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Big night for Palatine's O'Brien

Palatine junior Kelly O'Brien was the heart of the Pirates' first team championship at the Bruce Ritter Invitational at Downers Grove North in four years.

Showcasing versatility with legs at 400, 800 and 1,600 meters, the Pirates' returning three-event state qualifier anchored the Pirates' 3,200 relay to victory and dominated the open 1,600 on Friday night.

The Pirates' eventual 107-82 victory over Prospect was long secured when O'Brien helped the 1,600 relay to runner-up status.

Lyons Twp. nosed out two-time defending champion West Aurora for third.

Downers North was fifth, followed by Thornton, Naperville Central, York, Wheeling, Glenbard West, Lane Tech, Centennial, Crete-Monee and Joliet Central.

The first race proved a seminal moment, both symbolically and physically for O'Brien.

Trailing Downers North counter anchor Zayna Jan by 8 meters to start, O'Brien ran a sub-2:13 split.

O'Brien had a final lean at the wire to win by one one-hundredth of a second.

"It was a photo finish," said Palatine team relay member Megan Beach.

"I was kind of running pretty technically," O'Brien said of her first lap. "I kept (Jan) in my sight. I knew I couldn't let her go too far ahead. I wanted to kick and give everything that I had at the end."

The margin of victory was entirely different in the open 1,600 for O'Brien.

The Pirates' distance ace was never threatened in winning by more than eight seconds.

Reigning Class 3A cross country state champion Lindsey Graham of Glenbard West missed both distance races with a nagging calf injury.

"It would have been interesting (had Graham participated)," O'Brien said. "I'm in shape and ready to run fast. I don't feel like my mile was a perfect race by any means, but it was a good effort."

Beach was fourth in the open 1,600 to essentially seal the Pirates' title.

"Our racing coaches kept telling (O'Brien and I), 'We need the points, we need the points,'" Beach said. "We have a really team-oriented mindset that helps us succeed."

"We didn't have a lot of wins tonight," Palatine coach Joe Parks said. "We won the mile, we won the 2-mile relay. We had a lot of double scorers in events. We ate up a lot of points that way."

Palatine hurdler Caitlin Riedy placed at both distances, including runner-up at 300 meters.

The Pirates also won 30 out of 40 possible points in the four relays.

It was the third consecutive year Prospect finished as team runner-up.

But the Knights had some stirring performances to power the program the rest of the season.

The most stunning moment of the meet came when junior Jes Skudlarek soared 5 feet , 8 inches to deny two-time state champion and Wisconsin-bound Lyons senior Emma Haugen.

Catherine Sherwood made it a second field title for the Knights as the senior edged the Pirates' Gabbi Heidrich by 5-plus inches to win the long jump.

On the track, the Knights' equaled the field-event victories with bookend wins at 100 and 3,200 meters.

Prospect sprinter Maya Mason eased past Naperville Central junior E'Jenne Eghareva by a tenth to win the 100 two events after Brooke Wilson lowered her seed time by almost a half-minute to cruise in the 3,200.

"I like running in the heat," Wilson said of the unseasonably warm weather. "My coach (Pete Winternote) knew - even more than I did - that I had enough in the tank to finish."

Wheeling thrower Alannah Greenberg had the last of the seven local triumphs with a 39-2.25 effort in the shot put.

"It was a new PR for outdoor season," Greenberg said. "I could have done better, I thought. I wasn't my best, but I was happy in the end."

Like Glenbard West, Naperville Central was also missing key personnel Friday night.

D'Jenne Egharevba had to make the most of fellow sprint relay members Jada Hanes and Maddie Warneke not being in the fold.

The junior was all-state in the two sprint relays as a freshman two years ago.

"I don't have my relay team today, so (coach Mike) Stine put me in my individual events," Egharevba said after dropping the 100 by a tenth of a second to Prospect junior Maya Mason.

The Redhawks' junior standout was fourth in the 200 dash in 26.15 after running the 100 in 12.65.

"I PR'd in all of them, so I'm pretty happy about that," Egharevba said.

The Redhawks' Josilyn Dostal was instrumental to the Redhawks' DuPage Valley Conference indoor championship; the junior was runner-up in the triple jump and third in the long jump.

"(My triple distance) wasn't my best, but it was pretty good," Dostal said. "It was still (automatic) state-qualifying."

Rachel Hoffman, one of the Redhawks' famed distance senior triplets, has been bedeviled by injuries in recent years - in both track and cross country.

But the Illinois State University-bound - sisters Nikki and Katie are also headed to Normal - miler made important strides with her runner-up finish in the open 1,600 with a new personal record of 5:12.75.

"I think today was a big step forward with what I want to do for outdoor season," Rachel Hoffman said. "I had a setback toward the end of cross country (season). I'm happy with my progress so far this season."

Glenbard West has an entirely different look without Graham, the reigning state runner-up at 3,200 meters who had the fastest time in the nation during the indoor season in the event.

"She could have probably run, but you never know four days in advance (of when the entries were due)," Glenbard West coach Kelly Hass said.

Thrower Anna Gambol had the Hilltoppers' best showing as the sophomore set a new personal best in finishing second in the discus with a throw of 111-1.

"It was a 3-foot PR," Gambol said. "I could tell it was a little farther than my throws that were around 108 (feet). Discus was a highlight, but shot put wasn't as good as I hoped."

"We have been working just to get better," Hass said. "I didn't think the first part of our meet was that great, but I thought the second half of the meet was exactly what I have been asking from the kids."

Downers North avenged its razor-thin loss in the meet-opening 3,200 relay with a victory in the closing 1,600 relay.

Emma Moravec, the Trojans' sophomore standout who was third in a sizzling 400, ran legs on both relays.

"I don't think the (3,200) team was really disappointed," Moravec said. "We ran an awesome time. We lost to a great team."

York crowned a pair of champions as Hannah Wahlgren unleashed a devastating kick on the gun lap to overtake Lane Tech junior Imani Davis to win the 800 in 2:18.84.

Abby Waltz was a solitary figure in the pole vault in its final stages; all the other competitors fell at least 2 feet short of her winning height, 11-6.

"It was definitely different," Waltz said. "You don't get to watch other people and learn from their mistakes."

For defending state runner-up West Aurora, nowhere was the symbolism of the meet more striking than in the 100 hurdles.

Former state champions Shanise Andrews and Emma Spagnola won the previous six titles at the distance for the Blackhawks.

Andrews' little sister, Rajiah, was neck-and-neck with Crete-Monee senior Tineja Foy as the finals unfolded late in the race.

But Andrews hit the last hurdle and had to settle for third place.

Tamia Rayford, the only returning state point-winner for the Blackhawks, continued in her season-long quest of performing all three sprints between 100 and 400 meters.

The sophomore was third, sixth and runner-up, respectively, at the three distances.

"The triple was fine," Rayford said of her race schedule. "The only thing that got me was how late it is. I hate running at night. I get sleepy really fast. It puts a damper on how I run, but overall I think I did pretty well."

SaMya Hunt overcame a disappointing verdict in the shot put to claim the Blackhawks' lone victory: the discus.

The returning state qualifier won with a throw of 112-2.

"I thought the girls did a terrific job tonight," West Aurora coach Teresa Towles said. "They came to perform - and that's what they did. I am looking forward to (Hunt) making it to (the state) finals this year and actually place."

The junior fell two places shy last spring.

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