CHARLESTON -- Jacobs senior Sarah Ross had a smile on her face after the 200-meter dash.

Even though she did not qualify for the finals in the sprint event, the kickboxer turned track athlete will be competing in the pole vault at today's Class AA Girls State Track Meet.

"If I can get my personal best tomorrow, I will be happy," said Ross, who like every other qualifier vaulted 10 feet, 9 inches to advance to the finals. "I have vaulted 12-0 before, no matter what place I earn, I will be happy with anything higher than that."

Ross is just one of many athletes that will making the trip to the finals. Based on her sectional height of 11-6, she is ranked second in the state. The top sectional distance in the pole vault belongs to Lincoln-Way Central competitor Jenna Wexter, who vaulted 12-0. Wexter is also a senior.

"There are a ton more girls trying pole vault and it makes it very competitive," said Ross. "I am looking forward to tomorrow. I am happy about qualifying for the 200-meter dash (preliminaries), but I was here mainly for the pole vault."

Ross is one of five athletes from the area to earn an invitation to today's finals, which does not include the 3200-meter run, which is a straight-to-finals event.

One athlete who did not earn a trip to today's finals is Huntley senior Coryn Marzejon. The Michigan State recruit failed to advance from the 400 preliminaries, posting a time of 58.19 seconds. That was third in her heat. Marzejon finished second in the state in the 400 last year. She did not run in the 100 preliminaries and did not advance with her teammates in the 1,600 relay.

St. Charles North sophomore Stephanie Strasser will be running in the 1,600-meter finals. Strasser, who earned All-State status as a cross country runner during the fall, finished her race in 5:00.08. She was second in the first heat and finished the day with the seventh-fastest time.

After making several moves before finally getting passed in the final 150 meters by Warren's Heather Olsen, Strasser was supremely confident.

"I am sure I made the finals," said Strasser. "At times, I was not happy with the pace, but right now my legs feel great."

Huntley senior Krissy Bergquist was not supremely confident, she was extremely nervous. After qualifying from the second triple jump flight with a leap of 36 feet, 7.25 inches, she watched the third and fourth flights. But she was the final jumper that earned a spot in the finals.

"I was counting the jumpers ahead of me," said Bergquist. "I counted 11 and hoped no one else would jump further. I am happy to make the finals. I just want to hold my feet up longer. I can get a few extra inches that way. If I go over 37-0 and earn a medal, I will be very happy."

St. Charles East jumper Maya Rittmanic earned the right to compete for the long jump and high jump state titles. Rittmanic leapt 17-11.25 in the long jump and finished with a leap of 5-3 in the high jump.

Bartlett freshman Alyssa Schneider will join Strasser in the 1,600-meter run. The two competed in the same heat and Schneider finished in 5:03.82. She was fourth in the heat and the ninth person to qualify.