Mihas edges Hart in classic 800m race at North Central College

Mihas misses meet record by .01 seconds in win; Poglitsch, Allman use kicks to win in distance races

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Naperville – Pre-race expectations were met in the 800 Meter Run at Thursday night at the NCC Cardinal Girls HS Classic. It was the outcome that most people inside the Res-Rec Center on the North Central College Campus did not expect.

RESULTS | VIDEOS | PHOTOS

It was a classic race between two of the distance heavyweights in the state with Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West and Marianne Mihas of Latin School leading the fifth section of the race. Both runners are fierce competitors hating to come in second.

The edge at the end of the race belonged to the Latin School junior. Mihas held off Hart in the final 50-meters to claim the win in the race (2:11.48) missing the meet record by a hundredth of a second that Downers Grove South’s Erin Reidy set in last year’s meet.

Hart finished second (2:12.20) while Reidy had to settle for third with a seasonal best of 2:12.43.

Reidy and Mihas would be running fresh in this race. This would be the second meet of the season for Hart with her only other race the 5k at Boston University three weeks ago. It would be a huge step down in distance for Hart in this meet having to run a leg in the 3200 Meter Relay before this race and the anchor leg in the 1600 Meter Relay at the end of the meet.

Hart took the baton in the 3200 Meter Relay with a slight lead ahead of Lincoln-Way East. She extended it immediately going through with a 66.1 400-meter split and 1:41.3 for 600-meters before shutting it down in the final 200-meters but giving Glenbard West the win with the state’s fastest time  (9:43.72). Hart’s anchor split was 2:19.4.

The indication that the race would be fast was at the sound of the gun for the start of section 5. Mihas shot out to the lead with a single file line of Hart, Ava Parekh of Latin School, Reidy, and Olivia Schmitt of Lakes Community following closely. Mihas charged through the first 200-meters in a fast 30.3 seconds with the pack close behind. The pace did not seem to let up on lap 2 with Mihas still leading at 63.7 seconds. Hart was right on her shoulder with Reidy close behind. Parekh, who was also running her first 800 of the season, was starting to drop back.

The order of runners stayed in line the next 200-meters as Mihas led the two other runners through 600-meters in 1:38.5. The moves on the back straight were ready to happen.

Mihas came off the first turn and surged opening up a gap of five meters on Hart and Reidy. Entering the far turn, Reidy swung to the outside to try to pass Hart. The 11-time state champion would not allow that to happen as she sped up to try to catch Mihas.

The three entered the final straight away with Hart swinging out to Lane 3 to make her final move. She ran out of real estate as Mihas got to the line first.

It was the first individual race that Hart had finished behind another Illinois runner on Illinois soil. However, the 2:12 that she ran was the fastest she had ever ran this early in the season let alone she competed in this race with no speed work. It just showed on this day the competitiveness that Mihas, also a three-time state champion, had in her heart.

“I really have not really raced at all this winter besides the 5k. I really did not know what to expect. I just wanted to get my feet wet in the racing world,” Hart explained after the meet was over. “I knew the 800 race would be a tough one. I was just going off the training that I had. Marianne just ran great. It’s a testament to Illinois running that we are running faster this early. Everyone was just amazing tonight.”

Mihas was in disbelief after she crossed the line but that turned to joyous celebration with her teammate Parekh and others that were in the race. Someone had to be the first. Mihas had talked to Parekh about that in their practice the day before the race. Mihas accomplished her goal.

“I knew that this would be a really tough race. I know Katelynne and this isn’t her thing. That doesn’t mean that she is going to come out and give it her all. For me to beat her after an injury plagued cross-country season. That race did not feel easy, but it did not feel hard,” Mihas explained after her race. “I’m just happy. I know I have a lot more left to give. I know I can only get better.”

~~

This distance heavy meet also supplied the fans at the meet with two extremely close finishes in the other two distance races.

The pace was slow in the first four laps of the 3200 Meter Run going through 800-meters in 2:48. “It felt like a cross-country race,” Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Samantha Poglitsch said. “I have not run this distance in a long time. It was like building through the first mile and going from there.”

Maggie Gamboa of Naperville North and Alice Abbott of St. Charles East, last year’s race winner, picked up the pace for the next four laps as Gamboa, Abbott, Poglitsch, Brenna Cohoon of Downers Grove South, and McKenna Revord of Hinsdale Central went through 1600-meters in 5:33. Just before the group passed the half-way point, Cohoon felt the pace slowdown and she took over the lead. Anna Hunter of Yorkville came up to the pack as Abbott’s pace started to slow down.

Three laps later, it was Gamboa’s turn as she pushed the pace. Poglitsch stayed by her side not wanting her to get away. Gamboa started to increase the lead to between 5 to 10 meters entering the final two laps. Poglitsch closed the gap waiting for the kick. With 100-meters left, Poglitsch went and took the lead that she would give up. Poglitsch crossed the line in a personal best of 10:56.43. Gamboa followed in 10:57.96. Cohoon passed Revord in the final 50-meters to finish third (11:04.26) just ahead of the Hinsdale senior (11:04.85).

The final section of the 1600 Meter Run also had the dramatics in the final lap of that race. Campbell Petersen of Naperville North took the lead early grinding out a sub-5 pace and separating herself from the rest of the pack. Petersen looked good entering the final lap with Audrey Allman of Glenbard West some 10-meters behind. Allman, who has 2:12 800-meters speed, closed the gap in the final 200-meters taking the lead away from Petersen coming off the final curve.

Petersen was relentless in the final 50-metes refusing to let the Glenbard sophomore get away that easily. The two runners both finished under five-minutes. Allman earned the win (4:59.64) going under that magical five-minute mark for the first time. Petersen, who went through a cross-country season full of injuries, showed she was back finishing second (4:59.74). Emma Watcke of Hinsdale Central (5:04.83) and Audrey Mendrys of Naperville North (5:05.13) finished third and fourth.

Other Meet Highlights

The eighth and final section of the 55 Meter Hurdles produced the closest finish of the evening as Sophia Barnard of Lincoln-Way East and Bria Armstrong of Bloom Township both crossed the line in 8.47 seconds. A review of the photo showed that Barnard had the edge and the win but just by four thousandths of a second.

Lincoln-Way East’s Mariam Azeez was the only double winner in this meet. The sophomore jumped 5.65m (18’ 6.5”) to win the Long Jump ahead of Bloom Township’s Bria Armstrong (5.44m , 17’ 10.25”). Azeez went to the track and won the 55 Meter Dash with the state’s fastest time (7.24) finishing ahead of Janea Gardner of Bloom Township (7.36). Gardner turned the tables on Azeez in the 200 Meter Dash making up the stagger in the first 100-meters. Gardner went on to run a personal best 25.98 for the win ahead of teammate Allysa Fryer (26.36) and Azeez (26.69).

Three runners went under 60-seconds in the 400 Meter Dash. DeKalb swept the top two spots as freshman Sariyah Watson claimed the win (59.51) ahead of teammate Michiah Kirkwood (59.55) and Glenbard West’s Aaliyah Collier (59.80). Mariam Azeez was also in the event as she finished fifth (1:02.34) just behind Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Sydney Anton (1:02.22).

Bloom Township was dominating in winning the 800 Meter Relay (1:46.06) ahead of Lyons Township (1:47.66) and Glenbard West (1:49.10). Lyons Township ended the meet by winning the 1600 Meter Relay. Lyons’ Ally Sarussi held off Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart in the final 15-meters for the win. The two teams were separated by only six hundredths of a second (4:08.84 -4:08.90).

Dior Nicholson of Hinsdale Central was an easy winner in the Shot Put. Her 12.47m put (40’ 11”) was over five feet ahead of second-place finisher Kalyn Wead of St. Charles East.

Maeve Conneely of Naperville North improved on her personal best clearing 1.69m (5’ 6.5”) to win the High Jump that lasted close to four hours. Jennelle Rogers of Oswego, in her first competition of the season, cleared 1.65m (5’ 5”) to finish second.

The Pole Vault also lasted close to four hours. Ali Van Dyke of Lincoln-Way East cleared a personal indoor best of 3.35m (11’ 0”) for the win. Glenbard West’s Ashley Samuta soared to an indoor personal best of 11.34m (37’ 2.5”) to win the Triple Jump.