By Michael Newman, [email protected]

Naperville --- It is hard to pick out one lasting memory of Monday evening’s Downers Grove South Mustang Relays at North Central College’s Res-Rec Center. The fast surface on the Al B. Carius Track once again produced some fast times. All six events produced the top state times. Part of that had to do with the fact that this meet was held one week earlier due to North Central College hosting the NCAA Division III Indoor National Track & Field Championships on March 10-11.

It was the passion that stood out in each baton pass and each finish of the 30 races that took place in this meet.

Here is a recap of some of the things that happened.

Girls 4x800 Meter Relay

The top time in the state before this meet started was run by York at the beginning of the month (10:03.89). By the time that this event was completed, 20 schools had surpassed that.

It started in Section 1 where Kaneland held off Grant on the final lap to take home the win. Kaneland’s time of 9:57.92 edged Grant by a little more than four tenths of a second. It was also the state’s best time for about 10 minutes.

Section 2 had Lake Forest opening a big lead on the first two legs of the race led by a 2:23 opening leg by Emma Milburn of Lake Forest. Lurking in the pack was Prospect who put their all-state runner Brooke Wilson in the third spot of their quartet. Wilson took the baton in second but three seconds behind Lake Forest. Wilson made up that gap in the first 300 meters of that leg. Her 2:21.2 split opened the race for Prospect. The Lady Knights finished at 9:40.88 almost 11 seconds ahead of second-place Lincoln-Way East. Prospect finished fourth overall in the event.

Downers Grove North took command of the final section with Emma Moravec running a 2:16.7 split opening up a three second lead on a pack led by Yorkville, Loyola Academy, and Downers Grove South. One of the pre-race favorites was Minooka. At the first exchange, they were in sixth place almost nine seconds behind the lead.

Ashley Tutt put Minooka back in the race with a 2:20.7 2nd leg moving the team up to fourth only three seconds behind. Downers Grove North, Yorkville, and Downers Grove South were within an eyelash of each other fighting for the lead.

Downers Grove South and Yorkville battled for the lead on the third leg with Minooka’s Ali Mondrella staying within four seconds of the leaders by the time she passed the baton to teammate Mackenzie Callahan. The all-state runner bided her time on the first two laps of the final 800 meters of the race. In the third lap, Callahan took command of the race. A 2:16.7 anchor leg by Callahan gave Minooka the event championship (9:29.46). Olivia Borowiak led Yorkville home in second (9:33.31) just ahead of Katie Stapleton and Downers Grove South (9:36.80).

Unofficial splits

Boys 4x800 Meter Relay

The table was set for a fast Section 3 after a competitive Section 2 of this event. Metea Valley and Plainfield East traded off the lead in the final five laps of the race. Plainfield East won the section (8:09.87) by two seconds ahead of Metea Valley (8:11.09). The two schools finished 8^th and 9^th overall.

The third and final section was a who’s who of Illinois prep distance running. Since this is a relay only meet, the chances that we see the combinations of quartets that ran on Monday evening. It did turn out to be a great race.

There was no separation between the 11 teams that were in the third section. Geneva had a slight lead at the end of the first leg just three tenths of a second ahead of Neuqua Valley. There was only four seconds that separated all those teams by the time the handoffs were made. One of the favorites was Whitney Young but was in tenth until the final 200 of the first leg when they moved up to fourth less than a second behind Geneva.

Whitney Young sophomore Sam Rivera stretched out the pack a little on the second leg keeping the Dolphins in contention. It was Downers Grove North that had a slight lead over Whitney Young at the end of the second leg. Neuqua Valley maintained their position in the front in third. Lyons Township moved up from tenth at the first exchange up to fourth only three seconds back.

The race was deemed over during the third leg. Whitney Young’s Clayton Mendez was coming off an epic 9:01 3200 meters last Saturday at Proviso West. The question that was whispered in the Res-Rec Center was how much would he have left in the tank?

He had a full tank. Boy, did he have a full tank!

He stayed even on the first 200 of his leg. He exploded down the back straight of the second lap having a 400-meter split of 54.5 with two laps to go. His 1:55.4 third leg opened a three second lead on Downers Grove North. Even though the gap looked big, the Trojans were still in the hunt after a 1:58.7 leg by Alec Danner.

Evan Radomski went through the 600 in 1:27.3 and then held on for the final 200 meters. Downers North was charging at the end almost made up the gap but ran out of real estate. Whitney Young ran the state’s best time of the season so far crossing the line in 7:58.43. Downers Grove North was next also dipping under eight minutes (7:59.39). Vince Zona ran a 1:58.4 anchor leg to get Lyons Township third (8:02.43) ahead of Neuqua Valley (8:04.30). Dylan Jacobs ran a 1:55.9 anchor split to bring Sandburg from seventh to finishing fifth (8:04.30). 3A State Cross Country champion Soren Knudsen closed with a 1:57.3 final 800 to give Minooka sixth overall (8:04.60).

Unofficial splits

Girls 4x200 Meter Relay

The times in the first four sections of this event stayed in the 1:49 range with Yorkville having the fastest time (1:49.00) after four sections. Batavia then stepped up in the fifth section of the event to run 1:46.97 to take over the lead.

There were high expectations in the final section with the state’s best 800 relay team so far this season with Homewood-Flossmoor facing off against relay powers Lincoln-Way East and West Aurora who would have their star sophomore Dajour Miles anchoring for them.

Homewood-Flossmoor did what they needed to do to get the lead by the time they broke from their lanes in the second leg to have a slight lead just ahead of Bolingbrook, Lincoln-Way East, and West Aurora. A great second exchange by Homewood-Flossmoor seemingly sealed the deal. Homewood-Flossmoor’s Jaimie Robinson had a two second lead on the rest of the pack. A great exchange by West Aurora gave Miles a chance to try to close the gap.

Robinson exploded around the final turn giving the Vikings an insurmountable lead. Miles slowed up as she entered the final turn as she injured her hamstring stopping. Homewood-Flossmoor ran the state’s best time this year (1:42.74) winning by more than three seconds ahead of Bolingbrook (1:46.12). Batavia placed third from the fifth section. A bad handoff on the anchor for Lincoln-Way East slowed them down but the Griffins did finish fourth overall (1:47.48) just ahead of Whitney Young (1:48.28).

Miles was walking around after the race according to  West Aurora coaches. The question remains how serious he injury is.

Boys 4x200 Meter Relay

Lyons Township showed why they are will be one of the top teams in the state in this event. Batavia showed that their sprint squads could put them in the hunt for a trophy by the time they get to May.

Hinsdale South won Section 3 having the fastest time (1:33.89) heading into the final two sections.

Glenbard West and Bolingbrook fought for the lead throughout Section 5. The Hilltoppers from the WSC-Silver prevailed (1:32.89) just ahead of Bolingbrook (1:33.33).

The name of the game in the indoor 800 Meter Relay is to have the lead after the first exchange and then make sure you hold it for the remaining three laps. Lyons Township did that holding off challenges from Batavia along the way. Their time of 1:31.53 was just two tenths of a second ahead of a charging Batavia squad that ran 1:31.73.

Girls 4x400 Meter Relay

Lincoln-Way East proved their doubters wrong in the final Girls event of the evening. “I guess the cat is out of the bag,” Lincoln-Way East coach Brian Evans said afterwards. Even though the Griffins lost talent due to graduation from last year’s state championship team, they did show the depth that this team has in 2017.

East was in command after the first exchange. They finished in 4:01.17 more than six seconds ahead of Whitney Young (4:07.60). Neuqua Valley ran 4:08.57 to win Section 5 and to finish third overall. West Aurora, without Miles in their lineup, still finished fourth (4:08.65).

Boys 4x400 Meter Relay

The drama began in this event when St. Charles North ran 3:30.72 to win Section 4 by seven seconds ahead of Addison Trail. The times dipped even faster in the next section when Plainfield South ran 3:28.19 to hold off Glenbard West (3:28.90) in Section 5.

All four teams in the final race of the night finished within one second of each other. Neuqua Valley took the lead on the anchor with strong first 200 by Ja’Quere Williams. He slowed down towards the finish allowing Lyons Township to come away with the win. They didn’t as only four hundredths of a second separated Neuqua Valley (3:26.04) and Lyons Township (3:26.08). Downers Grove North was close (3:26.40) in third followed by Batavia (3:27.07). The first six teams finishing overall surpassed the previous state seasonal best by Cahokia (3:29.68)

Results