Glenbrook South, New Trier start of track season in a big way
After nearly an 18-month hiatus from competition, the 2021 girls track season kicked into high gear Saturday at the Prospect Invitational.
And with many individuals contributing to the cause, the host Knights rolled to the championship of the powerful 10-team meet with 116 points to easily outdistance runner-up New Trier with 89.5 points.
The battle for the third-place trophy really turned out to be a dogfight. But, in the end, it was Wheaton Warrenville South holding off Barrington by a narrow 83.5 to 82 margin to earn the hardware.
There was also a logjam of teams battling it out for fifth place as Glenbrook South (79 points) edged sixth-place Batavia (77.5 points), and seventh-place Grayslake Central with 77 points.
Prospect's Daria Tersina sprinted her way to first place in the 100-meter dash in 12.4 seconds, while posting a winning time of 25.38 seconds in the 200-meter dash.
The Knights' team of Elena Barbaric, Audrey Ginsberg, Hailey Erickson, and Cameron Kalloway closed out the competition by rolling to first place in the 1,600-meter relay. Erickson also was second in the 3,200 run.
"The goal this year is to just give these kids a chance to compete after losing the season last year," said Prospect coach Peter Wintermute. "I couldn't be more proud of the work they put in, and they've waited a year and a half for this moment."
Wheaton Warrenville South made a late surge in the meet to capture third place as the Tigers got a second from Sam Poglitsch at 800 meters, and a second in the 400-meter relay.
"With three or four events to go we were in seventh," said Tigers' coach Rob Harvey. "This is a loaded meet with storied programs, and Pete puts together a great meet."
Barrington's Bre Dunn won the 300-meter hurdles in 47.98 while teammate Brooke Husby won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.43.
"I thought this was an awesome meet for everybody to see all the talent on the track and in the field," said Barrington coach Jody Gitelis. "I told our girls they can be a student of the sport and learn from watching this competition."
Glenbrook South's Sydney Willits was the long jump and triple jump champion while Batavia's Meghann Hartmann was the high jump champ. Batavia also got a first from Lauren Hunecke at 3,200 meters.
The GBS team of Willits, Abby Milott, Daphne Gerber, and Hayden Nelson won the 400-meter relay while the team of Willits, Gerber, Nelson, and Des Roberts won the 800-meter relay.
"(Willits) won four events so she was part of contributing 40 points to the team just by herself," said Glenbrook South coach Danny Zapler. "We had a lot of contributors, and it's always amazing when you can win two of the sprint relays."
Grayslake Central's Julia Reglewski took the title in both the shot put (14.51), and the discus throw (41.87). The Rams' team of Bryn Sato, Sophia Witt, Caroline Kokkin, and Bella Domier placed first in the 3,200-meter relay. Junior Mia Morello also placed first for the Rams in the pole vault with a winning vault of 11-feet-6 inches.
"Julia is No. 1 in the state right now in the shot and the disc and she is looking phenomenal," said Grayslake Central coach Shawn Murphy. "There are no seniors on the (3,200) relay team so we think if we can drop some time we'll see if we can get downstate this year."