Batavia snares Upstate Eight indoor title
Neuqua Valley junior Samara Miller was the runner to beat Saturday afternoon in Batavia.
Not only was the Wildcats' sprinter coming off an earlier win in the 400-meter run at the girls Upstate Eight Conference indoor track and field championship, but Miller was the No. 1 seed at 200 meters.
"We were just hoping to split (the points) of Neuqua Valley," Batavia coach Justin Allison said.
But Tori Ortiz and Hannah Schlaman irrevocably altered the outcome of the 16-team race.
The two Batavia underclassmen swept the penultimate event, paving the way for the first conference championship for the program since the Bulldogs joined the league in the fall of 2010.
In a field that included three of the top-five Class 3A teams from the state finals last spring, Batavia had 124.5 points to win the overall and River Division titles.
St. Charles East, third in Charleston last year, and Neuqua Valley, the champion of the Valley, tied for second with 103 points.
West Aurora, reigning state runner-up, crowned two individual champions to finish a distant fourth.
Geneva was fifth; Metea Valley, fifth in state last year behind its peerless throwers, Holly Julifs and Courtney Morgan, and St. Charles North tied for sixth.
South Elgin, Waubonsie Valley, Glenbard East and Streamwood rounded out the scoring field.
The other five schools - West Chicago, East Aurora, Bartlett, Elgin and Larkin - participated but did not place any individuals or relays.
Ortiz, a freshman, outdueled her sophomore teammate, 25.94-26.37, with a dynamic close from an undesirable lane location.
The Bulldogs' Dakota Roman, Hannah Ullberg, Miranda Rae and Mary Grace Golden set the early tone by denying St. Charles East in the 3,200 relay.
The 55 dash was exceptionally close as Schlaman ran the race in 7.38 seconds to edge three competitors, including Ortiz, by 14 one-hundredths.
Schlaman later led off the Bulldogs' 800 relay, which captured another title in 1:49.31.
Batavia senior Courtney Glassman was declared the champion of the pole vault on criteria over Neuqua Valley senior Meghan Leshock.
St. Charles East sophomore Hannah Ewald triumphed over prized Batavia freshman Emma Stephens in the 3,200 run.
The Saints' Anastasia Honea inched past Katie Sheehan and Nicki Cast of Neuqua and Metea Valley to win the 800 run in 2:21.71.
West Aurora no longer has its All-America long jumper and hurdler, Emma Spagnola, in the fold, but the Blackhawks did get wins from Rajiah Andrews (55 hurdles) and Joslyn Noel (long jump).
Kristin Higgins' 5-foot-3 clearing in the high jump earned the sole win for Geneva.
There was an epic encounter in both the field and on the track that framed the overall theme of the jam-packed event.
In the triple jump, Allison Chmelik and Hannah Schilb will certainly be among the state leaders in the event after the former, a returning all-stater, denied Schilb by two inches.
The St. Charles East Marquette-bound Chmelik soared 38 feet, 3.5 inches to edge the St. Charles North two-time state qualifier in the event.
"I was really happy with the triple jump," said Chmelik, a two-time returning member of the Saints' back-to-back 1,600 relay state championship quartets.
"I felt very strong today," said Schilb, who also had to settle for second in the long jump. "Going head-to-head with Allison really pushes me."
The marquee running event was destined to be the 1,600-meter run.
Streamwood senior Gabby Juarez was not only the defending conference champion but also a returing all-stater in the event.
But St. Charles East senior standout Torree Scull, a returning state champion as part of the Saints' 3,200 relay, bettered the Sabres' star in the state finals last spring.
St. Charles North freshman sensation Audrey Ernst set the early pace, breaking out to a 20-meter lead after two laps.
But Scull and Jaurez were in the clear for the last 600 meters.
Scull maintained her lead until the closing meters, only to have Juarez defend her title with a final burst to win by .26 of a second.
It was the first time either athlete broke the 4-minute, 59-second barrier indoors.
"I didn't have what I thought I was going to have late because I ran the four-by-eight," Scull said. "(The race) didn't feel that fast.
Neuqua Valley was within striking distance of both titles even without the services of Maya Neal.
The senior leader, third in a national pentathlon event last weekend, had a family obligation.
But Miller and Tashee Hargrave - from the previous heat - both defeated returing West Aurora all-stater Tamia Rayford to give the Wildcats a sweep in the 400.
"I don't know if it was a revelation," Neuqua Valley coach Gretchen Parejko said of Miller. "I am very proud of these kids."
Julifs and Morgan had the leading team story of the day.
Julifs' 40-6 throw in the shot put was four inches better than the best throw her defending state-champion teammate could muster.