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Post date: Mar 18, 2018 8:32:01 PM
If the SPC Indoor Championship showed nothing else on Saturday, it was how much fun a team competition can be.
Going into the meet, it was clear that several teams would be vying for the title, and that whichever team consistently performed at its best in every event would win.
That honor went to the host school Plainfield North, who finished with 83 points. Just behind them was Oswego with 82, and Minooka finished 3rd with 78.
The meet was not without its drama, as the first scoring event on the track also became the last. In the 4x800-meter relay, Oswego East, with the lead, ran one lap shy of the total due to an error. Minooka’s anchor, Emily Ellis, smartly realized the error and finished with the proper number of laps. She finished first for teams who had run the correct number.
Oswego East was allowed to rerun the relay after the conclusion of the final scheduled event of the day, 4x400-meter relay. A lot happened in the meantime.
Minooka had plenty of athletes exceed not only their bests, but also their predicted places according to seed marks. Every extra point would be crucial in this tough field. Seeds are simply predictions based on the past, but surpassing them always makes you feel like you had a good day and then some.
Minooka wasn’t supposed to score any point based on seeds in the shot put. But Sydney Andreano launched an indoor personal best at 34-0.5. It was good enough to earn her 5th place and two points.
The long jumpers weren’t supposed to score either. But all three jumped more than 15 feet, all three had season’s bests, and two had personal bests. Sydney Forrest’s leap of 16-1 brought her a big smile, a 2nd-place finish, and 8 points for Minooka.
The biggest scoring field event was the pole vault, where all three vaulters exceed predicted places. Not only did all three score (a whopping 18 points!), but Ava Bezaire (9-6) also had a personal best, finishing 3rd. Meghan Marchio tied her best (8-6) in 5th place, and Katelyn Gall racked up 10 points herself with the individual win.
Back to the track, Emily Shelton held off Isabelle Christiansen from Oswego to win the 3200-meter run. It was Shelton’s fastest time of the season. Amanda Wilson clocked a personal best in finishing 5th with two more points.
Minooka was supposed to scrap out 1 point out the 55-meter hurdles. We ended up with 7 after all three competitors — Erin Mathias, Jenna Roberts, and Kylie Wissel — all ran personal bests. Wissel finished 3rd, and Roberts was 6th.
The 4x200-meter relay had one of the closest fields in recent history. While Minooka’s team of Cierra Bachmann, Alexis Mata, Lauren Larsen, and Makayla Roberts finished 5th, they were less than a second away from 1st. That team ran its fastest time of the year.
The 400-meter dash was loaded with tough competition, and Eryn Renison was able to come away with 4th place for Minooka. Emily Johnson just missed scoring points, finishing 7th, but running a personal best time.
Shelton tallied her second win of the day in the 1600-meter run as part of the dirty double. Winning both the 3200-meter run and the 1600-meter run less than 2 hours apart is not an easy feat.
Going into the 4x400-meter relay, the team score was tight. Not counting the 4x800-meter relay — since Oswego East was going to rerun it — the score was
1. Oswego 76
2. Plainfield North 71
3. Minooka 66
4. Oswego East 53.
If you included the 4x800-meter relay score without Oswego East in it, the score was
1. Oswego 74
2. Plainfield North 69
3. Minooka 64
4. Oswego East 53.
However way you slice it, Minooka was about 10 points out of 1st place going into the final scheduled event.
In the 4x400-meter relay, Joliet West crossed the line 1st, followed by Oswego East and Plainfield North. Minooka’s team of Kylie Wissel, Gall, Lauren Widlowski, and Renison put forth a strong effort and ended up 4th, netting 4 points.
The team score was now either:
Option A (omitting all 4x800 results)
1. Oswego 78
2. Plainfield North 77
3. Minooka 70
4. Oswego East 61
or
Option B (including the 4x800 without Oswego East):
1. Plainfield North 85,
2. Oswego 84
3. Minooka 80
4. Oswego East 61
Oswego East was about to take to the track alone.
Running without competition, Oswego East’s 4x800-meter relay finished with the top time, earning them 10 points and leaving a final score of Plainfield North 83, Oswego 82, Minooka 78, and Oswego East 71.
In the outdoor SPC Championship, the top 5 individuals and the top 3 relays earn All-Conference status. Although this is honor doesn’t accompany the indoor championship, here’s where Minooka finished:
1st Place
Emily Shelton, 3200m Run
Emily Shelton, 1600m Run
Katelyn Gall, Pole Vault
2nd Place
Sydney Forrest, Long Jump
Vivian Van Eck, Olivia Krolczyk, Olivia Kics, Emily Ellis, 4x800m Relay
3rd Place
Kylie Wissel, 55m Hurdles
Ava Bezaire, Pole Vault
4th Place
Eryn Renison, 400m dash
5th Place
Amanda Wilson, 3200m Run
Aaliyah Young, Triple Jump
Sydney Andreano, Shot Put
Meghan Marchio, Pole Vault
Minooka also had 15 personal bests on the day.
While the team finish wasn’t satisfying, the overall progress shown was something to be proud of. In about seven weeks, all 10 teams will get together and do this again. It’s sure to be another exciting meet.
Go Minooka!
– Coach Thomas
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