West Aurora overcomes Neuqua Valley
The West Aurora girls track and field juggernaut continued its drive to Charleston on Friday night in Naperville.
The Blackhawks established their dominance early at the Class 3A Naperville North sectional and never relinquished it with a 34-point victory over runner-up Neuqua Valley.
Naperville Central qualified three individuals and a pair of relays to place third; Naperville North was fourth behind twin qualifier Hope Turner. Waubonsie Valley was fifth behind star sprinter Morolake Akinosun.
West Aurora’s Emma Spagnola had an off-night, according to her season-long expectations, but the freshman still won two events, the long jump and 100-meter hurdles, to lead the Blackhawks’ successful defense of their sectional crown.
“I thought it went very well,” Spagnola said. “I finally beat the Oswego girl (Riley Vann) in the (100) hurdles. I really wanted to beat her. I knew she was really going to push me.”
Spagnola turned back the Panthers’ junior by one-hundredth of a second. By failing to qualify in either the high jump (fourth) or 300 hurdles (third), Spagnola may have paved the way for better state results elsewhere. The Blackhawks’ powerhouse sprint relays at 400 and 800 meters will be made even stronger at the state meet with the inclusion of Spagnola.
“It’s fair to say (Spagnola) will be on at least one relay (at state),” West Aurora coach Teresa Towles said.
Anita Saffa, who missed state-qualifying times by a combined 17 one-hundredths in the 100 and 200 dashes, anchored both quartets to school-record times. The Blackhawks’ crews turned back Romeoville at both distances despite some shaky handoffs.
“They still stink,” Saffa said of the near-botches. “With better weather and more practice, we’ll be on that podium (at state).”
Jasmine Ranson claimed the Blackhawks’ fifth championship in the triple jump; the reigning all-state leaper returns for a second year in the event. Elisa Meyle was one of four at-large runners to obtain state tickets out of the 3,200 run. The senior overcame two lost seasons to illness and injuries to land her maiden debut on the grandest of stages.
“I could feel myself slowing down in the middle,” Meyle said. “I was scared I wasn’t going to make it.”
West Aurora swept the long jump when freshman Kayla Walton finished second to classmate Spagnola in the event. Kehlay Dunah, Cynthia Smith, Ranson, Monique Dunum and Shadae Smith were the other relay state qualifiers for West Aurora.
The track and field gods were not terribly kind to the sprinters Friday night. Racing into the teeth of a north wind, not a single sprinter or hurdler made the state-mandated times for at-large qualifiers. The biggest casualty was Akinosun, who after winning the 100 and finishing runner-up at 400 meters, failed to advance out of the 200 dash by three one-hundredths of a second.
“I would give up the 400 (qualification) for the 200 any day,” said Akinosun, who was all-state in both the 100 and 200 last year. “I am more upset (Neuqua Valley sophomore) Savannah (Carson) didn’t make it in the 100 than I am about not making it in the 200.”
Carson, fourth in the 100, was second at 200 meters to earn the other automatic bid.
The Wildcats advanced three other individuals and the 3,200 relay out of Naperville North. In the meet-opening 3,200 relay, Alyssa Weber needed to make something happen. The senior did just that on the anchor leg, overcoming her counterpart from Naperville North for runner-up behind Naperville Central.
“I really wanted to get second place, so we could go to state,” Weber said. “(The Naperville North anchor) was within my reach, and I went for it.”
Jasmine Jaclin won the shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 9½ inches for the Wildcats, who also received runner-up performances by Kate Kondry and Stephanie Jackson in the triple jump and 300 hurdles, respectively.
“(Jaclin) has been strong for us the whole season,” Neuqua Valley coach Gretchen Parejko said.
Jenny Alberts has almost literally come full circle for Naperville Central after helping the 3,200 relay take gold and the 1,600 variety silver. The senior spent her sophomore and junior years in Singapore after playing soccer for the Redhawks as a freshman.
“I did track for the two years in Singapore, but it wasn’t nearly as competitive as this,” Alberts said. “Just last weekend we realized we could make it downstate (in the 1,600 relay).”
Alberts teamed with Kailey Mikulec, Hannah Wood and Alex Cushing to capture the 3,200 relay in 9 minutes, 33.58 seconds. Liz Crissy ran one of the four legs of the runner-up 1,600 quartet, and the senior began her day by qualifying in the high jump with a 5-3 second-place effort.
“I just wanted to qualify (in the 1,600 relay),” Crissy said. “It was so close (with Minooka for second). If I could get 5-6 or better (in the high jump at state), I would be very happy with that.”
Tina Norris’ final throw in the shot put finals earned the sophomore inclusion to state, and Amanda Fox makes a return visit at 3,200 meters for the Redhawks.
It would be difficult to fathom two events as incongruous as discus and pole vault, but Naperville North sophomore Turner became the lone Huskies’ representative at state. Turner won the discus by bettering her personal record by 7 feet after earlier making 10-3 in the pole vault.
“It came out of nowhere,” Turner said of her 112-5 throw in the discus. “My coach (Chuck Hoff) came up to me last fall and said, ‘I want you to try discus. You have long arms.’ I had a feeling I was going to make it in the pole vault.”
Waubonsie Valley senior Chloe Hamilton became the final local state qualifier when she bettered the state mark by an inch.