Weather postpones Kane Co. track meet
St. Charles East junior Arielle Parker was like the other 200 antsy female track athletes sequestered within the shelter of the Streamwood gymnasium during a second lightning delay Friday evening.
"This is definitely a big meet," Parker said of the Kane County girls track meet. "This weather is frustrating because we were all ready to run and then…"
Just then the lights in the gym flickered and struggled to stay on, evoking high-pitched shrieks from all corners of the gym. The power drain was a side effect of the thunderstorm raging outside -- a storm that eventually forced the meet's postponement.
The Kane County girls has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. today for all teams that can make it, according to Streamwood athletic director Steve Gertz.
"It's disappointing," said Parker, who was scheduled to compete in the 800 run and the 1,600-meter relay, "but we've had bad weather all year, so we should be used to it by now."
Streamwood thrower Krissy Kunavich, who has thrown the discus 107 feet this season, was hoping to throw 110 feet at the county meet held at her home track. But Kunavich never made it past the warmup phase before the first delay sent everyone scurrying indoors.
"It's too bad because I was really throwing well in warmups, too," Kunavich said.
Elgin High's Ellen Holton and Kendall Martin walked the hallway from the gym to the front doors to see if it was still raining outside. It was. Harder. In fact, it was pouring.
The pair walked back to the gym slowly, knowing they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.
"It stinks because we got all set up to go and then we had the first delay," Holton said.
"Then we got out there again and were all set to go again and then there's another delay," Martin said, finishing Holton's thought.
Holton was set to compete in the shot put and 300 hurdles. Martin was eager to try her luck in the triple jump with a goal in mind of 32 feet, 5 inches.
Hillary Luse, a sophomore hurdler and pole vaulter from Kaneland, wouldn't have competed anyway due to a sprained left ankle. Nevertheless, she felt for her teammates who were stymied by Mother Nature yet again this spring.
"It's disappointing because it's a big meet and so many girls prepare for this night," Luse said. "It's hard when you're excited and geared up to compete and it gets called off."
Wanner Invitational delayed: Bad weather has somehow found where Griff Graves has been so far this spring, and it did so again Friday night in Mount Prospect.
Graves, who came to Illinois from Virginia to compete in the 40th annual Wanner Knights Invitational, was scheduled to run in the 3,200-meter run along with Bobby Nicolls from Colorado. Unfortunately, the only winner Friday night was Mother Nature.
"The same thing happened in Alabama a few weeks ago," Graves said. "I guess it just makes for a busy day (Saturday)."
After a 40-minute delay for lightning, the weather protection system at Prospect went off again just before the start of the finals on the track, thus forcing a postponement.
Most of the competitors will return Saturday when the meet resumes.
The prelims in the field events will resume at 9 a.m. from the spot where they left off. The running events on the track will start at 10 a.m. with the finals.
Graves and Nicolls will run the 3,200 at Prospect around 10:15 a.m., then take the 15-minute car ride to Palatine to race against Mat Smoody of Palatine and a loaded field in the 1,600-meter run in the afternoon.
Some of the top efforts in the field event prelims included Vernon George from Zion-Benton leaping 23 feet, 9 inches in the long jump, and Matt Kennedy of Prospect putting the shot 57 feet.
Prospect's Pat Ziegenfuss ran a season-best 14.5 in the 110 high hurdles prelims and is the top seed in that event.
-- Jeff Newton