St. Peter track competes with resiliency in the cold April wind
By the end of Saturday's Aurora Conference track and field meet, the wind was gusting to near 30 mph, the rain was falling steadily and the temperature was struggling to stay above 40 degrees. However, the spring outdoor track season means competition in all kinds of weather from warm and sunny to more winterlike conditions. The young fifth- to eighth-graders of the St. Peter track team along with four other Aurora Conference teams put aside their discomfort and competed enthusiastically for their teams at Aurora Central Catholic's stadium.
Annunciation of Aurora dominated with 661.5 points followed by St. Rita (451.5 points) with St. Peter placing third with 334 points. St. Mary of DeKalb and St. Paul Lutheran rounded out the scoring.
The St. Peter Rockets had great results especially when you factor in the less than ideal conditions. The eighth-grade and fifth-grade boys both placed second in their respective divisions and many individuals and a few relay teams had personal and season best times.
St. Peter's eighth-grade boys took four of the top six places in the 100-meter dash and three of the six in the 200. The boys 4x200 relay team maintained their momentum in a second place effort of 1:55.56 only 0.16 seconds behind St. Rita's team. Rounding out the boys strong showing was Ben Robertson's win in the 800-meter run and Eric Ford's long jump win.
The fifth-grade boys also had great success with top sprinter Jonah Augustyn taking second in the 100-meter dash and first in the 200. Teammates Robert Messina and Nathan Beck placed first and second, respectively, in the 1,600-meter run, Mason Mosley had a good 400-meter dash with a second-place finish and Ryan Fors dominated the 800-meter run finishing first by over six seconds in a debut time of 3:02.56. Finally, Rocco Lampiasi tied for first place in the long jump.
Other highlights of the meet for St. Peter include the girls 4x200 meter relay win with a 0.41 second finish over St. Rita in a much improved time of 2:12. Eighth-grader Mary Tork is taking her conference win streak to IESA Sectionals this Saturday with a winning jump of 4'6" into a 20-mph headwind. Tork also finished second behind teammate and winner Sophie Walz in the 200-meter dash while teammate and four-year track veteran Karolina Schubert notched a win in triple jump.
This Saturday, the Rockets will compete in the IESA Sectional at Aurora Christian in Aurora. The winner of each race and field event as well as those reaching the qualifying times and marks will qualify for the Class A IESA State Track and Field Championships to be held May 12-13 in East Peoria.
The team has many athletes in contention for a state qualifying berth making this meet one of the most exciting and important meets of the season thus far for St. Peter.