DGN varsity story vs. Glenbard West, Palatine, Crete-Monee

Downers Grove North junior Mary Rounce was battling for first place in her heat of the 200-meter dash Saturday.

Then there was another obstacle she wasn’t expecting. A non-participant from Crete-Monee stepped onto the track in front of Rounce.

“I was trying to figure out what’s happening because she’s flopping onto into Lane 2 as she came around the corner,” Downers Grove North coach Tim McDonald said. “I feel bad for the kid she ran into. Mary’s a pretty strong kid.”

Rounce just kept on going and actually earned second place in the race to sophomore teammate Rachel Schuetz. It was the kind of perseverance the Trojans used to win their highly competitive four-team home meet.

Downers North’s 68.5 points held off Palatine (61.5 points), conference rival Glenbard West (53) and Crete-Monee (51). Although the Trojans’ lone victories came from Stephanie Urbancik (400 in 1:03.3) and Schuetz, they collected six seconds and seven thirds outright or shared.

“When you have four teams and first through fourth is separated by 17 points, that’s a nice quad, pretty evenly matched,” McDonald said. “It wasn’t that we were super sharp. (But) we had a lot of kids who were able to place. Part of it is as these (other) teams kind of figure out what they have at different levels and such, we kind of filled in the holes. With the holes they had in their lineups, we were able to score.”

Urbancik won the 400 comfortably by 2.5 seconds. Schuetz’ 28.9 in the 200 in the next-to-last heat won the title over Rounce, who still finished in 29.0 despite the interference.

Rounce actually finished second in her heat, .5 behind a Crete-Monee runner, but she was disqualified from the race because of the interference by her teammate. Neither Rounce nor the struck athlete was injured.

Without the interference, Rounce very well might have won the heat and first place overall.  Even if the Trojans would have finished 2-3 in the 200, they still would have won as a team but by an even closer margin.

“In indoors, you end up where it’s tight, especially on a 160-meter track (like ours),” McDonald said. “And especially when things get heated and everyone’s cheering and going crazy. Even outside, sometimes you run into those things.”

Urbancik was a member of the Trojans’ state championship 3,200 relay in 2011 and sixth-place all-state lineup in 2012. McDonald said Urbancik wanted to run the same shorter-distance events Saturday as the Feb. 9 season opener to give her another meet with sprints, but she will be competing 800s soon.

Schuetz and Rounce nearly contributed to another victory in the 4-lap relay with Sophia Temple-Wood and Barbara Armstrong. The Trojans were second in 1:30.7, just .1 behind Crete-Monee. Temple-Wood also tied for second in the 55 (7.8) and Jan was third in the 800 (2:34.2).

Senior Rebecca Ridderhoff had another strong meet, taking second in the 300 (43.3) and 55 hurdles (9.8). She also was part of the third-place 1,600 relay with Zayna Jan, Barbara Armstrong and Urbancik (4:18.2).

In field events, senior Megan Sybeldon was second in the triple jump (32 feet-3 inches) and senior Alize Chester (30-6) was second in shot put.

In the 3,200, Kaitlyn Bonfield (12:09.3) and Margaret Smith (12:35.6) were second and third to Glenbard West junior Madeline Perez (10:39.1), the Class 3A girls cross country state champion in November. Smith pulled out third by .5.

Grace Maletich was third in the 1,600 (5:31.9) and part of the third-place 3,200 relay with Meghan Bonfield, Alana Osterling and Sandra DiPauli (10:34.8).

Jessica Ridderhoff took third in long jump (15-0) and fourth in triple jump (31-3 3/4), her first time in the event. Ridderhoff, Rebecca’s sister, has shown promise as a long jumper in the past, but she has not been able to continue competing outdoors because of club soccer commitments. This year, those commitments will end during indoor season.

McDonald said the start of her 15-foot long jump was well behind the takeoff board.

“For a kid whose just getting back into the swing of things, (we’re excited) to see what she does in the jumps,” McDonald said. “She’s just going to get better and better and better.”


Varsity results

At DOWNERS GROVE NORTH 68.5, Palatine 61.5, Glenbard West 53, Crete-Monee 51

3,200 relay: 1. Glenbard West 9:55.0, 2. Palatine 9:56.9, 3. Downers North (Grace Maletich, Megham Bonfield, Alana Osterling, Sandra DiPauli) 10:34.8

300: 1. Gambol (GW) 43.1, 2. Rebecca Ridderhoff (DGN) 43.3, 3. Daniels (CM) 43.7, 4. Foy (CM) 44.8, 5. Stephanie Urbancik (DGN) 45.3

3,200: 1. Perez (GW) 10:39.1, 2. Kaitlyn Bonfield (DGN) 12:09.3, 3. Margaret Smith (DGN) 12:35.6, 4. Portillo (P) 12:36.1, 5. Falduto (P) 12:36.6

55 hurdles: 1. Foy (CM) 9.2, 2. R. Ridderhoff (DGN) 9.8, 3. Riedy (P) 9.4, 4. Cowey (P) 9.6, 5T. Spiech (GW) and Taylor (GW) 10.3

55: 1. Perez (CM) 7.7, 2T. Sophia Temple-Wood (DGN) and Proska (P) 7.8, 4T. Mary Rounce (DGN) and Rodriguez (CM) 7.9

800: 1. Reifel (GW) 2:19.4, 2. Wasowicz (P) 2:20.8, 3. Zayna Jan (DGN) 2:34.2, 4. Reick (GW) 2:35.0, 5. Powell (CM) 2:36.0

4-lap relay: 1. Crete-Monee 1:30.6, 2. Downers North (Rachel Schuetz, Temple-Wood, Barbara Armstrong, Rounce) 1:30.7, 3. Palatine 1:32.9, 4. Glenbard 1:36.1

400: 1. Urbancik (DGN) 1:03.3, 2. C. Riedy (P) 1:05.8, 3. Foy (CM) 1:08.6, 4. Mote (GW) 1:08.8, 5. Paz (GW) 1:10.9

1,600: 1. Cox (P) 5:26.0, 2. Lincoln (P) 5:30.4, 3. Maletich (DGN) 5:31.9, 4. Rogers (GW) 5:41.4, 5. McPherson (P) 5:42.0

200: 1. Schuetz (DGN) 28.9, 2. Rounce (DGN) 29.0, 3. Rodriguez (CM) 29.3, 4. Jessica Ridderhoff 29.4, 5. Clark (GW) 29.5

1,600 relay: 1. Glenbard West 4:13.8, 2. Crete-Monee 4:15.5, 3. Downers North (Jan, Armstrong, R. Ridderhoff, Urbancik) 4:18.2, 4. Palatine 4:22.5

High jump: 1. Thabiteau (P) 4-10, 2. Gambol (GW) 4-10, 3. Brown (CM) 4-8, 4T. Grace Marek (DGN) and Walker (GW) 4-6

Long jump: 1. Nevins (GW) 15-2 1/2, 2. Proksa (P) 15-2, 3. J. Ridderhoff (DGN) 15-0, 4. Ignila (P) 14-9, 5. Brown (CM) 14-5 ½

Triple jump: 1. Brown (CM) 33-8 3/4, 2. Megan Sybeldon (DGN) 32-3, 3. Thabiteau (P) 31-10, 4. J. Ridderhoff (DGN) 31-3 3/4, 5. Taylor (CM) 30-10

Shot put: 1. O’Brien (P) 36-8, 2. Alize Chester (DGN) 30-6, 3. Merrit (CM) 29-4, 4. Nina Fraticola (GW) 29-3, 5. Grace Roman (DGN) 26-8

Pole vault: 1. Kremer (P) 5-9