Seniors pace Glenbard West to league title

Glenbard West seniors Kathryn Pickett and Bridget Flanagan will surely be creating many memorable moments over the next four years during their Division I track careers, but it will be hard to forget what they accomplished Saturday.

Pickett and Flanagan, with big assists from teammates Kinn Badger and Sarah Dau, led the Hilltoppers to their first overall conference championship since 1984 with a dominant effort at the West Suburban Silver meet at Duchon Field in Glen Ellyn.

The host Hilltoppers racked up 148 points. York was second with 118 and defending Class 3A state champion Hinsdale Central was third with 98.

Glenbard West won the outdoor league title in 2007 but Hinsdale Central took the indoor crown that year. This season the Hilltoppers won both.

“This group of kids, they are just so competitive,” Glenbard West coach Kelly Hass said. “They’re competitive with themselves in practice and they expect nothing but the best from themselves, so I think that really shows up in a competitive atmosphere like this.”

The Western Michigan-bound Pickett cemented her reputation as the best all-around athlete in the conference by winning all four of her events. Pickett captured the long jump with a leap of 17-9 3/4, edging Downers Grove North’s Tess Johnson by a quarter-inch, then switched to the track and won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.41 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 45.02, missing the 28-year-old league record by .22. She also anchored Badger, Flanagan and junior Caroline Maloney to victory in the 400 relay in 46.80.

“I want to say (the reason was) the hard work in practice and the team pulling it together, just overall cheering for each other,” said Pickett, who was still trying to get her mind around her team’s accomplishment. “I’m just happy right now. The team did great, I did great. It was a fun day.”

Flanagan has an academic scholarship to Colorado, where she plans to walk on the track team and major in environmental science. She wasn’t surprised by the results.

“I think it’s kind of what we did all year,” said Flanagan, who was third in the 100 in and fourth in the 200. “Every meet we kind of showed up like this, even on the off days, and I think finally everyone had an ‘on’ day together and did what everyone was capable of doing all year.”

Dau, an Augustana recruit, won the shot (39-11) and the discus (105-5), while Badger sprinted to victory in the 100 (12.70) and 200 (25.88).

Downers Grove North broke school and conference records in the 3,200 relay. The quartet of sophomore Gabrielle Hesslau, freshman Stephanie Urbancik, senior Gaby Effrein and junior Jillian Kothanek clocked 9:13.27, five seconds faster than the previous league record and two seconds faster than the school record they set last year at the state finals, when they finished third.

“We were shooting to better our time and it was awesome,” said Effrein, who will run at Wisconsin. “It’s good to get a feel of that pace-running now and so all the better to prepare for next week’s sectionals.”

That race featured three of the top four squads in the state in Downers, York and Glenbard West. The other two were close until Effrein put the hammer down on her two laps, leaving York nine seconds back and Glenbard West 33 seconds behind.

“I think that’s the significance of the strength of our relay,” Effrein said. “It seems to be working for us. There’s really no time that we’re shooting for, just to go as fast as we can go, better than what we did the previous meet, so we’ll see what happens. We’re excited.”

The Trojans have reason to be because they have to be considered a top contender to win a state title in the event, which would be a first for the school in a relay.

“That would be insane,” Kothanek said. “Last year we got third and that was unbelievable, so if we won it all it would be surreal. But we’ve worked hard for it so I think we deserve it.”

Kothanek also captured the 1,600 in 5:09.34, just ahead of Hesslau, who timed 5:11.03. Kothanek and Hesslau have been friends and teammates for years, having run together in elementary school and junior high.

“A lot of people who were running the mile were doubling up in the two and the one, so we had kind of an advantage there,” Kothanek said. “But we were seeded 4-5 so I’m proud that we definitely boosted that up.”

Hinsdale Central sophomore Jill Hardies was the favorite in the 1,600 but decided not to run as she has been battling mild tendinitis. Hardies earlier won the 3,200 in 10:57.22, which was 17 seconds off her personal best.

“My time was very disappointing,” Hardies said. “I didn’t run today trying to get a fast time. I just wanted to try to score points for the team.”

Lyons junior Lisa Gordon and York senior Emma Fisher were right on Hardies’ hip for most of the race, but with two laps to go Gordon began to fade and wound up sixth and Hardies held off Fisher by three seconds. Hinsdale Central freshman Becca Marcotte was third and Yale-bound Downers North senior Samantha Fry was fourth.

“I was really impressed with how they hung on for so long,” said Hardies, who was third in the state last year. “They ran really good races. It helped push me so I didn’t slow down.”

Oak Park got wins in the 800 relay and from Tejuanna Williams in the 200 and Margo Tiltoston in the triple jump, while Lyons took the 1,600 relay and received victories from Nina Madjer in the high jump and Julie Dambra in the 400. York’s Michelle Frigo captured the 800 and Hinsdale Central’s Kelsey Truedson prevailed in the pole vault.

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