Waubonsie Valley quick out of the blocks
The expectations already were high, but after just one meet the Waubonsie Valley girls track team made a statement.
Even with senior star Morikaye Akinuson resting a sore hamstring, the Warriors dominated the sprint events at Saturday's four-team Warrior Invite and also PR-ed in a number of other events while topping the field with 103 points. Batavia was second at 82 and was followed by Lake Forest (66) and Oswego (27).
The younger of the Akinuson sisters did indeed race on Saturday, and she raced quite well. Sophomore Morolake Akinuson took first in both the 100 and 200 sprints with personal-best times of 11.7, and 25.3, respectively. She also helped the Warriors win the 400 and 800 relays, but it was her time in the 100 that really fired her up.
"That was the best time ever in my whole life," she said of the 11.7 that easily held off Bulldogs runner-up Julia Gross. "That's why I freaked out a little."
The Waubonsie sprinter also took home the Erin Justice Memorial Award, a plaque given to the winner of the 200 race at this meet and named in honor of the former Warrior athlete who was killed in 2004 at the age of 16. Akinuson defeated teammate Crystal Butler by 1.5 seconds in the event.
"It was a great day," she said. "The relays are always a work in progress and we get better as the season progresses, but we ran good times today and I'm happy with that for out first outdoor meet."
Ayo Adewole, Emily Kelly, Dasha Patton and Akinuson raced to first in the 400 relay with a time of 49.2, while Butler teamed with Adewole, Patton and Akinuson to win the 800 relay in 1:45.3. Adewole also PR-ed in winning both hurdle events, with a time of 15.6 in the 100 and a 47.5 in the 300. Batavia's Kaytlin St. Clair took second in the 300 hurdles.
"I'm really proud of all of us," said Adewole, who was limited to just one state meet relay last season due to injuries. "I don't think we all expected to do so well in our first invite. This makes us more excited for the whole year."
Kelly and Patton went 1-2 in the triple jump and Patton also took first with a long jump of 15-71/2. Other highlights in the field included Chloe Hamilton win the discus and second in ther shot, and pole vaulter Brianna Gatto's personal-best 9-6 for fifth in the pole vault.
The Bulldogs' Alexis Sampson won the 800 in 2:22.7, and freshman Rachael Spalding won the 3,200 in 12:24.4. Batavia also won the 1,600 relay picked up titles from Katherine Warner in the pole vault and Haleigh Theurkuef in the shot.
Warner was thrilled with her best-ever effort in the pole vault and also enjoyed teaming with Gross, Sampson and sophomore Bari Robinson to close the meet with a win in the mile relay. Warner, who missed most of last season with a hip injury, is hoping her 11-0 start to the new season springboards her into a big spring.
"I was not too far from 11-6," she said with a smile. "After the injury last year it's been struggle. I've been looking for a confidence boost and I got it today."