Alli has allies as Tran, Vernon Hills prevail
The Ali tally on Vernon Hills’ girls track team stands at three.
Ali Peacock, Ali Pearson and Ali Marks.
And then there’s Alli Tran, she of the double “l’s” in her first name.
“Dare to be different,” Tran said.
At Friday’s chilly, windy Wauconda track invitational, Vernon Hills coach Jason Rush dared to be bold.
He had just revealed to some of his runners standing near him that it was his birthday (No. 39).
“You know what their present to me is going to be?” Rush said with a grin after the Cougars had just won the 400-meter relay, the second event of the finals. “They’re going to win this invite for me.”
Final tally: Vernon Hills 129 points, runner-up Deerfield 112.
The Cougars rallied.
They trailed Deerfield midway through the eight-team invite, but kept piling up the first-place efforts and capped the night by completing a sweep of the four relays.
“This was a terrific team effort tonight,” Rush said. “I think 129 points at an invite is a record for a Vernon Hills track and field team and definitely the most I’ve ever scored in my three-year tenure at VH. I’m really proud of my complete team. Distance, sprints, throws and jumps all contributed to this win.”
Tran went “Mega-Tran” on the final leg of the 1,600 relay. The Vernon Hills junior got passed by Hampshire star Cassie Kruse with about 220 meters to go, but retook the lead about 100 meters later — a familiar strategy of hers — and kicked to the finish line, well ahead of Kruse.
Peacock, Taylor Krue, Abbie Letts and Tran ran 4:15.50, while Hampshire (4:17.60) finished second. The Whip-Purs’ 1,600-relay effort allowed them to overtake Wauconda and finish third overall with 88 points, one point better than the host school.
Kruse had a busy night, as she also had runner-up runs in the 800 and 1,600. A short while before the final relay, Hampshire junior Ashley Fouch won the 200 dash in 26.10.
“It’s my favorite race,” Fouch said. “It was one of my best (times) so far. I was happy, especially on a day like this, when it was windy.”
Fouch was second to Wauconda’s Andrea Lichterman in the 100. With the cold wind at her back helping “majorly,” she said, Lichterman clocked a winning 12.7. She later won her specialty event, the 300 hurdles, in 48.60, a second ahead of Hampshire’s Caitlyn Graff.
Lichterman, who qualified for state in the 300 hurdles as a sophomore last year, is running the 100 for the first time in her career and loving it, she said. She is no longer competing the 100 hurdles.
“I thought I was stronger in the 100 (hurdles), but it was hard to convince my coach (Al Willhoit) of that,” Lichterman said.
Willhoit explained that he made the change because his talented junior was having difficulty with the three-stride technique.
“Everybody else uses three steps and I four-step,” Lichterman said. “So it’s 10 more steps that I’m taking.”
En route to its team championship, Vernon Hills stepped up immediately. Abbie Letts — who would have a big night — led off the winning 3,200 relay (10:18.50) followed by Tara Rooney, Lauren Kim and Danielle Fiarito.
“It was tough,” anchor-leg Fiarito said of running in the high winds and cold. “But our (home) track is like a wind tunnel. We practice on it every day so we were prepared for it.”
The Cougars then won the 400 relay in 53.20 with Shannon Healey, Peacock, Rachel Lira and anchor Kara Sage.
“Today is about guts and being ready,” bundled-up birthday-boy Rush said after the 400 relay. “It’s not about time.”
Vernon Hills still clocked some good ones.
The victorious 800 relay (1:52.30) featured leadoff-leg Krue, Taylor Pearson, Peacock and anchor Tran. The senior Letts followed up her inspiring leadoff leg on the 3,200 relay by winning the 400 (1:01.80).
“Abbie Letts was a machine,” Rush said. “She put us in such a strong lead (in the 3,200 relay) that the other girls ran with total confidence.”
Vernon Hills junior Kristen Whitney won the 1,600 relay in a personal-record 5:33.30 and also turned in a PR in the 800 (fourth).
Carmel (sixth place, 46 points) got a pair of wins from Shannon Baucus, who competed only the high jump (4-10) and 100 hurdles (15.90). Megan Paul won her only event, the 800 (2:23.90).
Besides Lichterman’s double, Wauconda also got a first-place effort from Megan Tallman, whose 16-feet-7 long jump broke her own school record by two inches.
Grant’s Melissa Dunham also notched a pair of wins — shot put (39-4) and discus (138-3½). Grant’s Lindsey Lewis captured the 3,200 run (11:59.40).
Deerfield received wins from Haley Johnson in the pole vault (9-0) and Devon Gold in the triple jump (33-10).