Minooka runs US #5 time in winning 4x8 at DGS Mustang Relays

By Michael Newman

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Naperville – The leaderboards are usually turned upside down after the Mustang Relays hosted by Downers Grove South are completed. As teams and fans were filing out of the Res-Rec Center on the campus of North Central, eight of the top ten times in the state in the Boys 3200 Meter Relay came from this meet. The same number combination applied in the Girls 3200 Meter Relay.

RESULTS | VIDEOS | PHOTOS

Highlights From the Meet

Boys 3200 Meter Relay

The two teams on paper that figured to be ahead of the rest of the field heading into the final section of this event were Minooka and Batavia. By the time that the two teams received the baton for the start of third leg, they were ahead of the rest of the pack.

Lane Tech held the lead after the first exchange in 1:58.8 with Batavia and Minooka close behind. A shaky exchange between The first two runners of Minooka, Adam Shaw and Evan Stonitsch, had the Indians still in the mix, but now in third.

Minooka Coach Nick Lundin took a chance in his lineup of putting his fastest runner Jason Hoffman in the third position hoping that Hoffman would break the race open.

That is what happened. He took the baton even with Batavia running the first 400-meters in 55 seconds and giving Minooka a commanding lead. Vincent Van Eck held that position in the anchor leg of the race despite the fact that Batavia’s Adam Kennedy seemed to be closing on him the first three laps.

Minooka crossed the line with the win and the state’s fastest time indoors this season (7:51.68) and the fifth fastest time nationally. Batavia finished second with a fast 7:54.53 time (US #7).

St. Charles East running 8:04.41 (IL #4), Sandburg at 8:08.62 (IL #5), and West Aurora at 8:08.92 (IL #6)  rounded out the top five teams in this race.

Minooka Splits – Shaw (2:00.3), Stonitsch (1:58.8), Hoffman (1:54.9), Van Eck (1:57.4)

Girls 3200 Meter Relay

The first race of the evening pulled off a surprise when Grant Community ran a then IL #3 9:47.92 time to win Section 1 of the event behind the 2:18.2 anchor leg from their all-state runner Aly Negovetich.

The name of the game for the rest of teams in the final section of this event was to have a big enough lead ahead of the meet’s defending champion Downers Grove South and their anchor Erin Reidy who had just run 2:12 on this track last Thursday.

Emma Watcke of Hinsdale Central and Audrey Ginsberg separated themselves from the rest of the pack leading in a 2:19 opening leg. Downers Grove South stood in sixth after the first exchange.

The dynamics of the race changed on the second leg with Lyons Township moving from third to the lead and Downers Grove South moving to a close fourth with a strong second leg by Brenna Cohoon.

The problem was for Lyons Township, Prospect, and Hinsdale Central by the end of third leg was that Downers Grove South was too close to them thanks to South’s Sophia McNerney keeping her team close to the lead.

Reidy took the baton in third. 200-meters later, she had the lead for good. Downers Grove South defended their relay title (9:23.91) ahead of Lyons Township (9:28.64), Hinsdale Central (9:34.00), and Prospect (9:37.30). Downers Grove South’s time ranks #21 nationally after this race. The top four finishers in the final section produced the top four times this season in the state.

DGS Splits – Diddia (2:25.0), Cohoon (2:21.3), McNerney (2:22.0), Reidy (2:15.6)

Girls 800 Meter Relay

Neuqua Valley held the fastest time in the first three sections of the event when they won Section 1 (1:51.70) behind a come from behind anchor leg from Riley Ammenhauser.

Prospect had the fastest time (1:48.55) into the final race section. A strong anchor leg gave Whitney Young the win running 1:45.91 holding off Plainfield North (1:46.18, IL #6) and West Aurora (1:46.88, IL #9).

Boys 800 Meter Relay

Bolingbrook set the standard in this event running 1:34.34 to win Section 1 leading wire to wire. Glenbard West lowered that when they ran 1:34.11 to win Section 3.

Host Downers Grove South changed things up in Section 5 when they ran a swift 1:32.16 (IL #5) to win the fifth section.

It was close as the teams neared the finish line of the final section. Lockport Township held on for win in the section (1:31.59, IL #2) and the overall winner in the relay. St. Charles North ran 1:32.78 (IL #5) to finish second in that section and third overall. Lane Tech ran 1:32.95 (IL #6) to finish second in Section 5 and fourth overall.

Girls 1600 Meter Relay

Prospect opened some eyes in their fourth section win. Their time of 4:07.24 took the lead in the event and was a then IL #4 time entering the final section of the relay. The Lady Knights finished fifth overall (IL #8) in this meet.

It was Whitney Young that took charge when they took the lead in the final 400-meters of this relay. The Lady Dolphins won their second relay of the night (4:04.78, IL #2) to hold off West Aurora (4:05.78, IL #3) in the final 50-meters of the race.

Lyons Township (4:05.94, IL #4) and Plainfield North (4:06.84, IL #6) finished third and fourth.

Boys 1600 Meter Relay

The dynamics of this event changed in the final three sections. It was first Burlington Central that took over the lead when they ran 3:31.77 (IL #14) to win Section 4. Then, it was Hinsdale South that sizzled a 3:28.87 time (IL #6) to win Section 5 and finish sixth overall.

Lane Tech has strong early this season in this event and showed in this meet. The Indians took the lead on the third leg of the final section to hold on for the win (3:25.62) and the second fastest time in the state this year.

Minooka (3:27.07, IL #3) finished second ahead of Lockport Township (3:28.39, IL #4) and Plainfield East (3:28.64, IL #5) finished third and fourth.