Rosary claims SCC crown

Host Rosary earned first place honors in the Suburban Christian Conference girls track and field meet in Aurora on Thursday.

Despite scattered thunderstorms rolling through the area the meet was conducted in its entirety allowing the Royals to edge 2010 champion Walter Lutheran.

Rosary senior Anna Deufel helped lead the Royals to glory with a gutsy performance in the 200-meter dash. Duefel finished first in the event with a time of 12.25.

According to the Rosary coaching staff, Deufel’s victory in the 200 meters marked the exact moment when everything began to fall into place for the Royals on their historic night.

“It’s all about Anna’s determination and courage. Her winning the 200 was necessary,” said Royals coach Vic Mead. “We expected it; she’s been like that all season.”

Deufel also finished first in the 100 meter. She took second in the 400 meter, and second in the 400 meter relay alongside teammates Maggie Rowley, Aly Rindone and Christine Slade.

“The girls have a lot of respect for her toughness, determination, and the way she can focus,” Mead said.

The Royals earned a school record and first place finish in the 3,200 meter relay with a time of 9 minutes, 56 seconds. The team of Emily Bakala, Helen Offerman, Courtney Cox and Kara Kalisz gained the honors.

Montini finished in third place overall thanks in large part to its outstanding performance in the 3,200 meter.

Montini junior Ericka LaViste took first in the event with a time of 11 minutes, 48 seconds, and fellow Bronco Catherine Kitz took second. The strong showing earned the Broncos a combined 18 points towards the team standings.

“It was tough in the beginning because I went off too fast, but during the second mile I got my confidence boost,” LaViste said.

Shot put was another event that produced major points for the Broncos. Junior Bianca Maduko won the event with a toss of 34-7½ and teammate Tiana Brown finished second.

St. Francis took fourth place overall in the 11-team field. The Spartans received a monster performance from seniors Katy Garcia and Kelly McShea. Garcia finished first in three events: 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and high jump.

McShea ran the 1,600-meter finals in a time of 5 minutes, 16 seconds to capture first. She provided a major boost to the Spartans alongside Garcia.

“(Garcia and McShea) have both been leaders in every sense of the word,” said Spartans coach Scott Nelson.

Rosary will now look to carry its momentum from the conference championship into next Friday’s Class 2A sectional meet at Glenbard South.