St. Charles E. dances to UEC River crown
A flash of lightning in the distance during Thursday's Upstate Eight River Division Girls Track and Field Outdoor Championships at St. Charles North sent the athletes indoors for the IHSA-mandated 30 minutes, which was just enough time for the girls from St. Charles East to hold an impromptu dance party.
Once the meet resumed, 200-meter runners Kelsey Gentry and Jordan Shead had the Saints dancing for joy.
Gentry finished first (26.65) and Shead a close second (26.72) to give St. Charles East 18 points in the event and a bit of breathing room heading into the last race of the evening, the 1,600-meter relay.
The 1-2 finish in the 200, along with multiple outstanding performances by various Saints, helped St. Charles East seal its first UEC girls track and field title in three years. East finished with 152 points to edge Batavia (142) for the title. St. Charles North (126) took third, followed by Geneva (112), Streamwood (12) and Elgin (11).
"I will fully admit that Kelsey and Jordan were in the dance party," smiling St. Charles East coach Denise Hefferin said afterward. "I was a little nervous, but they ran a really great race. Kelsey got off real strong at the start, which solidified the fact we were going to go for an individual win there, and Jordan came on real strong just like she did in the 400.
Shead earlier won the 400 in 57.67 seconds, just ahead of all-state teammate Britney Williams (58.30). Gentry also won the 100-meter dash. The junior finished in 13.01 seconds to edge St. Charles North senior Kara Smith (13.27).
"We haven't won (a UEC title) in three years, so it's exciting to win it again even though it's just the division," Hefferin said. "We had a lot of top-three performances and a lot of surprise performances."
St. Charles East junior Mallory Abel ran to victory in the 1,600-meter race (5:16.60), just ahead of St. Charles North senior Sydney Stuenkel (5:17.47), who led off the meet by winning the 3,200 in 11:59.06. Saints sophomore Sarah Hill finished third in the mile to add 6 more points to St. Charles East's total.
The Saints won two relays. The team of Krista Fitzmaurice, Tori Scull, Sam Perez and Kristin Sheehan won the 3,200-meter relay in 9:51.54, while 400-meter relay team finished first in 50.38 seconds.
The friendly rivalry between hurdlers Annie Martines of St. Charles East and Hailey Clabough of Batavia epitomized the ongoing duel between the Saints and Bulldogs throughout the meet.
The seniors flip-flopped victories in the hurdles races. Clabough (15.74) edged Martines in the 100-meter hurdles - "I knew I had her about halfway, so I just had to keep the lead," Clabough said - but Martines (15.81) came back to nip Clabough (48.09) the 300-meter race.
"I love running with her," Martines said. "She's one of my favorite people to run with. We've been running against each other since we were freshmen, and we're both getting stronger as the season goes on."
Batavia had a great day in the field events. Senior Haleigh Theuerkauf swept the titles in the discus (119-0) and shot put (38-11.5), junior Paulina Szakiel won the high jump (4-10), junior Skylar Schoen won the pole vault (10-6), sophomore Jessica Hartmann took third in the long jump (16-3) and senior Tamar Norville was third in the triple jump (34-2.5).
Batavia freshman Alicia Grant won the 800 title with a time of 2:20.77, ahead of second-place finisher Jessica Scheets of St. Charles North (2:21.57).
"I feel a lot better," Grant said. "Coming off indoor I still felt not quite in the zone, but the past few races I've felt a lot better."
Grant later anchored the winning 1,600-meter relay team. Teammates Norville, Hailey Plata and Jenny Meuhlbauer handed her the baton with a big lead and she coasted to victory in 4:07.51.
Geneva freshman Hannah Davison won the triple jump (35-6) and junior Kailie Briza took the long jump with a leap of 16-5. The Vikings also won the 400-meter relay. Ashley Puff, Davison, Mady Temple and Meghan Weinstein posted a time of 1:48.92 to nip St. Charles East (1:49.86).
"I'm happy with how we did," Weinstein said. "We've been working really hard and it definitely feels like we're getting better."