Griffins, Mustangs one step away

Updated: May 25, 2011 9:07PM

Old hands thought last weekend’s IHSA girls track championship may have been the best of the 39 conducted since the debut in 1973. All but the last four are well beyond our memory, but this edition certainly had its moments.

In Class 3A, East St. Louis scored 46 points to win, but only two points separated the second-, third- and fourth-place teams: Lincoln-Way East (37), Hoffman Estates (36), and Homewood-Flossmoor (35). The battle went to the wire, though most of the crowd didn’t know. The IHSA has to update points standings promptly and accurately for the paying customers.

There were a trio of bravura individual performances: East’s Aaliyah Brown won the 100 and 200 dashes in 3A, flirting with the state finals record in the former; Seneca’s Alyssa Applebee won the 1A pole vault, obliterating the 1A record and her previous best in the process; and Woodstock’s Kayla Beattie ran away from the field in the 2A 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs in 2A record times. She lapped nearly the entire field in the 3,200, winning by 1 minute, 11.23 seconds, and took the 1,600 by about 120 meters. That’s just not done.

The team competitions also was close in 2A (Springfield Southeast edging Morgan Park 50-49, with Springfield High third with 45 points). And the return of the Mustangs to prominence was a bit of a surprise, but Morgan Park is young — only Tia Smith and Breonna Green, of the points-scoring runners, are seniors — and poised for another run in 2012.

So is Lincoln-Way East. It’s worth reiterating how young the Griffins’ key runners — aka the Fab Five — are. Dana O’Grady and Meghan Marias will be sophomores in 2012. Aaliyah Brown will be a junior. Nicole Nepote and Maria Perozzi will be the seniors.

They piled up 37 points (Brown the leader) this year, and that was with O’Grady and Marias participating in just the relays. If they run in individual races next year, and if Griffins coach Caroline Cunningham finds a thrower or jumper to score in field events, East will not only be a more balanced team, but be able to challenge East St. Louis for the 3A title.

Last year, when Brown was a freshman, the Griffins tied for 10th with 22 points. This year, second with 37 points. Next year could see them on top.

Then there’s Rich South, featuring the Little Relay Team That Could. Sophomore sisters CiErra and DeAsia Garrett aren’t tall, but they move with great speed, and bookended the Stars’ winning 1,600 relay squad, with senior Carmeia Lane and junior Taylor Kriha between them. Only Lane will be absent next year, when the Stars go for a third straight relay title. Schools have won relays up to five straight years, but not in the last decade.

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