Geneva rallies for title at Holmes Invitational

West Aurora had a torrid start at the latest edition of the Holmes Invitational on Saturday at Kaneland in Maple Park.

But the Blackhawks' girls track and field squad had few remedies for Geneva down the stretch.

The Vikings swept the 400 dash and the 1,600-meter run, and Erica Miller followed her win in the quarter-mile with victory in the 200 meters to complete the meet-closing landslide.

Geneva captured the showdown between the Western Sun and DuPage Valley indoor conference champions with 147.75 points.

West Aurora, which also had a double champion in triple jumper and hurdler Shanice Andrews, was second in the 16-team field with 123.5 points.

"We're not a distance-dominated team," Geneva coach Peter Raak said. "Everybody knows about the (two-time state champion) cross country girls. We have good sprinters, good mid-distance runners. We can cover a lot of events."

Monica English swept the two throwing events to help Rosary to third; host Kaneland was fifth behind Northern Iowa-bound sprinter Lindsay Gierke.

Distance runner Kelsey Seiler flavored the eight-place Dundee-Crown finish with two strong runs, and Vanessa Perez was runner-up in the 300 hurdles to lead the cause for Burlington Central, which was 10th.

West Aurora, with its powerful field-events lineup scoring in multiple events, appeared unassailable for the team title after Jasmine Ranson, second in the triple jump, anchored the Blackhawks' second sprint relay to victory at 800 meters.

But Miller and Taylor Wickware began a trend that became unstoppable over the final five running events.

Miller was the lone athlete to break the minute mark at 400 meters, and Wickware, a sophomore, followed in second behind her junior teammate.

Alissa Dappas continued the Geneva onslaught by claiming top prize in the 300 hurdles after losing out to Andrews at 100 meters.

The Vikings' pair of milers -- Meghan Heuer and Sarah Cable - then swept the 1,600 meter run to give the team 18 more valuable points.

In the closest final of the afternoon, Miller recorded her second win - with Sammi Hill also placing - by nosing out Rockton-Hononegah junior Ana Armitage by two-hundredths of a second at 200 meters.

"We have been working really hard as a team," Miller said. "I want to practice hard during the week and leave it all on the track. It's a good feeling (to have quality teammates in all the events)."

"Miller has turned into a nice workhorse for us," Raak said. "She is very versatile. She is very, very competitive. She is getting better every year."

Heuer and Cable were neck and neck with Seiler at the gun lap of the mile, but Heuer, whose older sister Sarah dusted the field at 3,200 meters to win in 11 minutes, 15.86 seconds, pulled away to win in 5:25.33, three seconds faster than her teammate.

"Sarah was right behind me, making me go faster," Heuer said.

"I don't really run the mile," said Cable. "I was just trying to stay as close to Meghan as I could."

The Vikings' superlative 3,200-meter relay quarter of Kelly Whitley, Liza Tauscher, Megan Brady and Meghan Heuer established a new meet record in the event by running a cumulative 9:53.77.

The Vikings' Allie Pace soared 11 feet to capture the pole vault, and Erin Kluck was second in the event for Geneva.

The points were pivotal for the Vikings to help offset the brilliance of West Aurora and Rosary in the field.

Markesha Davis' 16 feet, 7 1/2 inch effort in the long jump augmented the Blackhawks' earlier sweep in the triple behind Andrews and Ranson.

"It was OK, but I know what I need to work on," Davis said of her day that included placing in three other events.

West Aurora senior Char Smith and Rosary senior Nora Bowe shared the title in the high jump at 5-2, and English was dominant with respective winning throws of 38-2 and 113-11 1/2 in the shot put and discus.

"We started off very strong, but we weren't able to finish as well," West Aurora coach Teresa Towles said. "I thought the girls performed very well. This is just another meet to prepare for the sectional."

Junior Brittany Loza shaved three seconds off her personal best in the 800 meters to place second for West Aurora.

Rosary was third despite missing half of its team due to Easter vacation.

"They all came ready to go," Rosary coach Vic Mead said. "We had a good meet."

Gierke, the Knights' four-time state finalist, did not run either hurdles event to rest a tender ankle.

The senior blazed to victory in the 100 dash at 12.84 seconds and was poised to duplicate the achievement at 200 meters.

"(My hamstring) started getting real tight," said Gierke, who settled for third in the event. "My legs still felt real strong (in the 100)."

Seiler made her debut in the 3,200 run after qualifying for the event at state last spring.

"I wasn't sure how I was going to do," said Seiler, who was third with a time of 11:41. "My goal coming into the two-mile was to run well."

The senior made an equally strong comeback at 1,600 meters.

There was a virtual dead heat between Seiler and Geneva cross country stars Heuer and Cable as the fourth lap began.

"The Geneva girls just took off," Seiler said. "I knew they were going to take off at some point. I tried to stay with them but couldn't."

Seiler was overtaken in the final meters to place fourth, but D-C teammate Claira Himmel softened the blow by placing fifth.

Katie Cutinello was the Chargers' most productive athlete on the sun-splashed afternoon.

The junior placed in all four of her events, highlighted by a fourth-place result in the 300 hurdles.

Cutinello was fifth in both the 100 hurdles and triple jump and tied for eighth in the high jump.

Vanessa Perez anchored the day for Burlington Central.

The Rockets' returning state qualifier in the 300 hurdles was second in specialty event.

The senior was disappointed with her mechanics on the final hurdle but otherwise pleased.

"This year I want to be in the top five in the state (in the 300 hurdles)," Perez said. "I want to try and break our school record (44.6 seconds)."

Perez was sixth in the shorter hurdles race.

Central also closed the day on a promising note; the 1,600 relay, which featured Maggie Gannon, Katie Puccio, Perez and Alexa Tovsen, was fourth.

"Our first and fourth runners (Gannon and Tovsen, who placed in the open 400) ran very well in that relay," Burlington Central coach Aaron Wichman said. "To be honest, it wasn't our best performance on the track. We didn't run a lot of personal bests."