Cary-Grove runs away with McHenry County meet
The girls from Cary-Grove didn't just win their fourth straight McHenry County track and field meet Friday, they took their batons and raced away from just about every competitor at Crystal Lake Central's Owen Metcalf Field.
The Trojans nearly swept the four relay races, finishing second only in the 3,200-meter relay to Jacobs. Their points from relays coupled with twin individual wins by senior Sarah Ryan in the 100-meter dash (12.54) and 200-meter dash (25.6) and Kathie Wollney in both hurdles races helped Cary-Grove win the meet with 139 points. Crystal Lake Central was a distant second with 79 points, followed by Huntley (62.5), Marengo (59), McHenry (56) and Jacobs (46).
A common thread woven through Cary-Grove's relay success was senior Annie McGarrigle. She led off all four relays, including the meet-record breaking 800-meter relay. The team of McGarrigle, Wollney, Jenni Maki and Ryan finished in 1:45.33 in chilly, breezy conditions. Their time smashed the foursome's own meet record of 1:46.76, which they set last year.
“I thought we really ran well,” McGarrigle said. “Hopefully, we can keep improving. We're looking to place at state this year.”
Ryan also anchored the winning 400 relay team. She, McGarrigle, Maki and Faith Furio won the race in 50.86 seconds. The winning 1,600-meter relay team of McGarrigle, Lizzy Klicker, Paige Freund and Wollney finished in 4:11.07, nearly six seconds better than second-place Huntley.
“We have a tough, great group of girls,” said C-G coach Mark Anderson, whose teams have won five county meets since 2005. “Ryan and Wolney get all the headlines, but it's girls like McGarrigle, Maki, Klicker, Freund and so on who make this a deep team. They push each other and they support one another.”
Wollney's victory in the 100-meter high hurdles was the oddest of the meet. The FAT timer did not begin at the start of the race, but a double-gunshot to halt the runners went unheard by the field as they went on to complete the race.
Because each runner later said she didn't hear the late false start signal midrace, the games committee allowed the results to stand untimed. Wollney won the race by at least two strides, however.
“I didn't hear a thing,” said Wollney, who also swept the hurdles races at the McHenry County Meet last year. “Our coaches teach us to worry about your lane and yourself only. We call it tunnel vision.”
The Jacobs 3,200-meter relay team of Aleta Wufrel, Lauren Van Vierbergen, Elizabeth Berry and Kayla Giulano kept Cary-Grove from completing a relay sweep. The Golden Eagles took the race in 9:52.90, nearly 9 seconds better than the Trojans.