Girls track and field: Prospect victorious at Cougar Twilight Invite
The 28th annual Cougar Twilight Girls Track and Field Invite at Conant received a couple of reprieves prior to the running of its first event late Friday afternoon.
First, it had a weather break where its originally scheduled Friday evening date fell in between a rainy Thursday night and a Saturday forecast calling for temperatures in the mid-30s with a mix of rain and snow.
Second, it had down the street archrival Hoffman Estates High serve as host for both the discuss and shot put with those areas at Conant being occupied by construction equipment being used to build new baseball and softball diamonds.
Last but not least, Conant had its longtime former mentor Bob Borczak back to help steer the meet's proverbial ship as a last-minute fill in for his successor, Kalli Dalton, who was unable to attend due to illness.
After all was said and done Prospect added some more hardware to its Mid-Suburban East crown by taking home top team honors with 240 points, 45 more than second place Minooka.
Lake Park (177), Hoffman Estates (157), and DeKalb (114.5) rounded out the top five team finishes among the 16 schools that competed.
"We really try to talk to our kids about the conditions you face are the same for every competitor," Prospect coach Peter Wintermute said. "Whether it's good, whether it's great, whether it's the perfect gorgeous day like we had last weekend, you've got to go out there and try and take advantage of every opportunity."
The Knights did just that from the first event on the Feutz Field track with 24 top-three finishes that featured 10 first-place showings. From its wins in both the 4x100 and 4x200 relays to individual efforts like freshman Daria Tersina and sophomore Naiya Rooks in the 100-meter dash all the way through junior Bianca Czeslawski's 800-meter triumph, any possible complications from Thursday's late downpour were not a factor.
"We properly warmed-up as we got into our normal pre-race routine," said Tersina, whose time of 12.61 seconds set the pace in the Class A race.
Czeslawski, who posted a first-place time of 2:31.05 in the Class C 800 meter run, gave credit to a friendly wind at her and her teammate's backs.
"At the finish, it was easier to speed off and finish with a good time," she said.
As it heads to next Friday's MSL meet at Fremd, Rooks (a Class B 100-meter dash winner at 13.01) stresses the winding down of the season as fuel for the team's efforts at reaching individual personal bests.
"Especially as we get closer to sectionals and state," Rooks said. "To do their best and get better so then when we get to state, we'll have everything up to speed."