Downers Grove North runs US #2 in 4x8 win at Mustang Relays

Prospect Girls, Downers Grove North win two of three relay events; Girls 4x8 magical with US top 10 performances with Prospect, St. Ignatius Prep; Plainfield North Girls, Naperville Central Boys win wild 4x2 races

By Michael Newman

Naperville, Ill – The air outside of the Res-Rec Center was spring like where a meet could have been run on North Central College’s outdoor stadium. However, this is March, and we will be competing in the indoor season until the end of the month.

Results | Race Videos | Meet Photos

Glad the meet was run on the Al B. Carius track inside the Res-Rec Center. The electricity in the building fed off the fast times all the 26 races produced. One race fed off the last.

There were two meet records that were set on the night and some races that came close to breaking records in the 21-year history of this meet. The six 4x8 relay sections brought the paced building to a roar.

Girls 4x800 Meter Relay – We knew we would have a great race in the final section of this event when Lockport blew away the field in the first section of this relay winning their section by 40 seconds. Their 9:44.02 time at that moment was ranked #4 in the state. The Porters ended up at 12th overall when all was said and done.

Prospect’s second team ran in the second section pulling away with their quartet of Sophie Fransen, Ella Benassi, Samantha Lobacz, and Ava Collins pulled away from the field to run 9:38.39 to win the race. Sandburg ran 9:45.53 to finish second. That Prospect team had the best time in the state would last for 10 minutes until the final section stepped to the starting line.

Prospect has been the defending champion for two years now having won three straight titles. St. Ignatius had the state’s fastest time until last week Downers Grove North finished second behind Prospect in last year’s race and was ready for the challenge.

St. Ignatius took control of the race on the first leg as freshman Ally Shutler gave the Wolfpack the advantage. Shutler, who ran 4:50 for 1600 meters in a meet on Saturday, gave the team the lead as she handed off the baton having run a 2:13.09 split. Downers Grove North handed off in second behind the 2:15.14 split that Ava Gilley produced. Prospect handed off in third with Veronica Znajda splitting at 2:16.90, and York fourth behind a 2:17.22 split from Sophia Galiano-Sanchez.

St. Ignatius still held the race lead after the second leg, but their gap was getting snug. Elle Sheaffer ran 2:22.2 to keep the lead, but Downers Grove North with Hannah Renner (2:21.47), and Prospect with Mary Laba (2:19.85), and York with Sofia Stoddard (2:20.95) were still lurking.

Prospect’s Ireland Wildhart gave the Knights the lead as she split 2:19.19 giving her team a three second lead. Downers Grove North with Lily Eddington (2:22.06) kept the Trojans to the second position. St. Ignatius had Greta Sheaffer (2:24.1) to keep close to Downers Grove North.

This set up a tantalizing final four laps of the race with Meg Peterson anchoring for Prospect, Annika Swan for St. Ignatius, and Alyssa Todnem of Downers Grove. Swan was almost five seconds behind Peterson and started making up that ground immediately passing Todnem on the back stretch and catching Peterson with two laps left in the race. It was a battle of wills to win on the final two laps where Swan would try to make a pass and Peterson not allowing it. Swan made a try in the final lap but that did not happen.

Peterson ran a 2:14.7 anchor leg to gave the team the win in 9:10.63 (IS #6) and the fastest time in Illinois. Their time was the fourth fastest in meet history along with having run four of the top eight times in meet history. Annika Swan split 2:12.73 to give St. Ignatius second running 9:12.00 (US #7) and the second fastest time in Illinois.

The top nine finishers in this race produced the top nine state times. Downers Grove North ended up third running 9:19.75. Plainfield North moved up from 15th on the second leg to run 9:24.78 to place fourth followed by Minooka (9:26.43), Naperville Central (9:27.50), St. Charles North (9:27.55), York (9:32.23), and Lane Tech (9:34.96).

Boys 4x800 Meter Relay – The storyline in the Boys 4x8 was like what had just been run in the Girls section of the distance. Plainfield North’s “B” team ran 8:16.89 to win the first section ahead of Sycamore (9:17.78) and Willowbrook (8:18.01). Two teams were under 8:10 in the second section of the event. West Aurora ran 8:08.22 to win the section finishing 11th overall. Andrew (8:09.88) and St. Ignatius (8:11.57) finished third.

The seriousness in the faces of Downers Grove North’s quartet showed that they were ready to step into another realm of distance running in this state. This would be the first time this season that John Courtney, Will Surratt, Philip Cupial, and Grant Schroder would be running as a quartet this season. The Trojans came into this meet as the defending IHSA State 3A Champion and the Nike Outdoor National champion. Looking at form charts showed that this team would be the race favorite. It is the unexpected that you must watch out for in a relay race.

The pack of 12 passed through the first two laps in 57 bunched within 2 seconds of each. The surprise in the race was that Morton’s Miguel Flores stepped to the lead taking off away from the pack. Morton had the lead handing off after the first leg and a 1:57.43. Courtney stayed close running 1:58.25 in second followed by Whitney Young (1:58.63), Palatine (1:59.21), and Plainfield South (1:59.34) in the top five.

Morton and Downers Grove North broke away from the pack midway through the second leg. Surratt took the lead making a definite move that Morton’s runner could not react to. Surratt opened a two second lead on Morton running a 1:56.78 split. The race seemed to be over despite the lead as Surratt passed the baton tp Cupial.

This was not a race anymore. Maybe a race against the clock the way that Cupial took off after getting the baton. It was more like a solo time trial. He handed off the baton to Grant Schroder having run a 1:53.86 split putting Downers Grove North at 5:48.89 and close to meet record breaking status. The lead had ballooned up to 11 seconds ahead of Naperville Central, Plainfield North, and Palatine. While his teammates watched, Schroder cruised around the track set to break Hinsdale Central’s record set two years ago. Schroder helped accomplish that as they ran 7:43.28 to set a new meet record.

Their time after Monday night was the fastest in the state, second fastest time in the United States, and the fastest high school time this indoor season run on a flat track. Downers Grove North also ran the second fastest time ever indoors in Illinois trailing York’s time of 7:42.7 run in 2000.

Plainfield North off a 1:56.35 anchor from Quinn Davis ran 7:57.43 to finish second. The top five finishers all surpassed the previous Illinois indoor best. Morton came back to run 7:58.02 to place third. Palatine set a new indoor school record placing fourth (7:58.38). Naperville Central finished fifth also under 8-minutes (7:58.51. Owen Horeni ran a 1:55.25 anchor split to move from 13 to place Yorkville 6 overall (IL #7).

Girls 4x200 Meter Relay – Downers Grove North set the standard in this event running 1:44.58 (IL #9) to win the third section ahead of Downers Grove South (1:46.98). The Trojans ended up finishing third overall. York ran a great race to win Section, but their time of 1:45.53 (IL #12) was not faster than DGN. The final section topped them all. Prospect had the lead throughout until the final leg of the race. Plainfield North was close throughout but could not get by The Knights. The only time the Tigers had the lead was at the finish line. Plainfield North ran a school indoor record along breaking Lincoln-Way East’s nine-year-old meet record running 1:40.63 (IL #2). Prospect was next timed at 1:40.70 to finish second (IL #3). Batavia was next running 1:44.80 (IL #4) finishing fourth overall.

Boys 4x200 Meter Relay – It was the third section that made the difference in this relay. West Chicago was one of the slowest seeded teams in this event. The Wikdcats went out to win Section 1 (1:34.43) as they finished 13 overall. It was just the beginning of what would be four more wild sections. Naperville Central showed why in the third section. The Redhawks were on this track almost three weeks ago when they ran 1:34.21. They ran faster in this race. Much faster. The quartet of Chad Earl, Aiden Clark, Kyle Clark, and Eron Kennedy ran three seconds faster winning the section in 1:31.15 (IL #8) three seconds ahead of Lane Tech (1:34.21). Central would have to wait for two more sections to see if they would have the fastest time> Plainfield South had the first chance to pass Naperville Central but ran 1:31.55 (IL #13) to win Section 4 and place third overall. Glenbrook North edged Minooka in the final section as the result did not appear on the scoreboard immediately. When it did, the Spartans discovered that they had run 1:31.25 (IL #9) missing the win by a tenth of a second. Minooka finished fourth overall with a 1:31.75 time (IL #14).

Girls 4x400 Meter Relay – Downers Grove North set the standard for a fast final section after winning the fourth section and finishing fifth overall with a 4:02.40 time (IL #6). Prospect led the final section through most of the race being pushed by Plainfield North on the final leg. The top four times in the state came from the final section. Prospect got to within a second of the meet record running 3:55.77 to hold off a fast-charging Plainfield North (3:58.56). Batavia followed in third (4:01.34) holding defending Class 3A champion Lincoln-Way East (4:01.70).

Boys 4x400 Meter Relay – There was nothing eye shattering in the first three section of the event with Plainfield North winning Section 3 timed at 3:32.41 and finishing 11th overall. Bolingbrook was the first team under 3:30 in Section 5 as the Raiders ran 3:29.42 (IL #12) for the win. Downers Grove North had the lead from the first leg on in the final section of the meet. The Trojans ended up running 3:25.62 (IL #4) to win the relay overall. Naperville Central in 3:26.61 (IL #5) and Yorkville in 3:27,76 (IL #10) finished second and third. Owen Horeni had a great night coming back to run a 49.71 anchor split for the Foxes. The fastest anchor split of the night belonged to Nolan Lamoreaux of Lockport who finished fifth overall with a 3:29.54. Lamoreaux’s split was an impressive 49.15 time.