Hart runs IL #1 4:49.39 in 1600m; Wright sweeps the sprints; Bieber’s double; Top state times in 800m

By Michael Newman

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Naperville, Ill – You could see it in the eyes of Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart in the staging area before the start of the 1600 Meter Run Thursday night in the NCC HS Girls Classic instead the school’s Res/Rec Center. She was pacing back and forth as each section of the event was being run off waiting until her section was called to the line.

She wanted to run fast. But that’s the aura that surrounds her as she enters her junior season of track & field competition.

Hart’s fantastic triple was won of the reason’s why Glenbard West captured the team title in this loaded 16-team meet. The Lady Hilltoppers total of 82.5 points was just ahead of the 80 points scored by Lincoln-Way East. Bloom Township scored 68 points to finish third ahead of the 64 points scored by defending 3A state champion Naperville North.

RESULTS | MEET VIDEO

Hart said in an interview after the meet that she likes the opportunity to come from behind in a race. That was the case in the 3200 Meter Relay when she received the baton six seconds behind then race leader Wheaton-Warrenville South. It took Hart 400-meters to catch Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Sarah Kulkarni with a 64 second opener. She just widened the lead from there giving Glenbard West the win with the fastest time in the state (9:30.90). Wheaton-Warrenville South finished second (9:38.73, IL #2) followed by Yorkville (9:40.00, IL #4).

How good was the field in the final section of the 1600 Meter Run? 10 out of the top 11 times in the state came from that race. The meet scored eight places. Kate Dickman of Lyons Township, who ran 5:09.47 (IL #10) finished ninth. There were two races in that final section. It was Hart vs. the clock and then who would finish second. Hart stormed out to the lead early and never looked back. By the time the race reached 1200-meters, Hart had a ten second gap on Naperville North’s Campbell Petersen and Alex Morris who themselves were on five-minute pace. The Glenbard junior crossed the line in 4:49.39 followed by Petersen (4:59.67) and Morris (4:59.81) who were just under the magic five-minute mark. Emma Watcke of Hinsdale Central just missed but finished fourth (5:01.08) with an indoor personal best.

Hart’s splits – 70.2-2:22.1-3:35.4-4:49.3

Hart was back on the track 30-minutes later to anchor Glenbard West’s 1600 Meter Relay team. She received the baton with the lead but had to hold off Lincoln-Way East freshman Mariam Azeez to take home the win. Azeez, who had never run 400-meters before in a relay in her life, earlier had jumped 18-2.50 to win the Long Jump in a new meet record. Glenbard West, behind Hart’s 59.5 anchor, won the race (4:07.25, IL #2) just ahead of Lincoln-Way East (4:08.79, IL #3).

“With the weather that we have had, it has been a lot of road work just trying to build my base,” Hart said after her runs. “We have done a little speed work, but that will definitely come at the end of the season. I loved chasing (Kulkarni) down in the 4x8. It was fun.  I wanted to close the gap and try to stay strong the rest of the race.”

Wright’s Sprint Triple

If Hart was not the spotlight runner of the meet, then it had to belong to Lincoln-Way East’s Taylor Wright who sparkled on and off the track with three individual wins. Wright, who had seen success early in her career with the Griffins in the relays, stepped out in this meet. Her start in the sprints has improved as evidenced by her win in the 55 Meter Dash. Her time of 7.32 (IL #2) was just ahead of her teammate Mariam Azeez (7.44, IL #8) who finished second in the section and third overall.

Her strongest race is the 400 Meter Dash. She proved that by running 57.82 (IL #3) and winning by almost three seconds ahead of Glenbard West’s Aaliyah Collier (1:00.52).

Wright was in the “zone” and it showed in the 200 Meter Dash. She had the lead coming off the final turn winning in 25.84 (IL #5 Tie). It is the second fastest Illinois time run this year on a flat track.

“It was an amazing night,” Wright said. “ I was excited about my 55 time. I have been waiting to get that time down. The 400 I was ecstatic. I knew when I came around the first 200-meters that I was right on track.”

The Bieber Double

Could we see a new direction from Naperville North’s Halle Bieber after her 55 Meter Hurdles / 55 Meter Dash double that she ran on Thursday night?

“This was something that we were playing with tonight,” Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson said. “It is early in the season, so this was the time to try it. She ran two good races.”

Bieber was well under control in her hurdle race getting out quickly out of the blocks. Her technique over the hurdles seemed effortless over the hurdles as she won the final section. Her time of 8.38 is the fastest in the state at that distance and just missed the meet record of Shaliyah Dixon-Turner by seven hundredths of a second.

Bieber did not have time to celebrate the hurdle race. She came right back to run 7.41 (IL #5) to win her section of the 55 Meter Dash and finish second overall in the event.

A fast 800-meters

The final section of the 800 Meter Run was going to be fast especially with two of the top half milers in the state Claire Hill of Naperville North and Erin Reidy of Downers Grove South toeing the line. Hill pushed the pace from the start passing 200-meters in 31.1 and 400-meters in 64.2. Reidy was within a stride of Hill making sure that the distance did not increase.

The most important part of this race is the third 200-meters. In some cases, we see the pace drop off. That did not happen here. The two runners pushed through 600-meters in 1:37.5 side by side. Reidy made the effort to try to pass Hill on the final back stretch, but the Naperville senior refused to give that up. Reidy finally took the lead with 70-meters left in the middle of the final curve. Hiss pushed for the lead again in the final 30-meters but ran out of real estate. Reidy ran 2:11.47 for the win. Hill was 2:11.61. Those are the top two fastest times in the distance. The two runners are also ranked in the top 20 nationally.

“My plan was to stick with Claire, and I knew she would take it out strong,” Reidy said. “I just wanted to save that strong kick until the end.”

Meet Highlights

Alice Abbott of St. Charles East broke away from the pack just before 1600-meters and held on to win the 3200 Meter Run (10:50.32, IL #2) ahead of Yorkville’s Kailey Fox (10:55.02, IL #3), and Downers Grove South’s Brenna Cohoon (11:04.05, IL #5).

The Bloom Township quartet of Alysha Fryer, Janea Gardner, India Lee, and Kayla Griggs ran 1:46.95 (IL #3) to win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of Lincoln-Way East (1:47.11, IL #4), and Downers Grove South (1:48.04, IL #8).

Aaliyah Collier of Glenbard West, who finished second in the 400 Meter Dash, cleared 5-2 to win the High Jump. London White of Lyons Township jumped an indoor personal best of 34-11.25 to win the Triple Jump.

Minooka and Oswego were involved in the first four spots of the Pole Vault. Minooka’s Katelyn Gall and Oswego’s Claire Barenie both cleared 10-feet. Gall won the event on fewer misses,

Hinsdale Central’s Dior Nicholson commanded the Shot-Put ring in this meet. The junior had a 39-8.5 put to win the event by over four feet ahead of Yorkville’s Courtney Hall (35-1).

Photos: (c) 2019 Laura Duffy