Track and field: St. Francis boys, girls do work
As St. Francis track coach Scott Nelson would say, his boys did a man's work.
Whatever the female equivalent, the Spartans girls did that, too, at the Walther Christian Invitational, Saturday at Triton College in River Grove.
Take Minnie Rolston, the freshman out of Naperville. She ran in two relays plus the open 800- and 1,600-meters, victories all.
"I was tired after the four-by-eight, but then I recovered quick after my open 800. So I was happy with that. My legs feel recharged - and now I have to go run the four-by-four," Rolston said after winning the 1,600 by nearly eight seconds.
Stout efforts typified St. Francis on both sides of the coed ledger in the 18-team meet. The girls topped host Walther Christian, 125 points to 74.50; the boys beat Walther 132-101. Timothy Christian, featuring Xavier Ross' meet record in the boys 300 hurdles, placed fourth in each.
"We're waiting for the weather to break a little, it did," Nelson said. "(Alex) Hernandez won three (events) - two relays and an open (800). (Joe) Leo got two firsts and a second, (Griffin) Kasprak was second in the triple (jump) and second in high jump, first in the four-by-four, third in the four-by-two."
Surpassing even Rolston in volume, Dan Weizeorick joined Jon Aquino, Leo and Hernandez on the boys' 3,200 relay, returned three events later to win the open 3,200, and capped his afternoon with a second-place finish in the 1,600.
"That's a boy did a man's work today," Nelson said.
There was more where that came from. Junior Taylor Gerard led off the Spartans girls' second-place 800 relay, won long jump and came right back to win triple jump. Entering the meet with a personal record of 31 feet, 10½ inches in triple jump, Gerard exceeded that three times, including her top mark, 33-2½.
"I think it's the weather," she said. "So far it's been really not nice outside, it's been cold. Having the warm enough weather that your muscles get warm without needing to overexert yourself definitely helps."
Timothy Christian received a full day's work by such Trojans as Priscilla Nartey, Hannah Schuringa and boys distance runner Clint Fincher.
Sophomore Hope Clark was seeded first in the 3,200 by 20 seconds but won the event by more than a minute, topping her PR by 21 seconds. The 2017 cross country state qualifier also finished third in the 1,600.
"It's a hard race when you're racing by yourself," Clark said of the 3,200. "You just practice and you can't waste all your practice. Got to run it and improve, can't throw away your opportunity."
Having lost to St. Francis' Jacob Goddard in the 110 hurdles and placing fourth in the 100 dash, Ross was determined not to waste the 300 hurdles.
A state qualifier in four different events, the senior surged to the lead after the first two sets of hurdles then made the race his own when Goddard stumbled after clearing the third set. Ross cruised in a meet-record time of 40.04 seconds, and added a 200 win at 23.36.
"I really wanted to get a win under my belt and take first in at least one of my events," Ross said. "The 300's my best event and I was like, you know what, this should be the one where I take first. So I just went out there and put it down on the track. I just had a different mentality that time.
"I was a little upset about the previous races, so this one was kind of like a redemption race."