DGN story at Ritter Invite

Downers Grove North seniors Rebecca Ridderhoff and Gabbie Hesslau went out Friday as winners.

In their final Bruce Ritter Invitational, the Trojans’ annual home outdoor track invite, they contributed to relay victories in the 13-team field in the first and final track events of the night.

The 1,600-meter relay with juniors Stephanie Urbancik and Meghan Bonfield, Ridderhoff and junior Mary Rounce won in 4:06.54 fully-automatic time. The 3,200 relay with freshman Grace Maletich, Urbancik, Hesslau and Bonfield prevailed earlier in 9:37.23 -- the fastest reported time in the state.

“I was really happy with that. I’m so glad to finish with all of these girls in the last Ritter Invite (for me),” Ridderhoff said. “To run (and win) the last race, it’s a really good memory to leave with.”

The Trojans had many highlights in finishing sixth with 59 points. DuPage Valley Conference indoor champion West Aurora won with 119 points, followed by Prospect (105), Palatine (90) and conference rivals Glenbard West (81) and Lyons Township (74). Teams received points for finishes among the top eight, rather than top six at most invites.

Besides the relay victories, Downers North received second-place finishes from Ridderhoff (300 low hurdles in 46.85) and Urbancik (400 in 59.23) and the frosh-soph 1,600 relay of Rachel Schuetz, Zayna Jan, freshman Kaitlyn Bonfield and Jessica Ridderhoff (4:15.93), the lone frosh-soph event of the invite.

Collectively, it was a significant improvement from the Trojans’ last invite April 6 at Homewood-Flossmoor, where they finished fifth with 62 points but in a weaker field that had frosh-soph levels for all four relays.

“I don’t know of too many spots where we should have been better. This is a loaded meet, and based on the competition that’s here, I’m not sure where we should have scored better,” Downers North coach Tim McDonald said.

“I thought (at H-F) we were bad. We were flat, not on our game at all. I think they kind of responded and tonight wasn’t a much nicer day than (at H-F). They were really here to compete. They get up for the Ritter.”

The invite is named after Ritter, the long-time cross country and track coach for the Trojans who still is an assistant coach for the girls track staff.

The relays especially rose to the occasion. In a breathtaking 3,200 relay finish, Meghan Bonfield passed Palatine’s Kara Barton for good in the final 70 meters to give the Trojans (9:37.23) the victory by .79 over the Pirates (9:38.04). York (9:50.07) was third.

“I try to start sprinting at the 200, but sometimes I get too tired so sometimes I go at the 100 and then I go full blast and give it all I’ve got to pass anyone,” Bonfield said.

“I think we were hoping to win, and we were really focused on it. I was really nervous before because I knew there were so many good teams, some that we’ve competed at state against. But then I knew we had our best girls lined up against their best girls and we just had to prove to them that we were as good as anyone else.”

This was the first time this season that Bonfield, Urbancik and Hesslau have competed in the relay together since the 3,200 relay was sixth at the 2012 Class 3A state meet.

Five other schools that also were in that 12-team state final were in Friday’s race. Four of those schools finished ahead of Downers North at state.

“We were happy, and I think Gabbie was happy. It was her last Ritter and her last race (in the invite) so she went out with a first place,” Urbancik said. “I think some teams have underestimated us this season because we haven’t run as well as we have in the past. Especially at this meet with such good competition, we made a statement.”

So did Hesslau. She missed the entire indoor season recovering from a stress fracture in her foot dating back to the girls cross country season. Even without Hesslau, or Bonfield or Urbancik for that matter, the Trojans ran the fastest indoor 3,200 relay time by any school in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division this season (9:34.99 March 23).

This was only Hesslau’s third race back, but she contributed roughly a sub-2:23 split on the third leg, giving the Trojans the lead just before being passed by Palatine on the handoff. Hesslau will continue to compete in just one race per invite.

“She’s already so fast so it’s awesome to have her back,” Bonfield said.

“That’s a big shot in the arm for our group where she’s back, and she’s running well,” McDonald said. “She looked good, kind of like the old kid, and kind of picked up a lot of confidence herself. We’ve just got to monitor the foot and keep her healthy because she’s not 100 percent. We just have to be smart about it and use the meets and she’ll get herself in shape.”

Ridderhoff, Urbancik and Bonfield also return from the Trojans’ 1,600 relay that was 21st at state (4:01.76). This year, they’ve added Rounce, a standout soccer player already committed to Michigan State who is competing in track for the first time. On March 15, they won the indoor Silver Meet in an indoor school-record 4:06.24.

In Friday’s chilly and windy conditions, they were just .30 slower but still good enough to win by 1.39 seconds over Lane Tech – and 3.90 seconds over the rest of the field – after entering as the No. 2 seed.

Ridderhoff gave the Trojans the lead for good at the 150-meter mark of the third leg.

“I know Rebecca was so happy after it because she went out on a good note (at the Ritter Invite),” Urbancik said.

Rebecca Ridderhoff already was on a roll. She earlier was second in the 300 hurdles, not only in a personal-best 46.85 but also with her first time under the 46.94 state-qualifying standard.

Entries qualify for state either with top-two sectional finishes or by achieving qualifying standards at the sectional. Ridderhoff won the H-F Invite in a previous-best 48.35.

Friday was only the fifth time Ridderhoff has competed in the event, the first two times last season. Ridderhoff only was beaten by West Aurora junior Emma Spagnola (45.88), fifth at state last year (43.94) behind two seniors.

“That was a race I was really looking forward to and really nervous about because it’s still kind of new for me,” Ridderhoff said.

“I need to work on the actual hurdle part. That’s the hardest part for me. I was keeping with (Spagnola) and then the last part I tend to get a little tired and then my form gets sloppy. That’s what I really need to work on, my form and getting that down to a science.”

Ridderhoff wasn’t too shabby in the 100 hurdles, either, taking third behind Spagnola (15.25) and LT sophomore Emma Haugen (16.18), both 2012 state qualifiers. Spagnola was second at state in 14.26, the only non-senior among the top-four finishers.

“I can’t remember the last time we took third in the 100 hurdles at a big invite. That kind of jumped out as a big moment for us,” McDonald said.

Urbancik once again ran a great individual race but had to settle for second place, .25 behind Champaign Centennial junior Bertha Frazier (58.98). Urbancik was edged for first by .56 in the 800 at the H-F Invite.

Competing out of Lane 6 on the eight-lane track Friday, the fourth-seeded Urbancik was just .22 shy of what she ran at last year’s state prelims in the event.

“I got passed (by Frazier) in the last part. I was kind of upset about that, but I was happy with my time,” Urbancik said. “(McDonald) told me to get out strong because they could come up fast (on the inner lanes). I got out strong, I think, and then in the end, she just had a really good kick.”

Jessica Ridderhoff, Rebecca’s sister, also is enjoying a strong outdoor season, her first with the Trojans.

Downers North stacked their frosh-soph 1,600 relay with four varsity regulars, but so did Glenbard West (4:12.90), which won by 3.3 seconds. Ridderhoff put the Trojans in front, but she was passed by Gambol, who along with sophomore opening leg Mary Nevins, were part of the Hilltoppers’ 1,600 relay that competed at state in 2012.

“We thought we had a really good chance at winning it. That was a great race,” Ridderhoff said.  “I was super nervous beforehand, but I kind of used my energy to hopefully pump up the team, just put more energy into it rather than just expending it all. I was really happy with the way I did and the team did.”

The concern was understandable. This was only the second time Jessica Ridderhoff had run in the 1,600 relay after making her debut with the winning frosh-soph 1,600 relay at H-F and contributing a lineup-best 1:02.2 split. She had a 1:01.4 split Friday.

“I wanted to just beat my best (personal record),” Ridderhoff said. “I thought I had (Gambol), but she had a better kick than I did.”

Ridderhoff was a jumper for the Trojans as a freshman during the indoor season, but she didn’t compete outdoors because of club soccer obligations. Since she is not competing in club soccer this spring, she decided to continue competing in track outdoors and will resume her soccer training after the season.

She also competed Friday in long jump and triple jump, an event she’s added this year. She asked Ritter to put her in the 1,600 relay.

“I really wanted to try it. I think I’ve been needling him for like a month and a half,” Ridderhoff said. “He’s like, ‘OK, where’s that open meet?’ It was a little bit further (on the schedule), but I got to run (at H-F).”

The 800 relay with Schuetz, sophomore Sophie Temple-Wood, senior Barbara Armstrong and Rounce was fifth (1:49.73) despite being in the slower first of two heats.

Kaitlyn Bonfield was sixth in the 3,200 (personal-best 11:33.04). Maletich (1,600 in 5:24.57) and the 400 relay (Schuetz, Temple-Wood, Rebecca Ridderhoff, Rounce in 52.74) were eighth.

“As well as we were running, we (also) got a lot of younger kids into tonight’s meet,” McDonald said. “Our top freshmen in some way, shape or form got in. It’s kind of nice and it gives them that feeling of belonging and doing something out here.”

The underclassmen competed tough as well. Besides the 800 relay, the 400 relay, sophomore Rachel Krusenoski (3,200 in 12:18.72) and freshmen Fiona Kelly (1,600 in 5:48.97) and Arianna Calleja (400 in 1:06.62) won slower-seeded heats and Jan (800 in 2:27.74) was second in hers.

Jan was edged for eighth place overall by thousandths of a second by the seventh-place finisher in the fastest heat. Krusenoski was 13th and Kelly 15th.

“They competed. If they weren’t in the fast heat, they won their heat or were right there to win it, and that was big. Sometimes you sneak places like that in those situations,” McDonald said.

“I’m really proud of (we performed) and I’m sure the rest of the team is,” Urbancik said. “I think that the important thing is even if you’re not in the slow heat, just to compete because good times are going to come when you do that.”