Girls track: Custer, Reed lead the way for runner-up Geneva

Georgia Reed is a returning all-state hurdler for the Geneva girls track and field team.

Almost without exception, there is a freshman sensation in the area on a yearly basis.

Nikole Custer made a case at the VanDeever Invitational Saturday afternoon in Geneva to be the ninth-grader in question this spring.

Reed and Custer each won two individual events and ultimately became three-event champions in leading their teams to runner-up and third-place finishes.

Palatine crowned four champions to edge the host Vikings, 150.5-148.5; St. Charles North was third with 109 points.

Reavis (74 points) sneaked past Dundee-Crown by 2 points (72) for fourth; West Chicago (56), Larkin (16), Chicago Northside (12), Rockford Jefferson (8) and Hubbard (6) rounded out the 10-team field.

Reed, eighth at the Class 3A state meet last year in the 300-meter hurdles, not only won her specialty event in 47.49 seconds but also captured the 100 hurdles in 16.63.

Palatine 300 runner-up Chloe Stewart had not even cleared the final hurdle before Reed crossed the finish line.

"Last year I didn't run the 100 hurdles at all," Reed said. "It is such a new race for me. It's exciting. It (the 300 hurdles) is still challenging, but I understand how to run it."

Reed collaborated with 3,200-meter champion Sophia McDonnell, Collette Malovany and Taryn Christy to earn a third title in the 1,600 relay (4:15.05).

Custer was the sprint maven on the unseasonably warm and windy afternoon.

The North Stars' freshman swept the 100 and 200 dashes and sandwiched the two individual titles by anchoring the 800 relay to gold with teammates Kendall Maffia, Alyssa Graff and Flo Ugoagwu.

"Even if you're far ahead, you still drive through," Custer said after winning the 200 dash in 27.61 to augment her win at 100 meters in 13.54. "Your goal is to get the best time possible."

McDonnell overcame former middle-school classmate and reigning 3,200 all-state veteran Audrey Ernst of St. Charles North to win the event in 11:41.63.

"I was just going out there going for time," McDonnell said. "Place didn't matter to me. It was really hot and windy. I feel like (the 2-mile) is going to be my focus this season."

But Ernst, also all-state in the 1,600 run last spring, came back to snare the title at the distance in 5:28.05.

"It was great competition," Ernst said.

St. Charles North sophomore Natalie Galvan also ran the metric mile after winning the 800 run in 2:24.64.

"I didn't want any regrets," Galvan said.

Illinois State-bound Geneva senior Kristin Higgins was not overly pleased with her high-jump performance despite winning at 5 foot, 1 inch.

"I was not happy," said Higgins, third in state last year. "I was hoping I could do more than 5-1."

The Vikings also received wins from Susan D'Onofrio and Hannah Borodin in the triple jump and shot put with respective marks of 33-4.75 and 33-1.

Autumn Horlbeck claimed the fifth St. Charles North win with a 10-foot clearance in the pole vault.

Dundee-Crown thrower Tarrah Kamp had to settle for runner-up to Reavis' Auset Kheru in the discus, but the Chargers' junior set a new school record-dating to the last century-with her 119-9 effort.

"I knew it right away," Kamp said of her program-best launch. "Field events are definitely my thing. I am going to try and keep breaking it."

"I am not a miler," Palatine senior Izzeh Stankiewicz said after trying to recoup after the 1,600 run.

But the Pirates' anchor leg of the championship 3,200 relay was instrumental in Palatine edging Geneva for the team title.

Stankiewicz teamed with Liz Lechowicz, Fiona Metzo and Lauryn Simons to win the meet-opening event in 9:57.83.

The Pirates were in full swing after the 400 relay quartet of Sydney Winter, Jess Streepy, Dejay Thomas and Tiana Henderson followed suit in 51.74.

"It's the closest simulation to state we have all year," Stankiewicz said of the Pirates' back-to-back invites at Downers Grove North and Geneva. "The coach (Joe Parks) is experimenting a lot. (The 3,200 relay) was a group of leaders, even though we do different events."

The Pirates' Erin Oleksak and Henderson were the other Palatine champions in the 400 dash (61:09) and long jump (16').

"My goal was to take the first 200 harder," Oleksak said. "I am trying to break 60 (seconds). That's my goal. It has been a barrier."

"It's my first time long jumping in a year and a day (at Downers North)," Henderson said.