Girls track and field: Weaver gets Glenbard East started at invite

Kionnah Weaver's back was beginning to feel ever-so tight.

The senior sprinter/hurdler on the Glenbard East girls track team was beginning to deal with some slight discomfort but decided to give it a go in the 100-meter hurdles.

Boy, did she make the right decision.

Weaver cruised to the Rams Invite title in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.89 seconds, nearly four seconds ahead of Glenbard South's Emma Taylor. That helped spark Glenbard East to a team title with 110 points, just edging Schaumburg, which finished with 103. Glenbard South finished fourth with 86 points and West Chicago finished sixth with 36 points.

"It felt fine (during the hurdles)," Weaver said. "For some reason when I start my races, I'm just completely numb, I don't know why, but it just happens. I just finished strong and wanted to make sure I scored some points for my team."

Still, with that lingering back discomfort, Glenbard East coach Molly Gstaler decided to hold Weaver back from the 200-meter dash and think bigger picture.

"It was Coach, completely Coach's (decision)," Weaver said. "I wanted to (run) so bad, but she feels I have to be prepared for next week. So I had to sit through it."

Having a few other teammates capture first place helped Glenbard East recapture any points they may have lost with Weaver sitting out the 200-meter dash.

Cailyn Biegalski and Lauren Huber were in a tight sprint down the final 100 meters of the 800-meter run, but Biegalski edged out her teammate 2:19.26-2:20.55 to take the 800 title.

"Lauren and I really wanted to push each other and try to PR today and take advantage of the nice weather," Biegalski said. "It's almost like practice, because we run workouts together, so it's really nice."

Biegalski, a regular on the 3,200 relay team, sat out the race for the Rams. Glenbard East hardly skipped a beat. The team of Lexi Weltin, Allyson Griffith, Katie Schaefer and Emily Anderson took first in a time of 10:05.54 ahead of Glenbard South's team of Ania Gniatczyk, Cassidy Shirley, Kelly Anderson and Julia Clingen.

"I think we have a really talented field of athletes on our team," Biegalski said. "We can fill all of our events and still place well, so it's really good."

Brianna Raysby took advantage of the warmer temperatures to take the high jump title with a leap of 5 feet, 2 inches, a state qualifying mark. Taylor took second, clearing 5 feet.

"It's been very cold and even some of our meets have been canceled," Raysby said. "When it's warm it definitely helps a lot. It was so nice."

West Chicago's sprint relay team of Laura Freiburg, Staesh Moore, Avalon Smith and Brooke Eidel took third in the 400-meter relay. That left a bad taste in Moore and her teammates' mouths.

"For me personally, the handoff was not my best, so I was hoping to recover," Moore said.

So she tried to correct it in the 800-meter relay.

"I just went over it in my head to see how it would go and I was just like hoping for the best," Moore said.

They did it in a convincing matter. Freiburg, Moore, Smith and Eidel finished the relay in 1:49.77, nearly four seconds ahead of second place Romeoville.

"Our handoffs were actually pretty good," Eidel said. "We have the same handoffs and all of our girls are close."

Glenbard South's throwers also had a strong performance.

Ciara Jackson took second in the shot put with a toss of 33-3¾ inches, just edging teammate Maggie Bair, who had a toss of 33-0.

"I wish I could've done better, but I'm getting there," Jackson, who also finished sixth in the discus, said. "They felt good, the release felt good, I just have to get better."

Teammate Ashley Dodge was second in the discus with a toss of 100 feet, 2 inches.