Greatness for Grant in NSC meet
On a night Lakes' Brittani Griesbaum nearly beat the great Brittny Ellis of Warren, when Griesbaum's teammate Kortney Schardt and fellow 1,600-meters competitor Lisa Bennatan of Lake Forest engaged in a photo finish of their own, Grant made sure there would be no doubt which track team would emerge as the North Suburban Conference champion.
By the time anchor-leg Delaney Basala grabbed the baton, Grant's speedy sophomore had a large lead. She cruised to the finish, as the Bulldogs (4:08.18) won by nearly three seconds. Before the 1,600 relay even began, the Bulldogs had all but officially secured their first NSC title since 2007.
Grant totaled 111 points at Vernon Hills on Friday, while Lakes (103.75) was second. Griesbaum's stellar night also included breaking the meet record in the long jump, as her mark of 18-5.5 bettered the 18-1.75 set by North Chicago's Aisha Morton in 2000.
Led by triple jumper/sprinter Rachael Metcalf, Libertyville (82) was third. Defending champ Warren (79.75), despite Ellis' four first-place efforts, took fourth.
“I'm kind of in shock,” said Grant coach Jackie Randall, whose Bulldogs were fifth in the meet last year. “I knew this team could do this. We've been coming along and coming along. After last week's close finish at county (third place behind champ Warren and Lakes), I knew there were still some pieces that I could move around and put into place to see if we could do this.
“I guess the strategy paid off.”
“I think we all knew we were capable of (winning conference),” Grant senior Emily Troemel said. “We just had to do it. We came out here, we wanted it, we fought for it and we did it.”
Troemel made team history by becoming the first Grant girl to win both hurdles race at the conference meet. After clocking a 16.04 in the 100 hurdles, just ahead of teammate Julia Sangster (16.42) and Stevenson's Janine Fajardo (16.48), Troemel ran 48.45 in the 300 hurdles.
She didn't let the gusty winds bother her.
“I just don't like the weather to affect me,” Troemel said.
Troemel then led off the 1,600 relay, followed by Brooke Drabek, Lauren Troemel (Emily's kid sister) and Basala. Randall called Dana Nozime “key” to the Bulldogs' success, as Nozime along with Basala ran four events. Nozime scored in the 200, triple jump and 400 relay. Basala (59.62) was second in the 400 to Ellis. Drabek, Madison Romig, Lindsey Lewis and Lauren Troemel started the finals by winning the 3,200 relay (9:41.91).
Grant's Aerial Darby (119-4) and Kylie Mueller (116-10) finished first and second in the discus. Wauconda's Christina Meinhardt won the shot put with a heave of 39-6.5, while Grant's Starbrina Sharples (37-6.5) and Darby (37-1) were second and third.
“Our throwers were so huge,” Randall said. “For them to go 1-2 in the disc and 2-3 in the shot, how can you mess with that? That was great.”
Also great was the finish to the 1,600 run. Bennatan won in 5:18, holding off the gutsy Schardt (5:18.05), who was running her third distance event of the night.
“I was beat from the (3,200 relay) and the 800,” said Schardt, who normally doesn't run the 800, but took seventh. “My legs were so heavy. I just tried to hold on. At the end, I knew I was just going to kick it and hope for the best.”
Ellis won the 100 (12.26), 400 (58.00) and 200 (25.52) dashes, and also anchored Warren's victorious 400 relay (49.93). Griesbaum gave Ellis a race in both the 100 and 200. In the 100, Griesbaum had the lead early, before Ellis kicked it in and held off the determined Lakes junior. Ellis beat Griesbaum (12.32) by .06 seconds.
“I'm so mad,” Griesbaum said. “My goal was to get as close to her as possible. I think I got a little tense at the end, so that kind of slowed me down. Keeping relaxed is what I need to work on.”
“I had a horrible start,” said Ellis, who's been working on her starts. “I expected it (to be a close race), especially with the times from the prelims. I knew it was going to be tough. I'm glad I was able to kick it into another gear and finish.”
In the 200, Griesbaum (25.61) lost to Ellis by .09 seconds.
Metcalf won the triple jump (36-10.5), breaking her own Libertyville school record again. She first broke the mark earlier in the season.
“I PRed in long jump (17 feet, second place) and I was like, 'It's warm out. It's a good day,' ” Metcalf said.
Metcalf then ran the leadoff leg on the Wildcats' winning 800 relay, which clocked a school-record 1:46.79. The foursome also included Lily Moore, Katie Sackett, who got the lead, and anchor Jasmine Turner, who held the lead.
“It was a lot better than expected,” Turner said of the Wildcats' time.
Two restarts failed to faze Metcalf.
“That was horrible,” said Metcalf, who sprinted about 50 meters each restart. “The thing was, I was up against the wind.”
Lakes' Danielle Griesbaum won the 800 (2:17.59) and high jump (5-5), Vernon Hills' Vivian Overbeck ran to a first-place finish in the 3,200 (11:34.04), and Libertyville's Moore cleared a winning 10 feet in the pole vault.
Lakes' Evelyn Felipez was the lone athlete to compete in the 100 and 200 wheelchair dashes.