West Aurora ends Batavia's 3-year Kane County run

Shanice Andrews took a page out of the Natalie Tarter playbook.

The West Aurora standout, operating on the home terrain of the illustrious Batavia great in girls track and field, put on a performance Friday night at the Kane County Meet reminiscent of the current Wisconsin freshman.

Andrews blew away the field in the 100-meter hurdles, entered previously unknown territory in the triple jump, added a third crown in the long jump and was denied a fourth crown by a pair of former all-state athletes in the 300 hurdles.

Combining brilliance in the six field events with a stable of sprinters and underclass overachievers, West Aurora continued its unstoppable formula at the 16-team invitational in Batavia Friday with yet another program first. West Aurora captured one-third of the 18 events to win its third major title of the outdoor season with 127.5 points. Geneva was second with 108 points, followed by St. Charles East (83) and three-time defending champion Batavia (73). The title was vacated last year after an outbreak of the H1NI virus at Batavia.

Burlington Central, behind Iowa State-bound distance-runner extraordinaire Maggie Gannon, was a distant fifth. St. Charles North and Rosary tied for sixth; with East Aurora, Kaneland, Dundee-Crown, Streamwood, South Elgin, St. Edward, Aurora Central Catholic, Larkin and Elgin rounding out the field.

"I surprised myself when I did that in the triple jump," Andrews said of her school-record-annihilating 38 foot, 3/4-inch effort in the preliminaries. Andrews was equally dominant in the 100-meter hurdles, shredding the field with a wind-aided but still smoking time of 14.2 seconds.

"I knew I was up against (Andrews)," runner-up and fellow returning state-finalist Alissa Dappas of Geneva said of the 100-meter showdown. "I was really happy just to finish second. Nobody (in the state) is going to beat her."

"The 100 (hurdles) felt really good, and I broke my school record," Andrews said. "I think this is the best squad we've ever had. We've got a lot of talented girls in the program."

Andrews' personal 36-point performance was further augmented by Mariah Smith for West Aurora. The Illinois-bound thrower duplicated an earlier team feat as the senior posted a season-best 126-6 effort in the discus to lead a one-two sweep in the event that junior standout Jasmine Rasmine completed with her equally strong 37-foot-plus second-place showing earlier in the triple jump. Chasity Smith was second in the discus for West Aurora, and Mariah Smith added a third-place finish in the shot put.

"The feeling is beyond exhilarating," Mariah Smith said of the Blackhawks' season.

The West Aurora sprinting stable of Kristin Holmes, Cynthia Smith, Anita Saffa and Kehlay Dunah added back-to-back 400- and 800-meter relay crowns.

"You need sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers to win in track," said Rosary coach Vic Meade. "West High's program has really come around the past few years."

Geneva was paced by its usual bevy of all-state returnees as Erica Miller, the Northern Illinois-bound leader, edged Batavia senior Julia Gross at 400 meters. Taylor Wickware did likewise over former teammate Meghan Heuer (St. Charles North) and Batavia senior Alexis Sampson at 800 meters in a possible prelude to the state finals.

"I just stuck with them," Wickware said of the classic showdown in the open half-mile.

"I have just been working on my kick," Miller said of her narrow win over Gross in the quarter-mile.

Sprinters Anna Deufel and Danielle Kuzniewski were yet two more headliners. Deufel edged Kuzniewski at 100 meters in record time, only to have the St. Charles East senior maven deny the Rosary junior at 200 meters.

"It's just fun to me," Duefel said. "(The 100 dash) was just a hard race, good competition as well."

"I really wanted to win the one," Kuzniewski said. "There were a lot of fast girls."

St. Charles East three-event state-finalist Maya Rittmanic won the high jump after taking third in the triple jump and second in the long jump.

"I still need to work on the long jump," the Smith College recruit said. "I think I'm pretty good at my other jumps."

Harvard-bound Geneva senior Allie Pace denied Batavia all-around stud Kathryn Warner, in a battle of one-time all-state pole vaulters, as the event was cut short due to dangerous winds.

"Everybody knows Pace has been jumping higher than Warner," Batavia coach Chad Hillman said.

Sampson had a brilliant anchor leg to lead the Bulldogs' mile relay over Geneva, and the Bulldogs' Haleigh Theuerkauf snared the final area prize with victory in the shot put.

The weather that threatened all evening began to make its presence felt in the stack 1,600-meter run. But it was Central star Gannon who had the last laugh in the loaded field. The reigning Class 2A state runner-up in the event was paired against Heuer, the Geneva expatriate who posted a stunning sub-5:05 time last week at the same venue for the North Stars.

"Coming in my main goal the whole week was to break five minutes," Gannon said. "I knew (Heuer) would lead me to a good time."

Heuer and Gannon led a tight pack of seven runners at the gun lap, but Gannon made her move 100-meters into the final foray.

"My goal for the first three laps was to stay behind (Heuer)," Gannon said.

The Rockets' do-it-all workhorse, whose typical schedule includes the 3,200 and 1,600 relays, held off Heuer in classic fashion for the Rockets' only championship. Central sophomore Markelle Turk was also in the field, and the Rockets' school-record holder was involved in an equally gritty race for third with Geneva junior Tess Ehrhardt. Turk lost the battle but solidified the third event of the night in which the Rockets double-scored for valuable points.

"It was one of the best, if not the best, miles (Turk) has run this year," Central coach Aaron Wichman said. "I thought we were competitive (as a team), and that was our goal coming into the night. It wasn't so much about times, but going out there and being competitive."

In addition to the open mile, Central also had double place-winners in the high jump behind underclass stars Katie Trupp (third) and Caille Thommes; Kayla Wolf and Alexa Tovsen did likewise in the open 400 run with respective finishes in third and fourth place.

"It wasn't as good as I hoped it would be," Tovsen said of her night that also included relay points and a 100-meter finals slot.

Dundee-Crown, as usual this season, was led by its half-milers as the foursome of Lauren Mosher, Claira Himmel, Jade Franz and Katie Gross finished runner-up in the 3,200 relay behind Geneva. Streamwood senior Lindsey Anderson continued her improbable run up the shot-put charts, placing runner-up with another personal-best-improving effort at 36-8.

"(Anderson) was sprinting indoors," Streamwood coach Ryan Korn said. "She played soccer her first three years. We didn't know what to do with her. It's not too often you have a sprinter who turns into a shot putter."

Megan McGlone scored the Sabres' other field-event points in the triple jump. Jordan Tuin and Meaghan Gard, from South Elgin and Larkin, respectively, both placed in the open 800 meters. St. Edward, which is down to two athletes, had senior Megan Venlos' fifth-place result at 3,200 meters account for its only points. Elgin failed to score.