DGN story at WSC Silver Indoor Meet

The Downers Grove North girls track team appeared to have the 1,600-meter relay in hand at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Indoor Meet Friday at York, but senior anchor Rebecca Ridderhoff wasn’t taking any chances.

“I was scared because the girl behind us (Lyons Township’s Sarah Kreikemeier) had just won the 400,” Ridderhoff said. “I knew she was good so I was like, ‘I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to do this.’ ”

Ridderhoff more than held off LT. She joined juniors Stephanie Urbancik, Meghan Bonfield and Mary Rounce in running 4:06.59 fully-automatic time to break the indoor school record.

Urbancik and Bonfield also won the 3,200 relay earlier with freshmen Kaitlyn Bonfield and Grace Maletich comfortably in 9:42.15.

Even with a 2.87–second victory over second-place LT (4:12.16), the Trojans broke the previous 1,600 relay school record of 4:08.14 from 2011. Ridderhoff also was part of that relay, running the second leg.

“It’s a cool feeling to see my name on the (school record) board a little bit,” Ridderhoff said. “I had no idea. I didn’t think we were going to win, either. We were seeded third or fourth in our heat so I had no expectations of us winning.” 

As a team, the Trojans finished fourth with 65 points, just five points behind third-place Hinsdale Central. The sophomores finished sixth with 50 points, 10.5 points from fourth with one Silver champion, freshman high jumper Emily Wilson, who cleared a personal-best 4-foot-8 on her first attempt.

“All in all, it was a good meet (for us). You’re never going to have everything go perfectly, and you’re never going to have everything go badly, but most of the things were hitting well for us,” Downers North coach Tim McDonald said. “There isn’t an event where we can say, ‘We really stunk it up and we really thought we were going to do so much better.’ If you can say that at the end, that’s a pretty good night.”

The Trojans entered the 1,600 relay with the third-fastest regular-season time of 4:10.62 from Feb. 28. That time, however, came without Ridderhoff, the defending outdoor Silver champion in the 400, and Rounce.

“If they were going to break the school record, I thought it’d be like 4:07.9, especially with how much they ran. I didn’t think they’d run low 4:06 like that,” McDonald said.

“I looked at Rebecca when Mary came through after her first lap and said, ‘We can break the record, but you’ve got to run like you’re capable.’ Once she knew that, I knew she would turn in a 60-something (split).”

Ridderhoff did, clocking in at a team-best 1:00.2. Urbancik’s 1:00.5 split to begin gave the Trojans the lead from the start, followed by Bonfield (1:02.8) and Rounce (1:02.6) on the next two legs.

Last May, the Trojans’ 1,600 relay with Ridderhoff, Meghan Bonfield and Urbancik qualified for the Class 3A state meet and finished 21st in 4:01.76. At the Silver Meet, they were second in a season-best 3:58.73 FAT, just shy of the 3:58.67 outdoor school record from 1993.

“Last year we were really close to the outdoor record so I knew we could break the indoor,” Urbancik said. “I thought it was going to be a closer race (Friday), and we won by a good amount. I thought it was going to be closer.”

Ridderhoff also ran the open 400 Friday and finished third (1:01.38) after taking fifth in the 55 hurdles finals (9.68). Bonfield also was put in the 400 rather than the 800 to somewhat conserve her energy, and she finished eighth in 1:03.78.

Urbancik remained in the open 800 (2:23.36). She and junior Michaela Nicholson (2:26.73) took second and third to Glenbard West senior Emma Reifel (indoor school-record 2:15.73), a 2012 state finalist in the 800 who was part of the Hilltoppers’ 3,200 relay that finished second (9:00.72) to Wheaton Warrenville South (8:59.03) with the second-fastest time ever in the state finals.  

Reifel was the anchor of the Hilltoppers’ third-place 1,600 relay Friday (4:12.48). Bonfield ran against Glenbard West sophomore Emma Gambol, who won the 300 in a school-record 41.35.

“I don’t think any of us thought we were going to win it, but I guess we surprised everyone,” Bonfield said. “I think it boosted our confidence. At least I didn’t think we were going to break it (that race) and then we did. I think we’re just going to keep pushing forward.”

Rounce earlier anchored the 800 relay with sophomores Rachel Schuetz and Sophie Temple-Wood and senior Barbara Armstrong to take fifth in a season-best 1:51.13 and made the 55 finals and placed eighth (7.94).

This is the first season of track for Rounce, a club soccer player who recently made a verbal commitment to play college soccer for Michigan State.

“I just kind of wanted to change it up and do it to work on speed. I thought it would be a good way to cross-train,” Rounce said.

While Rounce has adjusted well to track, this was only her second time running a 400. Her first time was just three days earlier at Proviso West with a 1:04.1 on the second leg. That lineup also with Urbancik and Meghan Bonfield won a two-team race in 4:15.7.

Rounce found out Wednesday she was part of the relay again Friday.

“I was really nervous, but I was excited,” Rounce said. “I was just hoping I wasn’t going to collapse (Friday), but hopefully I pulled through for them. It’s harder than a 200 for sure.”

“I think she set her personal record in the 200 at Proviso West, but then she had to run the second 200,” McDonald said with a laugh. “Mary was much smarter in this 400 than her first one.”

The 3,200 relay missed the indoor Silver Meet record of 9:23.16 set by the Trojans in 2011, but still was dominant, finishing 15.67 seconds ahead of runner-up LT. The foursome improved significantly from when they ran 10:02.49 March 2 in winning the Rockton Hononegah Invite.

“I’m sure, with (closer) competition, you always go faster so I think we can improve a lot,” Urbancik said. “We were really happy with our performance. Going into it, I think we all knew that we could win so that was our goal.”
 

Urbancik ran with the team’s 2011 state championship 3,200 relay (9:09.61). She and Meghan Bonfield were part of last year’s sixth-place all-state lineup (9:17.71).

Urbancik (2:23.1) and Meghan Bonfield (2:24.4) had the fastest splits on the second and fourth legs. Kaitlyn Bonfield (2:26.5) ran the opening leg and Maletich (2:27.9) the third.

Friday’s lineup had the added twist of the Bonfield sisters competing together. Two years apart in school, this is the first track season in which they’ve been teammates.

“It’s kind of weird, but it’s fun, too,” Meghan Bonfield said.

“I think it’s fun. My goal was to be on the (3,200 relay) because I know that they go to state a lot,” Kaitlyn Bonfield said. “I just tried to stay with the York girls and get her at the end, pass her on the last lap.”

Maletich and Kaitlyn Bonfield also came back strong in their other race, the 1,600. With season-best times Maletich (5:20.45) and Bonfield (5:27.17) finished fourth and fifth behind York senior Emma Fisher (5:06.17), Hinsdale Central senior Jill Hardies (5:06.35) and Glenbard West junior Madeline Perez (5:06.64). At the state cross country meet Nov. 3, Perez and Fisher finished 1-2 with Hardies eighth.

After being injured most of her first high-school cross country season following a promising start, Maletich already is in range of the 5:15.24 state-qualifying standard.

“I gained all-conference in cross country and it was just cool to get it in track, too,” Maletich said. “I was hoping to be on the (3,200 relay) because they’re so good. I could run at state.”

Sophomore Jessica Ridderhoff took third in long jump (16-1/4) on a next-best-jump tiebreaker to improve on her fourth-place finish in 2012.

In shot put, junior Cassidy Santen (personal-best 31-8), who had her first throw beyond 30 feet, and senior Alize Chester (31-1 1/2) were fourth and fifth. Grace Marek was sixth in high jump (4-10). Reaching their event finals and finishing eighth were Megan Sybeldon (31-10 in triple jump), Lauren Dawson (55 hurdles finals in 10.87) and Temple-Wood (14-9 1/2 in long jump).

Two of Santen’s six throws for prelims or finals were her first beyond 30 feet. Santen threw 31-8 on her third and final throw of prelims and a 31-1 for her first attempt in finals.

“I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. It was a lot better than what I threw before. It was pretty incredible,” Santen said. “I didn’t know how far it was until my coach (Tom Saam) said what it was. I was like, ‘No, it can’t be that far.’ I felt that it might have been over 30. It felt farther than my other ones, but I didn’t think it would be that far.”

Chester and Santen entered as the No. 3 and 5 seeds. They nearly finished 3-4 behind LT’s powerful senior duo of Makayla Hubbard (indoor school-record 39-10) and Laura Krivicich (33-1), but Hinsdale Central junior Emily Wasz, in her third week out after basketball, was a surprising third with another career best of 32-1/2 after a 29-0 in her previous meet.

Santen certainly felt some momentum after achieving a personal-best 29-5 1/2 in her previous meet Proviso West, nearly two feet further than her previous best.

“I felt a little bit better walking in with a closer (seed) score. I really just wanted to get to the finals, place, get a medal. I wanted to get all-conference (top five),” Santen said.

“I’m pretty confident. I feel like now I can run with the rest of the girls, be able to throw as far as them.”

This is Santen’s first year of track after playing basketball for two years. Saam was instrumental in at least getting her to try the sport.

“(Saam) pulled me out of class and said, ‘All of these teachers are saying, ‘You’d be really good and you should come out for the team,’ ” Santen said. “I was like, ‘Now I have to come out because he took this time out to come find me so I might as well go and try it.’ ”

On the sophomore level, Wilson also is a newcomer to track. On Friday, she delighted herself when she cleared 4-8 for the first time – on her first attempt.

The performance gave her the Silver title outright on fewer misses over Oak Park-River Forest’s Underhill, who also cleared 4-8.

“It was really exciting just to get 4-8. I didn’t really care if I won or not. I just wanted to do my best,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t expecting at all to win. That was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting at all to win.”

Three other jumpers cleared 4-6, Wilson’s previous best height.

“I’ve felt pretty close (clearing 4-8 before) but I’ve never actually gotten it. I just wanted to go out there and try my best,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t trying really hard to make (4-8). I just tried to be natural and get over it. It felt great. How much better can it be, getting over what you wanted to make? It was my goal.”

Elisabeth Vlasak followed up her sophomore school-record long jump of 16-2 1/2 at Proviso West three days earlier by taking second in long jump (15-2 1/4) and fifth in triple jump (30-11). Megan Scantlen was fifth in long jump (14-5) and sixth in triple jump (29-9).

Vlasak might have performed even better Friday if not for a hip injury.

“It’s been bothering me for a while. I’m going to the doctor and seeing what’s wrong,” Vlasak said. “My goal was to get 16-0 (in long jump). I was hoping to get it again.”

At Proviso West, Vlasak had four jumps with no finals and achieved the historic 16-2 1/2 on her second attempt. It broke the previous indoor sophomore school record of 15-7 1/2 by Leia Scott in 2007.

Vlasak has been a jumper since her fifth-grade days at St. Joseph School, where she also holds a long jump school record.

“My placement on the board was really good (Tuesday), and my form was better than any other time,” Vlasak said. “Right when I jumped, I felt like I went way farther than ever. I thought it was like 15 and then they said 16 and I was really surprised. I wasn’t really sure (about the record), but right after I realized it, I thought it probably was.”

The 3,200 relay of Zayna Jan, Jenna Murphy, Rachel Krusenoski and Maci Schaub actually won its race easily in roughly 10:07, but the team was disqualified afterwards for a lane violation on a merge out of a curve that didn’t interfere with another team nor affect the field. The team probably would have run significantly faster, but regular Fiona Kelly was still out awaiting medical clearance from a concussion.

LT was awarded first in 10:11.12. Without the disqualification, basically one step to the side of the allowed area, the Trojans would have finished fourth as a team.

“It wasn’t like this tremendous advantage where (Jan) picked up seconds. If she picked up .2, it would have been something,” McDonald said. “It was confusing cones (indicating the merge). It’s not a bad call. But it doesn’t change the fact that I had a sophomore team that ran 10:07. You’ve got to feel good for them.”

Jan, usually a varsity competitor, and Schaub came back to help the 1,600 relay with Hannah Henry and Angela Budach take second (4:29.05) to LT’s 4:25.57, holding off third-place Hinsdale Central by .53.

Jan, who ran the only sub-2:30 split for the 3,200 relay (2:26.1), came back to take third in the 800 (2:29.64) behind two sub-2:26 performances that would have taken third and fourth in the varsity race. Krusenoski was fourth in the 1,600 (5:39.97).

Henry was third in the 300 (45.97). Henry, Budach, Aysia James and Mercedes Gonzalez were fifth in the 800 relay (1:58.99), and Samantha Wilson was sixth in shot put (26-7). Reaching their event finals and finishing eighth were Mackenzie Cady (55 in 8.43) and Erin Dunphy (25-6 in shot).

                                                                                                                                                                                         -- By Bill Stone