Resilient Warren sparkles at Rolling Meadows
Warren showed no signs of fatigue at the 32nd annual Mustang Relays on Thursday night in Rolling Meadows.
Coming off a pair of North Suburban Lake Conference victories Wednesday, the Blue Devils continued to impress on Thursday by taking second with 100 points.
Highland Park took first with 108 points, with host Rolling Meadows taking third with 83 points, followed by Plainfield Central (72 points) and Maine East (70 points).
Warren peaked at the end by sweeping the 800 medley (1:55.9), 800 relay (1:51.9), and 1,600 relay (4:17.4).
“It was outstanding to see the girls pull that together,” said Warren coach Ryan Dunn. “We seemed to cover a lot of things tonight, and it gives us an idea of where we are.”
Nikala Wickstrom, Katie Griffen, Jada Keys, and Savanah Shrake combined to lead Warren to first in the 800 medley.
Wickstrom, Griffen, and Keys, combined with Tori King to pull out the victory in the 800 relay.
“We’ve been working really hard,” said Keys who was the anchor for the winning 800 relay. “There is a lot of competition and we’re really pushing each other.”
Shrake then combined with Lexi Wickstrom, Greda Doden, and Caroline Szostak in taking first in the 1,600 relay.
Szostak gave the Blue Devils the lead in the third leg and Shrake nailed the door shut for the victory on the final lap.
“The team put me in good position,” said Shrake, who held off a hard-charging Plainfield Central squad. “The meet (Wednesday) was hard, but we were able to come back compete today.”
Junior Amber Cook had the top individual mark in the triple jump (34-10) for the Blue Devils.
Rolling Meadows also showed plenty of grit by taking first in six events.
Melissa Whowell, Colleen Vershek, Amanda Sanchez, and Christina Gastfield combined to take first in the distance medley (13:03.7).
Whowell, Vrshek, and Gastfield then combined with Ashley Miller in taking first in the 6,400 relay (21:50.2).
Gastfield was impressive in both distance events hitting a 5:14 mile in the distance medley, then coming back to run a 5:17.6 mile in the 6,400 relay.
“I didn’t really expect to go that fast,” said Gastfield of her back-to-back miles. “I’m feeling more comfortable. I think the whole distance squad is really believing in each other.”
Madeline Hume, Rachel Williams, Claire Brady, and Rebecca Zych combined to lead the Mustangs to first in the 3,200 relay (10:28.1).
Rolling Meadows also came up big in the field events.
Morgan Keller had the top throws in both the shot put (43-6) and discus (121-7) in leading Meadows to first in both the shot put (111-1) and discus (296-1).
Senior Kayla Davis also aid the Mustangs in the shot put (35-1) and discus (98-6).
“We’ve really taken practice serious this season, and our technique has definitely become better,” said Davis of the Mustangs’ throwing attack.
Vicky Pavlou swept the high jump, long jump, and triple jump at the Mid-Suburban League Indoor meet, but the senior has been slowed during the outdoor season due to an injured right ankle.
But Pavlou is rounding back into form and took second individually in the triple jump (34-7) and third individually in the long jump (16-1) leading Rolling Meadows to a sweep in both the triple jump relay (95-1) and long jump relay.
“I know I have it and I know I can do it,” said Pavlou of her jumping potential. “I just need to have that one jump, that one good day.”
South Elgin took second in the low hurdle shuttle relay, 3,200 relay, and freshman 400 relay.
Jordan Tuin also took fifth individually in the 1,600 (5:28.4) for the 6,400 relay for the Storm.
“I think I went out a little too fast,” said Tuin who will also be threat for South Elgin in the 800. “But I was able to come back in the final lap.”
Amanda Patterson (5:23.7) and Maria Luna (5:27.3) combined to help Streamwood take second in the 6,400 relay.
“We really push each other,” said Patterson of the duo’s impressive 1,600. “I just wanted to run the second half hard, it always the most difficult part of the race.”