By Michael Newman, ILXCTF.com Editor

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Downers Grove – With state powers Glenbard West and West Aurora in the field for Thursday’s Bruce Ritter Invitational, who would have thought that host Downers Grove North would finish ahead of those two teams for he invitational championship. The Lady Trojans used a combination of depth as well as three relay wins and almost a fourth to capture the team championship with 103.5 points. Glenbard West finished second with 80 points followed by West Aurora (75 points), Lyons Township (73 points), and Wheeling (71 points).

Downers Grove North stared their winning relay ways in the 400 Meter Relay. Anchor Celeste Bonga brought North from behind to take the win (49.63) followed closely by Lyons Township (49.83), Crete-Monee (49.84), and Prospect (49.88). I was not that close in the 800 Meter Relay as Bonga stretched out her lead on the anchor leg crossing the line in 1:45.40 and two seconds ahead of Glenbard West (1:47.41).

The Lady Trojans solidified their team championship in the final two events of the meet. Kimberly Brent anchored her team to the win in the Frosh/Soph 1600 Meter Relay. Brent pulled away from a pack of three other runners in the final 150-meters to take the win but had to hold off Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart to do that. The Varsity 1600 Meter Relay that followed came down to the final stretch to determine a winner. Lyons Township and Downers Grove North came across the line together with a photo determining that Lyons Township won by only five hundredths of a second (4:05.08 – 4:05.13)

If there was to be an athlete of the meet to be awarded, it would have gone to Crete-Monee’s Lyn’Nikka Vance who won three individual events. Her biggest was the 100 Meter Dash where she faced off against Dajour Miles of West Aurora. This was to be Miles first outdoor race of the season and first race since she pulled her hamstring at the Downers Grove Mustang Relays at the end of February. Miles got off to a good start at the middle of the track and had the lead a 50-meters. Vance, starting on the inside in Lane 2, came even with Miles at 60-meters and just edged ahead in the final few steps. Vance’s time of 12.24 was just six hundredths of a second ahead of Miles (12.30).

Vance also picked up a win in the Long Jump (17-10.25) as well as a win in the 200 Meter Dash to complete her sprint double. The sophomore was in control of the race in the final 100 meters taking the lead off the curve. Her time of 25.38 put ahead of Thornton’s Amari Windom (25.71) and Downers Grove North’s Faith LaMantia (26.08).

Mya Robinson of Thornton was dominant in the hurdle races capturing two wins. The state’s #1 athlete in the 100 Hurdles showed that taking the lead at the third hurdle of the race and never looking back. Her time of 14.72 was almost four tenths of a second slower than her state best of 14.30, but it was good enough for the win on this cool evening in Downers Grove ahead of teammate Amari Windom (15.30). Robinson ran a seasonal best in winning the 300 Meter Hurdles (45.57) pulling away from Lane Tech’s Anna Baltudis in the final three hurdles.

Meet Notes

Glenbard West showed their strength in the distance races winning three of the four scheduled races. It felt different for Katelynne Hart to get the baton trailing in the 3200 Meter Relay. Lyons Township and York pulled away from the field in the first two legs of the race with Glenbard West in a distant fourth. A 2:19.1 split for Glenbard’s Janie Nabholz pulled her team close to the lead when she gave her baton to Hart. The freshman took the lead catching York’s Sarah May with 300-meters to go. Hart could not shake May until the final 100-meters of the race. Hart, who ran a 2:14.4 split, crossed the line to give her team the top time in the state this season (9:24.36). York was next (9:27.30, IL #2) with May anchoring with a 2:19.1 split.

Hart was back on the track 65-minutes later to run in the 800 Meter Run. Her chief competition was Downers Grove North’s Emma Moravec who pushed Hart to a 2:14 time at the WSC-Silver Indoor Championships almost four weeks ago. The two runners stayed close to each other for most of the race until the final 100-meters when again Hart unleashed a lethal final kick. The two crossed the line with the top two times this season in the state for this event. Hart’s win in 2:14.64 was more than a second ahead of the 2:16.33 run by Moravec.

Glenbard West’s Lindsey Payne and Prospect’s Brooke Wilson broke away from the pack early in the 3200 Meter Run as the two went through the 1600-meter mark in 5:25. In most cases in any distance race, runners tend to slow down in the third part of a race. This was not the case for Payne as she kept her 82-second per lap pace breaking away from Wilson around 2 kilometers. The defending 3A state champion went on to run 10:49.47 to win by 16 seconds ahead of Wilson (11:05.65).

Maggie Scholle of Lane Tech had the lead for most of the 1600 Meter Run with her and Sarah Barcelona of Lyons Township breaking away from the pack early in the race. Barcelona took over the lead from Scholle with 600-meters to go and then extended it at the bell lap. The Lyons Township sophomore closed in a 73-second final lap to run 5:03.42 to win by six seconds ahead of Scholle (5:09.53).

Tamia Rayford of West Aurora had a busy evening finishing third in the 100 Meter Dash and fourth in the 200 Meter Dash. In the 400 Meter Dash, she pulled away from the field a 200-meters, then held off Wheeling’s Alexis Wright for the win. Rayford ran a season’s best of 58.34 ahead of Knight (59.08) and Glenbard West’s Janie Nabholz (59.26).

The most competitive field event of the night came in the Triple Jump. Timber Terrell of Wheeling achieved a new personal best of 38-9 (IL #2) to win the event ahead of Sarah Olojo of Lane Tech who also established a new personal best (38-6.5, IL #3).