Distance races rule the meet with fast races by Hackbarth and Scull; Naperville Central edges Bloom by one point on final event

By Michael Newman

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Naperville, Ill --- The expression never changes on the face of Lindsay Graham (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) when she runs. You would not be able to tell if she was running in the state meet or the first meet of the season, the expression of concentration draped on her face is evident. Such was the case as she stepped to the line at North Central College’s Res-Rec Center for the start of the 3200 Meter Run. The deep focus was in her eyes as she waited for the gun to fire to start the race.

The inaugural North Central College Cardinal Classic Invitational did not disappoint in the distance races Thursday night. The main attraction was the 3200 Meter Run. Lindsay Graham did not disappoint either. The defending 3A state cross country champion kept a consistent pace through her run moving away from Judy Pendergast (North HS, Naperville) with 1400 meters to go to cross the line with a personal best 10:34.13 finishing 15 seconds ahead of Pendergast (10:49.87, US #21). Graham and Pendergast now have the top two times in the state in the 3200.

There was plenty of doubt early in the race on who would win. Graham took the lead immediately going through the first 400 in 78 seconds. By the time that Graham passed the 800, only Pendergast was with her. The two passed the mile in 5:16 neither looking to slow down. In the next 400 meters, Pendergast started to falter. Graham did not make a move but continued on her planned pace. The fastest of the 8 400’s that Graham ran was 78 seconds. The slowest was 80 seconds. Her last 400 was 7 seconds just like her firsr 400. It was as consistent a race that you could find this early in the track season. It also demonstrated that there is plenty more in the tank for this junior to drop this time significantly.

Graham did have one final curtain call at this meet as she anchored her team’s 1600 Meter Relay. Glenbard West kept it close through the first three legs. Graham received the baton in third behind Wheaton-Warrenville South and Bloom Township in the second section of this event. Graham made up the deficit on the two teams in the first 150 meters. As they approached the bell lap, Graham took off. She did not have the stride of a distance runner at that point. She showed the speed of a sprinter gliding around the curve away from her competition. Her 62.1 anchor leg gave the 1600 relay event win to Glenbard West.

All four distance races produced top 5 state times. Torree Scull (East HS, St. Charles) was determined to do something special in the 1600 Meter Run. She decimated a strong field in the first 800 of the race going by the 400 in 69 seconds and the 800 in a swift 2:23.8. Sara Atkins (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS), Mackenzie Callahan (Minooka HS), and Vanessa Flaherty (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) were running a great race going past the 800 in 2:33. They were unfortunately 10 seconds behind Scull already at that point.

The pace slowed down for Scull in the next 400 going by in 3:43. She was still on pace to run under 5 minutes, but the fast early pace that she had taken on was taking a toll on her. The lead started to diminish in the final 400 as Atkins and Callahan tried to kick Scull down. The deficit was just too big. An 81 final quarter brought Scull home in 5:05.21 (IL #4). Callahan finished second (5:12.66) just ahead of Atkins (5:13.26). Both achieved personal bests.

Michaela Hackbarth (South HS, Downers Grove) had started off the season slowing nursing some minor injuries. It did not show in her first 800 of the season at this meet. Hackbarth controlled the lead as she went through the 400 in 67.1 seconds with Ashleigh Wilson (Minooka HS) and Anastasia Honea (East HS, St. Charles) close behind. Hackbarth surged in the third 200 running a 34.6 lap and opening up a gap on the rest of the field. She crossed the line in 2:18.38 (IL #4) almost three seconds ahead of Honea and Wilson.

Since it is early in the season, Hackbarth was doing extra duty running two more races. 30 minutes after her 800 race had finished, she was back on the line in the section of the 400. She struggled the first 200 but came on strong in the final fifty meters to capture 4^th overall (1:01.26). In the first section of that event, Kierra Griggs (Bloom Township HS, Chicago Heights) took the lead at 200 meters from Allison Chmelik (East HS, St. Charles) and never looked back. Griggs was the only runner under 60 seconds (58.93) as she won the race with the fourth fastest time in the state so far this season.

The surprise of the evening was in the 3200 Meter Relay. It looked like Minooka would run away from the field especially with a 2:24.2 opening leg by Mackenzie Callahan and a 2:26 second leg by Emily Shelton that had stretched their team’s leg to more than 3 seconds ahead of Glenbard West and Oswego. A strong third leg by Maddy Kammerer gave Oswego almost a four second lead ahead of Glenbard West and now Naperville Central. Glenbard West’s anchor Caitlyn Reick closed on Oswego’s Julia Manzano in the first 400 meters of the final leg. It looked like the race was over for Oswego junior as Reick started to pull away. Manzaro found one burst of energy and passed the Glenbard West junior as the bell sounded for the last lap. She pulled away for a four second win ahead of Naperville Central. Oswego’s time (9:47.85) just missed their indoor record by less than a half a second. Glenbard West finished third (9:55.13) without Lindsey Payne in their lineup. The freshman was originally scheduled to run, but she made the decision that she will compete on Glenbard’s soccer team this spring forgoing running track.

Oswego also had a good day in the sprints with a double win by Natajah Simmons. In the 55 Meter Dash, pre-race favorite D’Jenne Egharevba (Central HS, Naperville) stumbled as she left the blocks at the start of the race. Simmons got a clean start from Lane 1 and never looked back winning in 7.38 (IL #9). Egharevba finished second eleven hundredths behind. Simmons also earned an improbable win from Lane 1 in the 200 Meter Dash (26.61) edging Kierra Griggs by nine hundredth of a second.

Emma Haugen (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) was the meet’s only other double winner. Haugen started her night clearing 5-5 to win the High Jump. Alexandria Enright (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS) cleared a season’s best 5-3 to finish second. Haugen came back to win the Triple Jump (37-2, IL #4) edging Josilyn Dostal (Central HS, Naperville) by three inches. Haugen almost had a third win in the 55 Meter Hurdles. It was a strong second half of the race by Soren Umali (South HS, Downers Grove) that prevented that. Umali ran 8.68 (IL #3) for the win a tenth of a second ahead of Princess Shodipo (Oswego HS). Haugen finished third.

Naperville Central won the team championship in this high powered meet with 83 points edging Bloom Township for the title by one point. Lyons Township scored 74 points for third. Naperville Central received two event wins with Alissa Gorzak winning the Long Jump (17-9 ½, IL #5) and their 800 Meter Relay edging Bloom for the race win (1:48.99 – 1:49.16).

Heidi Nassos (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS) won the Pole Vault with a 10-6 clearance. Holly Julifs (Metea Valley HS, Aurora) won the Shot Put with a 40-0 performance.