Girls track and field: Depth helps Batavia win DuKane indoor meet
With five events to go in the DuKane Conference indoor championships on Friday, the Batavia Bulldogs had yet to get a first-place finish at the varsity level.
Even so, they found themselves with a 20-point lead in the team standings.
The Bulldogs would go on to win three of the final five events and claim their sixth straight conference title with 139.5 points.
Across all events, Batavia accumulated more than 10 points in an event in six different events, including an 18-point performance in the 200-meter dash with a 1-2 finish from Isabelle Taylor and Elizabeth Wende. Batavia coach Justin Allison said that he was extremely proud of the team’s performance all around.
“They knew they were going to get after it today,” Allison said. “For conference, it’s all on the line and making sacrifices for the team, and that’s what they did today.”
Geneva went on to take second in the meet with 88.5 points. The Vikings vaulted into the silver medal spot thanks to sprinter Alyssa Flotte. The freshman accumulated 32 points across four events, including a win in the 55-meter sprint in 7.31 seconds.
”I just surprised myself,” Flotte said. “I’m proud that I could do that for my team, and I know I can go out and run as hard as I did without my coaches helping me in between each race.”
The Vikings also took the 3,200 race, with sophomore Sofia Borter winning in 11 minutes, 40.63 seconds.
Wheaton Warrenville South took third with 74 points thanks to its distance squad. Of the Tigers’ points, 37 of them came from events of more than 800 meters. Both their wins, came outside of those events, with Keelin Fogarty winning the triple jump with a leap of 35 feet, 7 inches, and the 4x400 relay team rounding out the meet with a first-place finish in 4:11.80.
Wheaton North was fourth with 68 points. The Falcons were led by freshman Sophie Dalrymple, who accumulated 26 points from a win in the 55-meter sprint and two second-place finishes
St. Charles East grabbed fifth with 54.5 points. The Saints’ two first place finishes came from senior Marley Andelman, who won the 800 in 2:17.66 and the 1600 in 5:09.99
Glenbard North placed sixth with 49 points. The Panthers got half of their points from both their sprinting events and throwing events, but failed to pick up a win.
Lake Park came in seventh with 50.5 points. The Lancers got all but five of their points from field events, with their one win coming from junior Eva Bach, who won the pole vault with a jump of 11 feet, 3 inches.
St. Charles North finished eighth with 36 points. The North Stars’ only win came in the shot put, with junior Tosin Oshin grabbing the gold with a throw of 36-6.
The conference championships continue at 9 a.m. Saturday when the boys teams take to the track. The girls will next head to the Top Times indoor track and field championships at Eastern Illinois University.
“The way we (Batavia) has been performing all indoor season, we just continue to roll with it,” Allison said. “The kids are hungry, and they’re not satisfied yet.”