Host Wheaton-Warrenville South wins sectional team title

By Michael Newman

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Wheaton, Ill --- If you look at the results of the 3200 at Thursday night’s Wheaton Warrenville South sectional meet, you would see that teammates Lindsey Graham and Madeline Perez (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) finished 1-2 in the event. If you were at the meet, you would see that the two runners did not race against each other. Perez won the first section of the event (10:45.74). Graham won Section 2 with the fastest overall time in the event (10:36.83).

The main reason the two teammates did not race was because Perez, who had been out for two months with an injury, had not run a 3200 outdoors this season. She was entered in the 3200 with no seed time.

“We were not trying to get a competitive advantage by entering Madeline in the first section,” said Glenbard West distance coach Paul Hass. “The last time that she did this double, she went out with the injury. We wanted her to get a positive run in this week with the two races.”

Perez, the defending 3A champion in this event, has run 10:34 this season. That was run at an indoor meet at the beginning of March. A coach may use an indoor time for seeding purposes for an athlete if they do not have a time in that event outdoors. Glenbard West chose to enter her with no seed time this placing her in the first section. The 1600 that she ran last week at her conference meet was the only race that she has competed in since March. It makes sense that she was entered with no seed time because you had no idea what to expect from the three time state champ.

“I really cannot worry what other people will think about this,” Hass continued. “When it comes down to it, we are always going to do what is best for the kid.”

If anyone doubted Perez’s fitness level, that was silenced in the first 1600 of her 3200 meter race. The senior rocketed through the first mile in 5:13. She was already 41 seconds ahead of the rest of her competition in that section. Her pace slowed down in the second mile but she still came in at 10:45. Perez had lapped the field in the process. She looked like the same runner that graced the track at Charleston last May in this run.

“I do not know if it was really an idea,” Perez said after being asked about running in the first section. “Frankly, I don’t have an outdoor time so that is where I was placed into. I was happy with my first mile. I was just trying to get a race under my belt to see how it felt like.”  

One hour later, it was Graham’s turn to make a statement in the event. The Glenbard West sophomore has been running this race by herself this outdoor season. She received a taste of what to expect next weekend at Charleston when she had Christina Santiago (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect) and Vanessa Sanchez (Rolling Meadows) close with her as they passed the first 1600 in 5:17. It was at that point where Graham made a move breaking the other two runners. Her margin on Santiago and Sanchez was 24 seconds at the finish.

“Previously the past couple of weeks, my strategy excluding conference was to feel out the competition and to strategize during the race,” Graham said. “Today we decided I was going to run my own race. I was just going to go for splits. I wanted to hear what my first few splits were and settle into a good pace.”

It makes next Saturday’s 3200 at the state meet more intriguing. Since the two runners did not face each other Thursday evening, one can wonder what will happen in that race. Most likely, the two runners could have the top two seed times in 3A.

Both Perez and Santiago would try to complete to qualify for the 1600 towards the end of the meet. Perez took the lead immediately going past the first 400 in 75 seconds. Santiago stayed behind letting Perez take the lead. With 700 meters to go, the Prospect senior decided to make her move passing the Glenbard runner. Santaiago built up a 5 meter lead but that was it. Perez would not let the lead get any bigger. Santiago finished less than a second ahead of Perez (5:10.82 – 5:11.70). Lisa Luczak (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) moved through the pack nicely to finish third while achieving a state qualifying time (5:13.10).

Wheaton-Warrenville South used its relay strength to catapult themselves to the sectional crown. The Tigers finished with 98 ½ points. Prospect scored 87 points to place second. South qualified 3 relays and 5 individuals to Charleston. Four of the individuals were in field events. Erin Zappia and Amy Nosek (York HS, Elmhurst) both cleared 5-5 in the High Jump, but Zappia was awarded the sectional win on fewer misses. Zappia’s teammate Alex Enright placed fourth but cleared the state qualifying 5-3 to punch a ticket to Charleston. The Tigers also had both of their athletes (Heidi Nassos and Amy Smith) in the Pole Vault qualify. Eight athletes in this event qualified for the state meet. Danielle Wojciechowski (Lake Park HS, Roselle) set a new stadium record clearing 12-1 to win the event.

Emma Dalan was a sparkplug for Wheaton-Warrenville’s first win in the 4 x 8 relay. Her 2:17 opening leg gave her team a three second lead for which they would not relinquish. The Tigers won by five seconds ahead of Prospect (9:37.50-9:42.86). South also received wins in two other relays. They won the 4x1 relay by close to a second ahead of Addison Trail (49.54 – 50.44). In a close finish in the 4x2 relay, it came down to only three hundredth of a second separating the winning Wheaton Warrenville South with second place York (1:45.81 – 1:45.84).

Dalan came back to win the 300 Intermediate Hurdles by more than a second ahead of surprise second place finisher Stephanie Dominguez (Leyden HS, Franklin Park-Northlake).

Mani Lock (Lake Park HS, Roselle) was the only individual track double winner in the meet. After failing to qualify in the High Jump (an event she was expected to advance to state in), Lock took her aggression out in the sprints. She got off to a great start in the 100 Meter Dash final. She had the race won at 50 meters pulling away for a three tenths of a second win ahead of Kaleen Smith (Addison Trail HS). It was a little closer in the 200 Finals as Lock edged Addison Trail’s Lauren Kroll by nine hundredth of a second (2.08 – 26.17).

Catherine Sherwood (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect) was a double winner in the horizontal jumps. She won the Long Jump (17-10 ½) ahead of Kaleen Smith by four inches (17-6 ¾). Sherwood came back to win the Triple Jump (36-0 ¼) by eight inches ahead of Anne Mou (Lake Park HS, Roselle).

Other Highlights:

Molly Krawcykowksi (Willowbrook HS, Villa Park) won the 800 Meter Run holding off York’s Hannah Wahlgren down the homestretch to win by more than two seconds (2:16.07 – 2:18.75).

Jennifer Donnell (Conant HS, Hoffman Estates) and Erin Reese (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect) traded off wins in the field events. Donnell won the Discus throwing 130-4. She was close to three feet ahead of Reese. It was Reese who was in front in the Shot Put but it was a close competition. Reese had a winning put of 42-9 ½ only three inches ahead of Donnell (42-6 ¼).

Mary Nevins (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) took control of the 400 Meter Dash making up the stagger coming out of the far curve. She went on to win the race (59.53) by more than a second ahead of Taylor Burton (Willowbrook HS, Villa Park). Nevins was also a part of her school’s winning 4 x 400 meter relay team. The Hilltoppers won the event (4:04.93) holding off a charging York squad (4:06.19).

Maya Mason (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect) punched her ticket to Charleston winning the 100 Meter Hurdles. She pulled away on the seventh hurdle to win by three tenths of a second ahead of Conant’s Tracy Iroegbulem.