Pinnick wins 2 at Top Times meet

BLOOMINGTON -- A few words of advice to anyone following the Conant girls track team this spring -- don't get in the way of senior Toni Graham.

It seems that when the Alabama-bound Graham decides that she is going to do something to help the Cougars sprint relay teams, she will do it.

Take for example her effort as the anchor leg of the Cougars 800-meter relay on Saturday at the Illinois Prep Top Times Invitational at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. Graham and the Cougars found themselves in last place as the final baton pass took place.

By the time Graham received the baton from Destiny Arps, she was in sixth place and was all the way over in lane six leaving her with a daunting task.

"I knew my teammates had worked really hard and I had to give everything I had to get us back into the race," Graham said.

In the 200 Graham cruised through heat 2 in 24.94 then had to wait out the final heat. When Olivia Allen of Lake Zurich crossed the line in 25.00 just ahead of Waubonsie super-senior Shakeia Pinnick, Graham had her third title of the meet.

Pinnick was super in winning the 400 as she was more than a second better than the rest of the field.

In her first race of the day, Pinnick captured the 55-meter hurdles, edging out Natalie Tarter of Batavia in 8.13. Tarter ran second in 8.20.

Pinnick's teammate Toni Ogundare joined her in the winner's circle taking the 800-meter title in a great race over McKinzie Schulz of Benet. Ogundare pulled away in the final lap winning in 2:14.04.

Lake Park junior Lindsey Flanagan took the suspense out of the 3,200-meter run halfway through the race and showed that she is a serious contender for the outdoor crown in May at state.

Flanagan led the race early, then drafted off of Nicole Benson from Limestone before taking the lead back with a mile to go. This race strategy turned out to work just fine for Flanagan, which is somewhat of a surprise considering it is the first year she has competed in the 3,200.

"With the success I had in cross country running 3 miles, I thought I would run the 2-mile this year," Flanagan said. "I was able to go out, run my race and get my PR. Now I am so excited to get outdoors and race."