Only storm stops Glenbard West

Glenbard West coach Kelly Hass was bummed when rain and lightning halted Friday night's Tiger Invitational prior to the completion of one of the longest running girls track meets in the state.

But she was not bummed at all with how her Hilltoppers had performed up to the point when the meet was called prior to the completion of the 300 hurdles. After all, the Hilltoppers were atop the strong field with 66 points, with Hinsdale Central second at 50 points and Moline in third at 47.50 points.

"It's a shame," Hass said. "The last meet we fell down a little bit, but we were on tonight."

High jumper Sarah Udelhofen, who won last week's meet at Glenbard West, took first at Wheaton Warrenville South with a 5-foot-6 effort. Teammate Maddie Lee was fourth at 5-0 and York sophomore Alexandra Harrrell cleared 5-1 to place third.

Glenbard West also received a boost from junior Kathyrn Pickett, who took first in the 100 hurdles in 15.24 to edge Wheaton North runner-up Shenelle Burnett and the Red Devils' Paris Bates, who was third in 15.40. Tigers freshman Jessica Spera, meanwhile, set a school record while taking fourth with a time of 15.80.

Pickett added a fourth in the long jump with a 16-8 effort that was just behind Hinsdale South third-place finisher Uzo Okoro.

Hinsdale Central sprinter Chelsea Chelistan set a meet record with a blazing time of 12.04 to easily hold off Bolingbrook runner-up Kimberly Azie in the 100.

For Chelistan, the weather-shortened meet didn't lighten her load as she was scheduled to have the rest of the meet off after racing to two firsts and two seconds last week at Glenbard West.

"It was really, really windy," she said of the 100 victory, which was aided a little by the conditions. "We had a hard week of training and it was nice to see us progressing."

Chelistan joined Monique Bronowicki, Stephanie Green and Lauren Rousch to run a winning 1:43.00 800 relay. Hononegah was second at 1:46.46 and Glenbard West was third at 1:46.76. The Hilltoppers had won the 400 relay earlier as Hannah Flood, Caroline Maloney, Kinnari Badger and Bridget Flanagan teamed up for a 50.03 time, while Glenbard South ran a 50.41 to take fourth.

Naperville Central distance star Amanda Fox won the 3,200 in 11:32.11 but did not get to attempt her double in the 1,600 when the weather wiped out that event. Also in the 3,200, York's Haley Verbeke was third and WW South's Kathleen Valdez was fourth.

For Schaumburg, which was tied for fourth with York in the team standings, middle distance stalwarts Britten Petrey and Colette Falsey came up big, but didn't get the chance to add to their efforts when the mile relay was washed out. Petrey and Falsey went 1-2 in the 800 with strong times of 2:21.91 and 2:22.20,respectively, and also ran on the team's winning 3,200 relay squad along with Karen Lesiewicz and Nora Ferguson.

"We went out great," Petrey said of the open 800. "We knew to stay behind people early on and we didn't get boxed in. At around 150 (meters to go) we took off and it was a great race."

Schaumburg's Jordan Wagner and Glenbard South's Kim Iacobazzi went 1-2 in the 400, while Hinsdale Central's Adabelle Ekechukwu and WW South's Kathryn Regalado went 1-2 in the shot put. Bolingbrook's Katelyn Brown won the discus with Wheaton North's Anna Obert second.

In the triple jump Downers Grove South's Tori Franklin won with a jump of 37-01 and the Hornets' Okoro was second.