Girls track and field: Glenn leads St. Charles North to sectional crown
Kara Glenn came back with a vengeance to lead St. Charles North to the girls Class 3A sectional title Thursday at Hoffman Estates.
Glenn, who had the top times in all three of the distance races, was upset by Maine South’s Tessie Bradley in the 3,200. Bradley won the event in a time of 10:54.46 to finish 15 seconds better than Glenn, who ran an 11:11.84.
Glenn regrouped in the 800. The sophomore won the event in 2:09.97, well ahead of teammate Julia Rodney’s 2:15.07.
Glenn was then firing on all cylinders in the 1,600, winning the event easily.
“The 3,200 was more of tactical race,” Glen said. “Because it follows my coach’s plan for state. It will set me up better later in the day there. But my last two races today were just how I wanted them to be. I was just staying comfortable the entire time. And I have worked hard on my kick.”
St. Charles North opened the sectional by winning the 4x800 relay. The North Stars’ team of Gwen Hobson, Sofia Bongiorno, Reese Thomas and Sidney Laine ran a 9:31.29 to edge South Elgin which finished with a time of 9:31.84.
With Glenn and the 4x800 pacing the way, St. Charles North won the sectional title for the second year in a row with 144 points. St. Charles East was second with 95 points, followed by Lake Park’s 74 while Maine South and Schaumburg tied for fourth with 63 points.
“Our kids did great,” St. Charles North coach Anthony Enright said. “I just feel bad for the kids on our team who just missed qualifying for state. So while I am happy, I am also a sad. You just wish all of them could qualify.”
St. Charles East’s Madeline Piekarz won the 100 dash in 12 seconds flat. Piekarz opened her day by anchoring the winning 4x100 relay in a time of 47.87. The senior was joined by Luca Ketter, Fiona Post and Siri Forsell.
Piekarz also anchored the winning 4x200 relay. She ran again with Ketter, Post and Forsell and the team won the event in 1:40.41, a full five seconds ahead of Maine South.
The group picked up their third relay title in the 4x400, winning with a time of 3:54.62.
Forsell and Post added to their team’s big night. Forsell, who is a sophomore, had a long jump of 5.41m to win the event. Meanwhile, Post won the triple jump in 11.36m.
“Our sprint relays have run amazingly all year,” St. Charles East coach Bradley Kaplan said. “And they did great again tonight. Add to it the wins by Piekarz, Forsell and Post and it was a very good night for us.”
Klara Volkova, who will compete at Saginaw Valley next year, was a dual winner in both the shot put and discuss. The Lake Park senior won the shot put with a throw of 11.44m. She won the discuss with a throw 46.69m, which was more than 10 meters ahead of second place finisher Cassie Mach of Maine West.
“This year has been going very well,” said a Volkova, who was sixth and seventh last year while competing with an injury.
“I am at the top of the state so I can’t complain.”
Rolling Meadows’ Hazel Nadal won the 400 in a personal best 56.72. Teammate Patrycja Lewicki won the pole vault with a 3.50m.
Conant’s Daisha Brunson ran away with the 100 hurdles. The Michigan commit ran a 13.99 to win the event and came back to run a 24.73 to win the 200.
“The cold is my kryptonite,” Brunson said. “I was about a second slower than I usually run in the 200. But it’s supposed to be hot next week for state. So, that will be good.”