W. Aurora ends Huskies' DVC streak
When you reach the peak, it's fun to reminisce about the valley.
"Sweet victory. Oh, yeah," West Aurora coach Teresa Towles said after her Blackhawks easily won the DuPage Valley Conference girls track meet in Wheaton, ending Naperville North's four-year win streak. "Long time coming. Long time.
"This is my sixth year. We started out at the bottom (seventh place in the eight-team league), but we're right at the top now. That's all we can ask for."
It wasn't very surprising. The Blackhawks won the indoor meet in March, and an assistant coach offered to show Towles Thursday's predicted results based on previous finishes, but, "I said I don't want to know, I don't want to be jinxed, because we all know it depends on who comes to perform," Towles said. "... The numbers might look good on paper, but you don't know. On paper we look real good."
West Aurora looked even better on the track, scoring 142 points. WW South came out of the pack to take second with 89 points, closely followed by Glenbard North's 85 and Naperville North's 82.
"Our field events, our jumpers really helped us a lot," Towles said, bubbling over with excitement. "That's where we scored the most points and took it home. I'm just so excited. I've got seven seniors that are leaving me this year. That's bittersweet for us, but we've got new freshmen coming in, we've got freshmen running at the JV level, we're ready for next year."
Junior Shanice Andrews won the 100-meter hurdles for the Blackhawks, placed second in the 300 hurdles, won the long jump and placed second in the triple jump behind teammate Jasmine Ranson. Charlotte Smith won the high jump, and the Blackhawks also did well in the sprint relays, winning the 100 and 200.
"We opened up some eyes. We opened up some eyes," Towles said. "We're ready for sectionals next week."
The host Tigers got wins in the shot put from Kathryn Regalado and the 1,600 run from Elise Anderson.
Anderson had to pass Naperville North's Jamie Schertz with about 70 meters to go in order to win, but both runners broke the previous conference record.
"I had my whole team cheering me with 200 left to go, and it just really gave me encouragement," Anderson said after registering her personal-best time, 5:15.60. "My senior year, last DVC, I just really wanted to win. I don't know where I found the energy."
The Huskies saw their hold on the conference title broken, but they were ready for it, looking for other milestones to reach.
"We aren't really trying to win," senior Kamaria Huggins said. "We're just trying to go out and do our personal bests because that's what matters for us."
Huggins won the 100 dash in 12.46, holding off West Aurora's Markesha Davis and Glenbard North's Canethia Walls. She was disappointed to place fifth in the 200, which Walls won ahead of the second-place Davis.
"It's been a long night," said Huggins, who ran six races if prelims are included. "I'm proud of what I did before. I'm not too upset, but it's my last 200 of the season. I wanted to do a little better."
Huggins said she will focus on the 1,600 relay at sectionals instead of the 200.
Naperville Central took fifth with 67 points, and Glenbard East was next with 52 points. Wheaton North scored 30 and West Chicago 11, with 10 of the Wildcats' points coming on junior Annette Eichenberger's win in the 800. Eichenberger charged down the homestretch to finish in 2:17.79, setting a league record before nearly collapsing along the fence out of exhaustion.
"At 300 (meters left to run) I was like, I'm going to turn it on," Eichenberger said. "I have to pass these two girls, and then the girl up front, I was like, I don't know if I can get her. But I was like, who wants it more? All right, I want it. I'm really competitive. It was fun."