DGN story Senior Day vs. Lyons Township

Senior Meghan Landry made her debut for the Downers Grove North girls track program with an indoor 3,200-meter race that combined all levels.

“I was the only freshman in the 3,200. It was me and all of the seniors, and I remember standing on the line, absolutely shaking, convinced that I was going to come in last,” Landry said.

“And then it turns out I did pretty OK. I think I got second for the frosh-soph so that was really exciting for my first race. Honestly, I thought I was going to fall over at the (starting) line. I was so worried.”

The time has gone fast. On April 24, Landry was among 28 seniors that the Trojans honored before its Senior Day home dual meet with Lyons Township.

This year’s seniors are Barbara Armstrong, Mary Bedalov, Amanda Bila, Emma Burkhardt, Alize Chester, Megan Clevenger, Jane Coughlin, Julie Crist, Lauren Dawson, Megan Dylla, Gabbie Hesslau, Mary Hewett, Elisabeth Hopkins, Madelaine Isobal, Karen Klein, Landry, Samantha Lanigan, Kathleen Moralde, Helen Novak, Alana Osterling, Rebecca Ridderhoff, Grace Roman, Alyssa Salela, Claire Schoenberger, Margaret Smith, Megan Sybeldon, Maura Towey and Kate Weyers.

Many Trojans have been a part of the program all four years.

“I think it’s a great bunch of girls, and I wrote about it in all of my college essays,” said Coughlin, a four-year track and cross country runner who plans to attend the University of Notre Dame.

“Just the team, the bond that we all have, it’s such a strong connection. It’s really like a second family. It’s what keeps me coming back, just being with them every day. They inspire me, and I hope I inspire them.”  

Klein has participated all four years in cross country and track, where she actually is a sprinter. The sports helped her make the transition from competing for St. Joseph School in Downers Grove. Most of her teammates graduated from Herrick Middle School, which is across the street from the high school.

“I met a lot of really nice people through cross country. I definitely feel like it helped me make friends,” said Klein, who will major in computer science at Temple University. “I’ll be said that it’s over because I did this for four years and I met a lot of cool people.”

Landry, also a four-year participant in cross country, left Herrick “convinced” she would continue being a horizontal jumper in high school.

Her freshman cross country season resulted in her becoming a distance runner before her high-school track debut.

“I actually figured out (as a freshman) I could go further than a mile without stopping. That was kind of nice, and since then I just haven’t stopped with running,” Landry said. “Over time, cross country has been more of my thing over track because I’m running further. If anything, I hadn’t wanted to come out for rack, but I will never regret coming out for it. It’s been the best four years of my life.”

One big difference between track and cross country is that many cross country events have open races where there are unlimited entries. If athletes can get to the starting line, they get to race. In track, opportunities to compete often are limited to just two individuals per event per level.

With track also in the final semester of high school, athletes also can be more easily swayed other interests or looking ahead towards college.

Coughlin said she briefly thought about not returning as a senior because some of her friends didn’t, but “it was never a serious consideration.”

“(Our senior group) definitely has fluctuated over the years,” Landry said. “We’ve lost a couple of girls. We’ve gained a couple of girls. It’s always nice to see new people, but sad to see some girls go.”

Weyers, a 400 and 800 runner in track, joined as a sophomore although she has run cross country all four years.

“I was just intimidated. I just wanted to take the winter off and be lazy,” Weyers said with a laugh. “(Definitely) I was going to do it my last year, especially, go out with a bang. It’s a good sport to stay in shape and there’s lots of team bonding.”

Many of the seniors’ memories are general ones of the fun they’ve had with their teammates. The annual home Bruce Ritter Invitational in mid-April is a large team event with many girls competing on the varsity and sophomore levels and many others helping in its operation.

“It’s a huge invite, a bunch of teams, but it’s always really cold. It’s always cold and wet or snow,” Klein said.

“(Personally) mostly, I’ve just wanted to keep myself in shape and try to be the best that I could be. I wanted to make my senior year my best year and end with a really good track season, finish my career like that.”

Weyers had a great individual memory last season when she broke 2:35 for the 800. By beating that time, she earned a team T-shirt that states the accomplishment.

“I worked for that the whole season, and I finally got it like the last meet,” Weyers said. “I’m not as good as last year, but almost. I’ve kind of worked my way up to getting that good again.”

As a junior, Coughlin came within a second of breaking the 6:00 barrier for her 1,600, but then she became sick and never came as close again.

Early this indoor season, she ran 6:03. At Hinsdale Central Feb. 23, Coughlin broke through easily with a 5:53.

“As I started the last lap, I saw (from the clock), that I had like 40 seconds. I was like, ‘I can totally get it,’ so I turned it on,” Coughlin said.   

Many of the Trojans said that teamwork helped them to achieve their personal bests, whether during races and outside of them, whether at practices or simply by cheering along the sidelines.

Landry advised freshmen and incoming track athletes to be open to trying several and different events. Landry no longer jumps, but her willingness to attempt long-distance running has developed a love that she plans to continue on her own while attending the University of Illinois.

Landry was hoping to experiment with pole vault this spring, but the Trojans are not competing the event because they do not have a qualified coach this season.

“Definitely, try new things. That was something that got me to be part of the distance team,” Landry said. “Not in a million years would I have thought that I would done distance. I was convinced I couldn’t even go more than a lap on the track and here I’m running the 1,600 and 3,200.”