Geneva defends Western Sun championship
Erica Miller only does the 100-, 200 and 400-meter dashes once a year. The Geneva senior unveiled her cape for the last time in the Western Sun Conference, and the Vikings' workhorse won all three races to spearhead the defense of its league crown Friday night at Glenbard South in Glen Ellyn.
Miller and junior teammate Taylor Wickware swept the 200 meters for Geneva, and it was essentially the difference in the Vikings' 136.5-120 plurality over Batavia. Glenbard South was a distant third, followed by Yorkville, DeKalb, Sycamore, Kaneland and Rochelle in the final act of the storied girls track and field conference that produced multiple state champions in its previous three years.
"It's always sweeter when you win a closer contest," Geneva coach Peter Raak said. "Last year Batavia had so many injuries. We knew it was going to lot tougher coming in tonight."
"We really wanted to win (the team title) tonight," Miller said after her sweep of the three shortest sprints. "We're leaving everything out on the track. I try not to look at the seed times. I was confident in all my races."
Miller edged Glenbard South senior standout Kim Iacobazzi in both the 100 and 200; Wickware denied Batavia senior Julia Gross by 22 one-hundredths as the Geneva sweep vaporized the Bulldogs' 7-point lead with three events remaining.
"This season I have been running the two a lot better," Wickware, who also gained valuable points with a third-place in the 400. "(Miller and I) knew we had to go one-two. I knew what I had to do. I am so thankful I have (Miller) as a teammate."
Miller captured the 100 meters in 12.94, was also the lone athlete to break 27 seconds at 200 meters and held off Yorkville sophomore Katrina Donarski in the 400 to win by half a second.
"For (Miller) to win all three of them was phenomenal," Raak said.
Allie Pace continued her drive for a possible state championship in the pole vault. With her lone race coming in the final event, 1,600 relay, the Geneva senior, Class 3A state runner-up last season, obliterated the field by clearing four consecutive heights without a miss after joining the fray at 10 feet. The Harvard-bound standout was attempting a personal-best 12-6 and appeared over the bar, only to dislodge it inadvertently with her hand.
"I am going to clear these heights one of these days," Pace said.
Kathryn Warner was left in the dust by Pace in the pole vault, but the Batavia star made amends on the track. In two of the most exciting finals of the night, Warner edged Geneva returning all-state hurdler Alissa Dappas at both 100 and 300 meters. The Bulldogs' star, sidelined for almost the entire outdoor season last year with a hip injury, was making her season debut at 100 meters.
"(Dappas) is a great athlete," said Warner. "She is what allowed me to do what I did. When you have great competition out there, it makes you better. I wasn't sure what to expect (in the two races)."
Alexis Sampson made a valiant effort at twin victories for Batavia as well. The half-miler was never headed in winning the 800 meters in 2:21.21, and Batavia was further bolstered with Bari Robinson claiming second in the event. Sampson led the 1,600 for three laps, but Yorkville sophomore Ali Hester, who anchored two relay victories for the Foxes, prevailed with a blistering final quarter-mile.
"It really has been a lot about the team this year," Sampson said. "It makes you want to give the most of yourself when you see what the other girls on your team are doing."
Sophomore Batavia thrower Haleigh Theuerkauf was one of two double winners in the field; the underclass star won the shot put by five feet and also captured the discus.
Kaneland was paced by the runner-up performances of Brooke Patterson in the triple jump and Gabby Auguirre, who lost the tiebreaker to Geneva freshman Emma Anderson in the high jump.
Karen Lipa took out two years of frustration on the field at 3,200 meters, and the senior posted a solid 1,600 run in a dress rehearsal for the looming state series. The Raiders' distance ace missed much of the last two seasons with illness as a sophomore and a nagging ankle injury last year.
Battling Geneva standout Liza Tauscher at 3,200 meters, Lipa took command midway through the race and turned back the Vikings' top seed by seven seconds. Lipa was in contention for much of the 1,600 run but ultimately settled for fourth.
"This is my first time running both races," Lipa said, confirming she will attempt the same feat at the Raiders' Class 2A sectional this Friday. "My times were not as strong as I would have like them to have been. I felt the 2-mile in me during the mile."
The Raiders have built their program over the years on the strength of its sprinters, and Iacobazzi was the unconventional anchor. The Raiders' star ran the second leg of their victorious 400 relay, and posted back-to-back second-place results to Miller at 100 and 400 meters.
The key figure of the Raiders' defending state-championship 1,600 relay ran a powerful anchor to give the squad second. But the Raiders' joy at triumph in the 400 relay was tempered by the potential season-ending injury to anchor Talia Benware as she crossed the finish line. Ashley Ellis and Val Wass are the Raiders' other state-hardened veterans.
"Our coach (Mark Tacchi) is pretty much expecting us to do the same (at state in the 1,600 relay)," Iacobazzi said.
"We've looked at the times we were running last year at this time, and they're about even."
"Iacobazzi really had a good night," Tacchi said. "Without Talia it changes everything we do. Great night for the Raiders. Our seed times said we were supposed to finish seventh."
Angelica Jasper in the shot put and Brianne Price in the discus both finished in second place; Nicole Jordan tied for third in the high jump for Glenbard South.
Tacchi was bittersweet on the pending demise of the Western Sun.
"I think it's very unfortunate," he said. "This conference is as good as any conference in girls track in the state. I will take an all-star team from our conference and put it up against anybody."