Girls track: Lake Park notches title at Buffalo Grove
With many athletes contributing in both the running and the field events, Lake Park rolled to the championship of the Buffalo Grove girls track invitational Saturday.
The Lancers took home the first-place trophy with 158.2 points followed by Lake Zurich (110.7 points) in second, Neuqua Valley (94) in third, Fremd (89) in fourth, Stevenson (83.4) in fifth and Cary-Grove (75) in sixth.
One of the highlights of the day for Lake Park was senior Dominika Baranska winning the discus with a meet-record throw of 132 feet, 6 inches. She shattered the previous record by Lake Park's Sarah Drozdowski (124- 7) in 2009.
The Lancers also got first-place finishes from senior Andelyn Granskog in the long jump (17-10.5), high jump (5-4) and 100-meter hurdles (15.41).
Granskog was also the anchor on the Lancers' 1,600 relay team. But they had to settle for second-place behind Neuqua Valley (51.20) by just .02 seconds.
“I'm pretty happy with how I did today,” the Princeton-bound Granskog said. “I PR'ed in the high jump and the long jump, and I'm trying to get to 18 feet and eventually the school record in that event. “ (Baranska) broke the meet record in the discus today, and she had like a 9-foot PR, so she is doing well.”
Lake Park also got a first-place finish from Paulina Madro with a 35-03.75 in the triple jump as well as a first from teammate Stephanie Montenegro (39-1) in the shot put.
“(Baranska) qualified for the state meet in the discus last year, and she's doing well for us,” Lake Park coach Jeff Helberg said. “Andelyn won three events today, and she's going to be competing in multiple events when she goes to Princeton.”
Lake Zurich's Kelsey Rothas set a meet-record in the pole vault, clearing 11-7, while teammate Sydney Mark cruised to first place in the 400 (59.48).
The Bears also got a first from Gretchen Quinn (47.99) in the 300 hurdles along with a first-place from both their 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams.
“I'm just so pleased that all girls are dropping times today and we have kids that are earning their way into varsity spots,” Lake Zurich coach Jeremy Kauffman said. “A lot of girls ran close to state-meet times, and I held Emily (Burns) out of the 2-mile and mile due to training.”
Neuqua Valley's Ella Orengo won the 200 in 27.20, while the Wildcats team of Autumn Rosales, Mikenna Robinson, Kristin Belle and Zharia Brandon took first in the 400 relay. Neuqua Valley's Sithara Gajapala took second in the pole vault by clearing a school-record 10-9.
“We hope she keeps improving and gets close to 11 feet,” Neuqua Valley assistant coach Bruyn Yunk said. “Ella (Orengo) has been improving in every single meet, and she ran in three events today.”
Fremd got firsts from Elena DiVito in the 100 (12.86), Julia Finegan (2:21.16) in the 800 and Rebecca Markham (11:56.06) in the 3,200.
“Elena was 3-10ths off the state-meet qualifying time in the 100, and Julia is two seconds off in the 800,” Fremd coach Jeremy Herriges said. “Rebecca had a season-best time in the 3,200, and that was nice to see because she runs a lot of 800s for us.”
Stevenson's 800 relay team of Jade Cadichon, Hailey Peterson, Raeden Mays and Maddie Kadens placed first in 1:50.25.
“We've been working really hard on handoffs,” Patriots coach Emma Degen said. “They all came ready to run, and they looked good. “Camille (Clay) took second in the shot put, and she's working on some technical things that will get her ready for the end of the season.”
Cary-Grove was led by junior Allison Drage's first-place time of 5:10.69 in the 1,600. Teammate Sophia Galfano (12.97) was a close second to DiVito in the 100. Lake Park's Vanesa Sanchez (27.41) placed second in the 200.