DGN story at Palatine Invite (varsity)

During the indoor season, Downers Grove North senior Barbara Armstrong seemed on pace for her best girls track season ever.

Then Armstrong became sick, nearly contracting bronchitis. Then she injured her hamstring.

After nearly a month since her last full-time meet, Armstrong wasn’t going to let anything stop at Saturday’s Palatine Invitational.

“I definitely made sure I heated, I iced and did everything I could to make myself feel good,” Armstrong said.

She felt even better afterwards. Armstrong not only was the anchor of the varsity 1,600-meter relay, but she joined sophomore Rachel Schuetz, junior Mary Rounce and senior Rebecca Ridderhoff in taking first place in 4:14.3 manual time.

Even though the Trojans won by 5.1 seconds over the host Pirates, Armstrong delivered a split of 1:02.3, comparable to the fastest split she ran during the indoor season.

“I’m just really waiting for a good night and I can get down to a 60 (second split),” Armstrong said.  “I haven’t gone under (62 seconds) yet, but my plan is to get to a 60 and I know I can. Especially if I ran a 62 indoors, I can definitely bring it down.”

The Trojans won five varsity events in the five-team meet in which individual medals are awarded but team scores are not kept. Hoffman Estates, Libertyville and St. Viator also were part of the field.

Ridderhoff ran a team-best 1:01.4 split for the 1,600 relay after winning the 100 high hurdles (16.2) and 300 low hurdles (47.9). Sophomore Rachel Krusenoski, junior Meghan Bonfield, sophomore Zayna Jan and junior Stephanie Urbancik won the 3,200 relay (9:53.6) by 7.2 seconds over Palatine, and the Trojans won the 400 relay (MacKenzie Cady, Samantha Wilson, Cassidy Santen, Megan Sybeldon in 1:00.6) for athletes who competed in field events.

The meet was welcome competition especially because the Lockport Invitational Friday night was canceled in the wake of area flooding and bad weather.

“It was one of those days where we just needed to get the meet in,” Downers North coach Tim McDonald said. “I’m glad that we did (cancel Friday) because it would have been such a miserable day to run. Saturday was probably the nicest weather that we’ve had at a meet yet, and it wasn’t that great, but at least is was sunny and not freezing.”

The Trojans schedule the back-to-back invites in hopes or replicating the Class 3A state meet, where preliminaries are held Friday and the event finals follow Saturday.

Armstrong is all too familiar with the state meet, but she’s hoping for a more active role this time. An alternate for the state-qualifying 1,600 relay last year, Armstrong is among the candidates for this year’s sectional and, hopefully, state lineup.

Ridderhoff, Bonfield and Urbancik, the three returnees from last year’s state lineup, and Rounce ran an indoor school-record 4:06.29 fully-automatic time at the indoor conference meet March 15 and won Downers North’s Ritter Invite April 12 in 4:06.54 FAT, the No. 8–fastest reported time in the state following Saturday’s invites.

Other relay candidates include Schuetz (1:04.3 split Saturday) and sophomore Jessica Ridderhoff, the sister of Rebecca, a close friend of Armstrong’s. This is the first season Rounce is competing in track and the first outdoor season for Jessica Ridderhoff.

The younger Ridderhoff burst onto the scene after she filled in at the Homewood-Flossmoor Invite April 6 after Armstrong wasn’t comfortable trying to compete following her warmup. Jessica Ridderhoff (1:04.0) and Jan (1:07.0) were fourth and sixth in Saturday’s open 400.

“I was an alternate for the 4-by-400 (at state last year) and I’d be happy to be another alternate,” Armstrong said. “Of course, I’m going to try my hardest to get that state spot. It’s always been a dream of mine and I keep missing it just by getting sick and hurt, but it’s going to be fun competing against them.”

Rebecca Ridderhoff won the 100 hurdles by 1.3 seconds and the 300 hurdles by 1.6. Senior Lauren Dawson was fourth in the 100 hurdles (18.2).

The Trojans also are finding their competitive chops in the other relays. The 3,200 relay of Bonfield, Urbancik and freshmen Grace Maletich and Kaitlyn Bonfield, Meghan’s sister, ran a then-state fastest to win the Ritter Invite. It still is ranked No. 2 behind Glenbard West’s 9:28.62 set Saturday.

Urbancik ran a 2:23.0 split Saturday, followed by Bonfield (2:26.2), Jan (2:27.5) and Krusenoski (2:37.0), who continues to work her way from back spasms.

Schuetz, sophomore Sophie Temple-Wood, Armstrong and Rounce combined to take second in the 800 relay of (1:52.9), just .3 behind Palatine (1:52.6), and third in the 400 relay (53.0), .6 behind first-place Palatine (52.4).

The same 800 relay took fifth at the Ritter Invite in a season-best 1:49.73 after being seeded to finish 15th.

“Last year, we had just enough runners to really do a lot with (our sprint relays). With having Mary come onto the team, it’s improved all of our chances, especially with the (800 relay),” Armstrong said.

The relays were just part of arguably the best overall meet Temple-Wood has ever enjoyed. Individually, she finished second in long jump with 16 feet-4 3/4 inches – a lifetime-best by eight inches – and the 200 (27.5). Palatine sophomore Ashley Proksa won both events (personal-best 16-9 1/2 and 27.1).

“It felt really awesome to be able to run and knowing that I did a good job in my other events really helped me for my other ones,” Temple-Wood said. “For my 200, I was really energized and I was excited because I knew that I did well in my other events so then I kind of had hope that I could do really well in this one, too.”

Temple-Wood had her six long jumps interrupted by her two relay races but still had managed a 15-3, good enough for third place. She transferred the momentum from a good 800 relay into focus for a long jump she and jumps coach Matt Maletich have anticipated all season long.

“(Maletich) always tells me that I slow up when I’m running so when I hit the board and I start to jump, I’m always going slower and then I reach for the board too far and then I don’t have enough momentum to go far,” Temple-Wood said.

“This time I ran as fast as I could and I didn’t slow up, and I didn’t reach and I hit the board perfect. It felt like a good jump. My dad got pictures of it, three frames a second, and it was good form and a strong takeoff. I will remember what I did and I’ll be able to copy that.”

Is a coveted 17 feet not much far behind? Temple-Wood might actually have pulled it off Saturday, considering the takeoff board at Palatine was 24 inches. Already, it’s the fourth-best reported long jump among conference athletes.

“It was probably closer to a 17-foot jump if she would have gotten all of the board,” McDonald said. “(Maletich) thought she was probably, at best, six inches on (the board) so she had a lot of space to work with, but that’s the breaks with jumps.”

In triple jump, senior Sybeldon (31-8) and Jessica Ridderhoff (31-1 1/2) were second and third to Palatine’s Meg Jump (33-10) with outdoor season bests, and Evangeline Tuohy was sixth (30-0 1/2). Ridderhoff also was fifth in long jump (15-0).

Kaitlyn Bonfield (11:36.6) and Maletich (season-best 11:47.1) were third and fourth in the 3,200.

Maggie Haider (14.0) and Mary Bedalov (14.1) finished fourth and fifth in the 100. Also taking fourth were Santen with a lifetime-best 31-9 in shot, senior Gabbie Hesslau (800 in 2:27.9), Urbancik (1,600 in 5:22.0) and the Trojans’ second 1,600 relay entry of Hesslau, Jan, Maletich and Kaitlyn Bonfield (4:31.1). Hesslau had a lineup-best 1:05.4 split.

Senior Alize Chester was fifth in discus (79-4) and Grace Marek was sixth in high jump (4-2).

A first-year track competitor as a junior, Santen was excited to surpass her 31-8 at the indoor conference meet on two of her only three throws. Her 31-9 came on her final attempt after previously setting a new personal best by half an inch.

“It feels a lot better because it was harder coming into outdoor season throwing 28s and 29s. I’m just like, ‘I want that 30 back,’ “ Santen said. “Now I feel like I can build up past indoor conference instead of trying to catch up to it.”

Santen is sensing she could significantly increase her distance with more work on technique under throws coach Tom Saam. Santen said she has pauses and has problems maintaining her balancing through her release and still needs to minimize distractions as she adjusts to throwing outdoors.

“I feel like there’s more stuff that draws your focus when you’re outside, people moving around, the wind, the sunlight. It is hard to stop and focus on balancing, and I kept pausing towards the toe board,” Santen said.

“I’m working on getting that pause shorter and shorter, hopefully to finally eliminate it altogether. (Saam) says if I can get rid of the pause, I can probably throw 34 feet. I’m hoping that’ll come by the time outdoor conference comes.”

- By Bill Stone