Track and field: Naperville North boys, girls enjoy a big night
Naperville North's Gus Scott Invitational holds a special place in Halle Bieber's heart.
The all-state senior hurdler's affection was rewarded Friday by being named the coed track meet's most valuable female athlete. Part of a legion of Huskies girls - and boys - who did well at home, Bieber won the 300-meter hurdles in 44.69 seconds and dropped her own meet-record 100 hurdles time to 14.74. The two-time Class 3A 300 champion won that event by more than three seconds.
"It's always a fun meet, having all the guys and the girls together, and having the meet at home," said Bieber, who will run hurdles at Duke.
"It's really a great way to go out after four years at the Gus Scott."
It was a great day for Naperville North. Both boys and girls teams won their sides of the meet, broken down into A, B and C levels.
It's customary for Naperville North's girls to win most Gus Scott distance events, and from 400 to 3,200 meters only St. Charles East's Alice Abbott, in the A-level 3,200, and Benet's Joy Jackson, in the B-level 3,200, interrupted their flow.
The three different levels of the 800-meter run, competed separately, looked like the same race: Naperville North's Campbell Petersen, Audrey Mendrys and then Claire Bruce sped well out in front of everyone else.
To have Naperville North's boys do something like that has not been as common. So it was special when in a 1,600-meter race with all levels running together, Huskies teammates Nick Trattner (surviving an elbow at the 800 mark), Jake Allen and Tommy Paltzer went 1, 2, 3. Earlier, those three plus McLean Griffin won their 3,200 relay.
"Tommy Paltzer, who was third, made that race because he pushed it," Huskies distance coach Dave Racey said of the 1,600. "He paid for it, but he made that race happen for the other two guys. As a sophomore doing that, it was good."
Perhaps the top race of the night was the girls 400. In what initially looked like a win for Benet's Mia Nolan, Naperville North's Natalie Walsh caught Nolan at the finish, a dash that had Nolan on hands and knees in the infield, gasping for breath.
Walsh was credited with the victory by .01 second, 1:01.68 to Nolan's 1:01.69. Nolan said she felt like the end of the race was an indoor 55-meter sprint.
"That was a tough one," she said. "I tried to lean, but I thought I was going to fall over," Nolan said.
Walsh, who also ran on winning 3,200 and 1,600 relays, said, "It was a nice team effort, even though we're on different teams."
Waubonsie Valley's Shariah Wright, Peyton McLees, Micah Horne and Itzel Garcia won the girls 400 relay. Warriors teammate Olivia Kauffman soared 34 feet, 4 inches in triple jump for a lifetime personal record.
Despite a strong first two legs by Benet's Colin Luwanja and pole vault winner Ian Smith in the meet-ending boys 1,600-meter relay, Naperville North's Will deBolt's 400-meter portion earned the Huskies a lead secured by Griffin Blecke for the win. DeBolt ran a 51-second split, near his 51.74 time that won the A-level open 400 race.
"I wanted it from the start," he said, "and no one was able to catch me."
Wheaton Academy's Noah Mayo finished second to deBolt in that 400.
"We like the high level of competition at this meet, especially for some of our elite athletes like Noah Mayo or Nate Bierly," said Warriors coach Chris Felinski.