Distance strength helps Downers Grove North with win at Bruce Ritter Invitational

By Michael Newman

Downers Grove, Ill – Strong winds and storms in the Downers Grove area during the day on Friday did not slow down this meet from happening Friday evening. Mother Nature gave the athletes a break slowing down the winds as the meet continued.

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The winds did not affect the runners of distance power Downers Grove North on their home track. The Trojans won three of four distance events in helping them win the team title with 139 points.  Prospect scored 103 points to finish second ahead of Naperville Central (96.5 points and York (93 points).

A 2:19.3 split by Meg Peterson on the third leg of the 4x800 Meter Relay gave Prospect a slight lead ahead of Downers Grove North heading into the final 800-meters if the race. The lead changed hands immediately as North’s Lily Eddington lengthened her lead in the first 100-meters of the race. Downers Grove North went on to run 9:38.52 (IL #5) for the win with Prospect (9:47.03) and Glenbard West (9:52.93) finishing second and third.

Ava Gilley of Downers Grove North started her outdoor season as she ended her indoor season running just as strong. The junior took the lead early over a stellar field and went on to run 2:14.97 (IL #4) to claim the win with Peterson coming back from the 4x8 to run 2:17.19 (IL #10) to finish second. The top seven runners in the second section ran under 2:20 led by Liv Phillips of Naperville Central (2:17.25) and Mackenzie Gilbert of Glenbard West (2:17.79) finishing third and fourth.

The third win for Downers Grove North in the distances came in the 1600 Meter Run. Sarah Paul was among the leaders throughout the race but let her kick in the final lap do the trick. North went 1-2 in the race led by the win from Paul (5:10.65) ahead of teammate Alayna Todnem (5:14.90). York’s Maggie Owens (5:16.09) and Sofia Stoddard (5:18.77) finished third and fourth.

The quartet of Hannah Renner, Gilley, Sydney Hnatiuk, and Emily Wittner helped Downers Grove North end the meet with a close win in the 4x400 Meter Relay. The Trojans ran 4:03.05 (IL #6) to edge Prospect (4:03.46, IL #7) for the win.

The 3200 Meter Run supplied the most suspense in all of the distance events Friday Night. Katherine Klimek of York was in seventh place with 400-meters left in the race. Veronica Znajda of Prospect came off the penultimate curve and took the lead. With 200-meters left in the race, Klimek stormed past Znajda with her eyes on the finish line. The York senior ran 11:06.40 to claim the win with Audrey Casten of Downers Grove North running 11:07.85 to finish second with Znajda (11:08.47) and Anna McGrail of York (11:09.14) finishing third and fourth. Klimek finished the race running negative splits (5:37/5:29).

Aisha Kazeem of Palatine was the lone double individual of the evening. She ran 15.29 into a headwind to win the 100 Meter Hurdles with Brooke Sawatzky of Naperville Central running 15.59 to finish second. The pair duplicated their finish in the 300 Meter Hurdles. Kazeem ran 46.39 (IL #7) for the win with Sawatzky with a 47.22 time to finish second.

A strong anchor leg by Jerie McClellan helped Joliet West to the win in the 4x100 Meter Relay (48.93) with Prospect at 49.03 for a close second. York (49.65) and Downers Grove North (49.66) were close for third and fourth. Prospect was in total control of the 4x200 Meter Relay running 1:42.56 (IL #3) with Joliet West within a second of Prospect (1:43.64, IL #6) to finish second.

A surge by Elaine Paul of York in the final 10-meters gave her the win in the 100 Meter Dash (12.36) holding off Joliet West’s Morgan Pork (12.40) and Jerie McClellan (12.70). Four runners were under 60-seconds in the 400 Meter Dash. Charlotte Price of Lane Tech had the lead coming off the final curve. Price had enough to hold on for the win (58.42) holding off a hard charging Lola Satre-Morales of Naperville Central (58.42) who finished second. Ella Perrone of Hampshire (59.43) and Morgan Navarre of York (59.66) finished third and fourth. Morgan Pork came from behind in the 200 Meter Dash running 25.53 for the win with Elaine Paul finishing second just sixth hundredth of a second behind Paul (25.59). Charlotte Price ran 25.80 to finish third.

Brooke Sawatzky added a win in the Long Jump to the two second-place finishes in the hurdles. Sawatzky jumped 17-7 for the win with Charlotte Deines of Prospect jumping 17-3 to finish second. Mylee Marshall of York jumped a personal best to win the Triple Jump. The freshman’s 35-2 mark edged Stephanie Obasa of West Aurora (34-7.75) for the win.

Hailey Caraway of Hampshire, Megan Oleksak of Palatine, Samantha Zaragoza of West Aurora, and Leila Arzon of York all cleared 4-11.75 in the High Jump. Caraway won the event on fewer misses. Hailey Soriaga of Oswego East and Kendal Cullen of Glenbard West both cleared 11-6 in the Pole Vault with Soriaga winning the event on fewer misses.

Kayla Williams of Downers Grove North had a personal best put of 36-0.25 in claiming the win in the Shot Put with Mariah James of Shepard finishing second (35-7.5). Allison Roozeboom of Naperville Central was in full control of the Discus with a 117-6.25 throw to win the event. Adeline Wind of Prospect threw 104-6.25 to finish second.