Embedded Files
Post date: Apr 8, 2017 2:45:15 PM
“That was a good exchange to end on.”
So said Coach Gummerson after a hard-charging Ali Mondrella passed the baton to an explosive Cierra Bachmann for the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay at Prospect High School on Friday night.
The exchange helped Minooka pick up 3 meters on the next team, who came to the zone at the same time but whose pass was not as perfect. The moment underscored the impact of passing the baton quickly and showed the importance of practicing that skill.
The time for the 4x400-meter relay of Ashley Tutt, Kylie Wissel, Mondrella, and Bachmann was Minooka’s fastest of the year by 6 seconds. Running fast netted success in many ways Friday night.
In taking home the overall championship in the 9-team meet, Minooka broke 5 meet relay records.
The first to fall was the 4000-meter distance medley of Tutt (1200), Eryn Renison (400), Mondrella (800), and Emily Shelton (1600). Their win was also the first one on the track for Minooka.
The next meet record broken was the JV 2000-meter sprint medley of Peyton McLees (200), Amanda Wilson (600), Lauren Widlowski (400), and Olivia Kics (800).
The JV continued dominance with another win and meet record in the 4x200-meter relay of Sophie Darden, Sydney Forrest, Emily Johnson, and Maryam Williams.
Then came the toughest record Minooka broke — the 6400-meter team race. Mackenzie Callahan, Tutt, Shelton, and Vivian Van Eck combined to break a five-year-old mark. Tutt also broke the individual 1600-meter run meet record in that race.
The final meet record was the JV 4x400-meter relay. Prior to the race, Johnson, Lilly Bowman, Kyla Stang, and Emma Wiegmann discussed that if they ran their bests, they could break the old mark of 4:39.97. Then they went out and did it, breaking it by 13 seconds.
In addition to those five races, Minooka also won five other events out of the 18 possible.
Gwen Barnes, Emily Ellis, Julia Dames, and Mondrella ran great splits in winning the 4x800-meter relay, narrowly missing running sub-10 minutes as a team.
In the 4x200-meter relay, Madison Thompson, Cierra Bachmann, Renison, and Brooklyn Bachmann ran the fastest time of the year and the first under 1:50, the first step toward a bigger goal. An effective lean at the finish edged out Wheaton Warrenville South.
The excitement that Harley Graham, Daniele Stubner, Karlee Cox, and Sydney Andreano generated before they ran the 4x100-meter throwers’ relays was awesome, and only matched by what they did during the actual race. With solid handoffs and tenacity, the girls took home the title and ran the best time for Minooka ever at that meet.
The throwers also had a good day in the field. Cox, Graham, Andreano, and Sara Torres made up the team that won the combined discus competition.
The other field event Minooka won was the pole vault with the help of Brooklyn Bachmann, Kate Gall, Bella Dailey, and Meghan Marchio.
While speed got us far Friday, it alone won’t get us to our goals. Botched handoffs early in the meet cost us points. Others that night were not nearly as perfect as the one in the 4x400. However, at this point in the season, exchanges are one of the easiest things to fix. And we will. The greater team goals demand it.
We have also asked some athletes to step out of their comfort zones this coming week and try some new events in order to try and help the team. Their attitude toward these endeavors is appreciated and will go far not only in scoring team points, but also in maintaining a team-first approach to track and field.
In this post, I’ve mentioned the names of 32 athletes who had success at Prospect Relays, a meet that is totally team-focused. However, every one of the 46 who competed contributed because they scored points in one way or another. All added up to the team championship.
Go Minooka!
— Coach Thomas
Report abuse