little quicker, mainly because it was my last 300-meter hurdle race. I was happy that I had won, but sad because it was my last high school hurdles race.''

What did Bejoile do to celebrate her titles.

"I went home and went to bed. I was exhausted. I bet I slept until noon the next day,'' Bejoile said. "I did have a pool party a couple of weeks later though. That was fun.''