Close is enough
Kelsey Ontko and McKinzie Schulz figured if they could not defeat Shakeia Pinnick, then they should train with her.
The Benet pair credited the Waubonsie Valley superstar for their Herculean efforts Saturday afternoon at the Ram Invitational, the girls track and field meet at Glenbard East in Lombard.
"(Pinnick) is an amazing athlete," Schulz said of her periodic training partner.
"I have been training with Shakeia Pinnick (with the Aurora Flyers travel club)," the Duke-bound Ontko said. "She takes it to another level. I can't tell you how much it has helped my sprinting."
The Redwings' duo combined for three individual victories and were runners-up in the three races Pinnick captured -- the 200 meters, 800 meters and 300 hurdles -- and Benet won the 16-team invite with 123 points.
Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley tied for second with 93 points.
Glenbard South, which had Libby O'Brien winning the open 400 meters and anchoring two relays to victories, was fourth with 60 points; Naperville Central, featuring champion discus thrower Jessica Carter, had 58 for fifth.
Libertyville edged Schaumburg, and West Chicago bettered Glenbard East to round out the local teams.
Ontko and Schulz were true workhorses for the first Benet victory in the esteemed invite: the former led a 1-2 sweep in the 100 dash, eclipsed 18 feet to claim the long jump and snared 16 more points with second-place results in the 200 and 400 meters.
Schulz, meanwhile, was equally brilliant in showcasing her versatility: the sophomore doubled up in the 800 and 1,600 meters, added the improbable 300 hurdles to her menu and concluded her day by anchoring the Redwings' 1,600 relay to second place.
"I feel even better when I'm doing more races," said Schulz, who never surrendered the initiative in claiming the 1,600 in 5 minutes, 18.7 seconds.
Ontko edged freshman teammate Kaileen Healy -- the unlikely winner of the triple jump -- to win the 100 in 12.1 seconds and was only behind returning all-staters Pinnick and O'Brien, respectively, in the 200 and 400.
"I opened up a new door today," Ontko said. "Maybe I can qualify for state in the quarter. I can go even further (in the long jump)."
Maria Scheet claimed the final Benet victory with a 10-foot-6 effort in the pole vault.
"I know we worked our kids hard," Benet coach Scott Brooks said. "These kids making the sacrifices for the team was the difference."
Pinnick made her debut in the outdoor 800, where the junior was clocked in a scintillating 2:14.5; the two-time defending state runner-up in the 300 hurdles was a solitary figure down the stretch in that event, and Ontko never seriously threatened in the 200.
"I was working on my splits (in the 800)," Pinnick said. "When the time comes to run faster, I will."
Sophomore Michelle Higgins made it a clean sweep for Waubonsie Valley by winning the shorter of the two hurdles events, which also featured a third-place showing from Ayo Adewole. State veterans Monika Jakutyte and Katie Vuckovich led Neuqua Valley with wins in the high jump and shot put, respectively, and the Wildcats other championships came in the 800 and 3,200 relays.
"(The season) is getting down to crunch time," Vuckovich said.
Kim Iacobazzi, Sarah Schumacher, Sarah Englehardt and Erin O'Brien joined Libby O'Brien as sprint-relay stalwarts for Glenbard South.
"That's what I have been working on -- a fast 200 and hanging on from there," O'Brien said of her triumph at 400 meters.
Annette Eichenberger and Caitlin Groeper were the primary point-earners for West Chicago and Glenbard East.