By Michael Newman

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The venue was different for this meet in 2013. Torrential storms caused the banks of Lake Ellyn in Glen Ellyn over its banks and onto the nearby track at Glenbard West High School. The track was ruled not safe to compete on. In a last second save, Glenbard West Head Coach Kelly Hass was able to move the meet to Benedictine University.

We are back on the shores of Lake Ellyn for the 2014 edition of this meet. It is a new track meaning that we could have some fast times. This meet usually has strong distance performances. We should anticipate some great races at Duchon Field Saturday.

Field Events begin at 9:30 AM, Prelims at 9:45 AM with the first track finals starting after 11:00 AM. Temperatures will be in the 50’s. It won’t be great for the sprinters, but the distance runners should love it.

Here is a look at each of the events for Saturday’s meet.

Field Events

Long Jump – This event is wide open. McCall Braun (Barrington HS) has the best seed mark at 17-0. There are six other athletes that are within eight inches of her making it anyone’s guess who could win. Watch for Sarah Cassel and Mary Jane Oviatt (North HS, Wheaton), Brooke Morgan (Barrington HS), Veronica Wegner (York HS, Elmhurst), and Ella Rossa (Oak Park-River Forest HS) to also challenge.

Triple Jump – Emma Gambol (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) will be on her home runway and should be the favorite in this event. None of the other athletes in this field are within a foot of her. Mary Jane Oviatt, Indya McGuffin (Whitney Young HS, Chicago), and Joyce Taylor (Barrington HS) will also compete for the event win.

High Jump – Stephanie Mueller (North HS, Naperville) has the top seed in this event with the 5-7 that she cleared at her indoor conference meet. Mueller cleared 5-4 two weeks ago at Lincoln-Way Central. Anna Cossio (Barrington HS) cleared 5-4 in her outdoor meet this spring. She also cleared 5-4 indoors. She should compete with Mueller for the meet win. Keep an eye also on Amy Nosek (York HS, Elmhurst) and Hailey Dammeier (Wheeling HS) to challenge for the win.

Pole Vault – This should be a good event with four athletes poised to win. Stephanie Mueller cleared 11-6 at her home meet last week. She should be one of the favorites to win. Kelly Hill (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights), Abby Waltz (York HS, Elmhurst), and Sarah Bradley (North HS, Wheaton) all have gone 10-6 or better this season and will provide Mueller the most competition.

Shot Put – Morganne Freeman (North HS, Naperville) had a PR performance last week in Naperville going past 38 feet. She will look to better that mark this weekend. Ashley Sicard (Wheeling HS), Samantha Harrell (York HS, Elmhurst), Breanna Ford (Kenwood Academy, Chicago), and Jada Stills (Willowbrook HS, Villa Park) will all challenge Freeman for the win. 

Discus – This event is also wide open. Rachel Cheever (Barrington HS), Jada Stills, Morganne Freeman, and Ashley Sicard are all capable of winning this event.

Track Events

4 x 800 Meter Relay – The first final event on the track should be a good one. Barrington finished second behind Hoffman Estates last week at their own invite, but still ran 9:31. They will be challenged by Naperville North, who ran 9:33 last week. Geneva, Wheeling, and Sandburg should all challenge for the next spots.

4 x 100 Meter Relay – This should be a close race with six teams all within a second of each other. Whitney Young has the fastest seed time. They will be challenged by Oak Park-River Forest, Hinsdale Central, and Barrington in the final section.

3200 Meter Run – This is a loaded field. I would not be surprised if the winning time is under 10:40. Lindsay Graham (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) ran a solo 10:47 last week at Downers Grove. She will have company this weekend. Mary Blankemeier (Oak Park-River Forest HS) ran 5:01 last week at Hinsdale and will be pushing towards the front. Elly DeTurris (North HS, Naperville) ran 11:04 indoors and will be running her first 3200 outdoors of the year. You can expect her in the front.

Alexa Haff (Central HS, Hinsdale) ran 10:58 indoors. She will be pushing the pace. We could see her winning this race. DeTurris’ teammate Maria McDaniel is another athlete that could be under 11 minutes. She ran 11:11 indoors. This will be the first race back for Lisa Luczak (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn). She is coming back from a hamstring injury. I would not be surprised to see her towards the front.

This could be the best 3200 field outside of the state meet. There could be so many runners under 11 in this race. It is going to take sub 10:40 to win it.

100 Meter Hurdles – Joelle Ataessien (Whitney Young HS, Chicago) has the fastest seed time in this event by more than eight tenths of a second. That is a lifetime in this race. She would be the one athlete to watch in this race. Amari Wilkerson (Oak Park-River Forest HS), McCall Braun, and Emily Painter (North HS, Naperville) will be Ataessien’s closest competition.

100 Meter Dash – A wide open event. Stephanie Okiro (Whitney Young HS, Chicago), Alexa Laureano (Wheeling HS), Nina Hodges (Barrington HS), and Tiara Kirkland (North HS, Naperville) will all challenge for the race win.

800 Meter Run – Molly Krawczykowski (Willowbrook HS, Villa Park) ran 2:15 last season and has already run 2:18 already this year. She should challenge Renee Letz (Sandburg HS, Orland Park) for the race win. Even though Kathryn Adelman (Geneva HS) only has a 2:22 seed time, she went under 2:20 last season. She could pull off the win in this race.

4 x 200 Meter Relay – Three teams are in the 1:46 range in this event and will challenge for the championship. Whitney Young and Barrington are within a tenth of a second of each other. The team to watch could be York. They were all-state last year and have the returnees to run under 1:46.

400 Meter Dash – Will we see a time under 60 seconds at this meet? It is possible. Sophomores Norma Abdur-Rafia and Chisom Nwoko (Oak Park-River Forest HS) and Freshman Addison Coy (Barrington HS) all have seed times under 60 seconds. They would be the runners to watch in this race. Madeline Sullivan (Central HS, Hinsdale) could also be a factor in this race.

300 Meter Hurdles - Joelle Ataessien will be the favorite in this event. Her seed time (46.30) is more than a second faster than her closest competition Amari Wilkerson. Anna Cossio could also surprise in this race.

1600 Meter Run – Lindsay Graham has the fastest seed time but will be coming back from the 3200. The one runner that I would watch is Anne Zaher (Central HS, Hinsdale) The sophomore has already run 5:07 this year. We could see a seasonal best from her in this race. After these two runners, it could be a number of runners challenging for the next spots. Casey Jensen (Sandburg HS, Orland Park), Claire Hamilton and Emory Griffin (North HS, Naperville) and Brooke Nusser (Geneva HS) would be runners to keep an eye on in this race.

200 Meter Dash – Just like the 100, this race will be wide open. Stephanie Okiro, Nina Hodges, Takira Owens (Oak Park-River Forest HS), and Taylor Burton (Willowbrook HS, Villa Park) are all runners to watch to be up front in this race.

4 x 400 Meter Relay – Barrington has the top seeded team and will be the quartet to beat in this race. Willowbrook, Glenbard West, and Whitney Young all have the talent to stop the Fillies in the final race of the day.