Track and field: Batavia 800-relay girls break three field house records

The Batavia girls 800-meter relay team returns three athletes from a Class 3A all-state quartet from a year ago.

Thursday night, the three returning Batavia sprinters - Hannah Schlaman, Tori Oritz and Darby Emondson - were joined by junior transfer Symone Houston-Davis at the Batavia Relays.

The quartet set three Batavia field house records - the program, meet and facility benchmarks - in cruising to a win in one minute, 44.32 seconds.

"We were hoping to break it by half a second or maybe a second, but we blew it out of the water," said Edmondson, a Miami of Ohio hockey recruit. "Our handoffs were super smooth."

"Running a better time than we did at the state finals (last year) shows what a powerhouse we can be when we go outdoors," Ortiz said. "I can't wait."

The Batavia boys were even more impressive in the five-event final area indoor track and field meet.

The foursomes in the 3,200 and 1,600 relays followed the script authored by the sprinters at 800 meters in all claiming titles.

Joe and Shane Knanishu were the difference in the middle of the 3,200 relay in turning a narrow lead over Glenbard West into a full-fledged rout. Batavia won by almost 15 seconds in 8:10.92.

"I just tried to go out hard," Shane Knanishu said.

Sean Adams and Adam Kennedy were the Bulldogs' other team members.

In the event-opening sprint medley (two 200s, a 400 and 800), Larkin had the best boys showing among the local programs with their fourth-place showing.

In the girls equivalent, West Aurora senior workhorse Tamia Rayford could not quite contain Glenbard East two-time state qualifier Cailey Begalski on the anchor leg.

In the boys 800 sprint relay, Batavia had too much firepower behind Charles McMarrow, Will Akers, Michael Stanley and Josh Young.

South Elgin junior Desmond Lockett, a returning all-state sprint-relay member at both 400 and 800 meters, ran a brilliant anchor leg to propel the Storm to second place.

"I just tried to get past the guy who passed me," Lockett said. "I tried to get the guy in front of me, but it was too late."

The Batavia boys on the winning relay at 1,600 meters were McMarrow, Reggie Phillips, Jeremiah Evers and Stanley.

"We train the same way every day," Stanley said. "Everybody has the same times."

One of the surprises was an all-underclass West Aurora distance medley relay team obliterate its heat to finish seventh overall.

"We have never been the best at West when it comes to distance," said anchor leg Alyssa Mayhew. "The next year I know we're getting a couple more really good distance girls, so I'm really excited about the future."