Short-handed Evanston rules in CSL South

Youth prevailed in Skokie Friday night.

With just 14 girls and three seniors, Evanston came out and won the Central Suburban League South girls track title with a total of 130 points on eight wins in 18 events.

Maine South finished in second with 114 points, followed by Niles West with 102, New Trier with 99, Waukegan with 61 and Glenbrook South with 40.

“We scored in everything that we were in except the 4-by-200 and the triple jump, so I think they competed well,” said Evanston coach Fenton Gunter. “We wanted them to get into a team competition mode going into the last two weeks and they responded extremely well today.”

Gunter credited a big chunk of his team’s success during the meet to the finish in the 200-meter dash.

In an event which was expected to be won by last year’s Class 3A third-place finisher, Niles West’s Kellion Gordon, Margaret Bamgbose and Danyale Griffin went 1-2 for the Wildkits.

“That was the race of the day,” Gunter said. “It was 200 meters against a quality lady like Kellion, a state finalist and an outstanding girl. Danyale doesn’t run 200s and for her to step up and get the second spot and hold first for about 160 meters was very good.”

Bamgbose was also victorious in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles with times of 15.24 and 44.99 seconds respectively.

In the 400 dash, Evanston also took the top two spots as Parker English finished in 59.19 and Alexa Bolden in 59.86.

English, who hadn’t competed in the long jump in six weeks, had the top mark of the day with 17-5.

Jahnell Horton, who placed fifth in state last season in the 800, took the title with a time of 2:15.97.

“This was my first time being outdoors by myself with no one in front of me leading,” said Horton. “I had to lead by myself so I was a little nervous because I had gotten used to running behind people and passing them at the end.”

The Wildkits also grabbed first place finishes in the 400 relay and the discus, thanks to Allison Wint’s toss of 105-3.

Veronica Szklarzewski of Maine South was victorious in the high jump (4-10) and placed second in the triple jump (34-0).

For Niles West, Gordon wasn’t excluded from the podium and finished first in the 100 with a time of 12.5 seconds.

Jessica Ackerman was the only Trevian to win in a solo event in the 1,600 meter run while New Trier took first in both the 1,600 and 3,200 relays.

Maria Pettis, in the triple jump, and the 800 meter relay team earned wins for Waukegan.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.