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The idyllic weather may have seemed a mirage to some, but the Geneva girls track and field squad was poised to make another statement.

With its influx of talented first-year performers, the Vikings achieved a program first Saturday at Kaneland High School in Maple Park: champions of the 17-team Holmes Invitational.

The Vikings received victories from a quartet of newcomers and held off sprint-relay-dominant West Aurora to capture top honors.

Geneva edged the equally resurgent Blackhawks 91.5-86.17. Kaneland, behind workhorse Lindsay Gierke, was third with 76 points.

Burlington Central nipped Rosary by half a point for sixth, and Dundee-Crown rounded out the local contingent with 23 points.

"This is the first time we've won the meet," Geneva coach Peter Raak said. "We've been (coming) here a long time."

The Vikings swept the three individual races between 400 and 1,600 meters, paving the way for the eventual outcome that was nurtured by their success in the field.

Kat Yelle earned the first individual running title for Geneva, overtaking Lockport junior Erika Foltys down the stretch of the 800 meters to win in 2 minutes, 21.42 seconds.

Freshman Taylor Wickware was next for the Vikings.

Running from the inside lane, Wickware held off Hyde Park quarter-miler Sha-rone Greenlaw to emerge victorious at 400 meters with the narrowest of wins.

"I think Taylor Wickware turned in the surprise performance of the day," Raak said of her 13 one-hundredths margin over Greenlaw.

Fellow freshman Kelly Whitley then took center stage in the 1,600 meters.

As the gun lap sounded, Whitley, who reversed a 15-meter deficit to propel the Vikings' 3,200 relay to victory, was engaged in a classic three-way battle with West Aurora freshman Elisa Meyle and Dundee-Crown junior Kelsey Seiler.

"This is my first outdoor track meet," said Whitley, the leader of the Vikings' Class 3A state-championship cross country team. "(My strategy was) to find a point when I felt good and break away from them."

Meyle held a tenuous lead at 3,000 meters, only to see Whitley make her move, outrunning Seiler down the stretch to secure the victory.

The Vikings' maturation in the field was illuminated by sophomore sensation Sammi Hill, who soared 35 feet, 1½ inches to win the triple jump by nearly two feet.

"I'm good at (sprints and jumping)," said Hill, a transplanted soccer player. "A lot of sprinters don't like to jump, but I do."

The Vikings' consistency was needed to turn back West Aurora and its stable of youthful but talented sprinters.

The Blackhawks' Shanice Andrews was the lone athlete to keep Gierke from perfection: in a dual of returning state qualifiers in the 100-meter hurdles, Andrews had a late surge to win in 15.12 seconds.

The Blackhawks' interchangeable collection of sprinters -- Markesha Davis, Kristin Holmes, Jasmine Ranson, Mariah Smith, Devon Remington, Char Smith, Brittany Loza and Andrews -- then combined in various lineups to snare the 400 through 1,600 relays.

"We ran together during the summer," said Davis, who anchored the 400 and 800 relays. "We're so used to running together."

When combined with the impressive effort by Meyle, the Blackhawks' day was complete when Loza raced home on the final leg of the 1,600 relay to give the squad the overall victory out of the slow heat.

"I couldn't ask for anything better," West Aurora coach Therese Towles said. "(Meyle) is the strongest miler we've had in years."

After Andrews' upset victory in the 100 hurdles, Gierke came back with a vengeance: the junior was never challenged again in taking the 100 and 200 dashes as well as the 300 hurdles, where she is a reigning state finalist.

"(The 100 hurdles were) not very good at all," Gierke said. "I was pretty mad about the (100) hurdles and wanted to go all out in the rest of my races. I just kept going. I'm pretty happy with the (winning) times."

Rosary had the only other multiple winner; junior Monica English swept the two throwing events by considerable margins.

But it was freshman Amy Kus who had arguably the finest individual effort.

The Batavia resident soared 5 feet, 5 inches to win the high jump.

"I really didn't expect to get (the mark)," said Kus. "I had 5-4 in the last meet (against West Aurora and Plainfield Central) and figured I would have a shot to go an inch higher."

Burlington Central senior Karolynn Bush had a breakthrough day in the two throwing events to propel the Rockets' field-event leaders.

Bush exceeded 100 feet for the first time to finish second in the discus and later added a third-place result in the shot put.

"I like the discus better," Bush said. "(The release on the runner-up throw) felt like it's supposed to."

On the track, Central was paced by its middle- and long-distance runners as well as hurdler Vanessa Perez.

Maggie Gannon anchored the Rockets' fourth-place 3,200 relay quartet, and the sophomore later duplicated the finish in the open 1,600 meters.

"The mile is my race," said Gannon, who was two slots behind Seiler at 5:34.13. "I tried to use my kick to my advantage."

Freshman Markelle Turk also placed in the 1,600, ending her day on a solid note after being narrowly edged for second in the 3,200.

"I broke our school record, so I'm happy," said Turk, whose new benchmark is 12:08.82. "That's what I was going for today."

Perez, meanwhile, gave Gierke a late scare in the 300 hurdles, ultimately succumbing by a half a second to finish runner-up.

Seiler began her day by leading the Chargers' 3,200 relay to a second-place result.

Teaming with Morgan Weichmann, Katie Gross and Claira Himmel, Dundee-Crown eclipsed the 10-minute barrier, which only set the stage for the thrilling open mile.

Seiler tried in vain to keep pace with Whitley in the closing 100 meters, ending up three-quarters of a second behind at 5:28.28.

"Coach (Matt Michalski) told me behind (the leaders) and if my legs felt OK to let it loose," Seiler said. "My times (in both races) were all better -- I'm excited."