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2013 Track & Field Schedule
Home Meets Bold

Indoor Season
2-7 Proviso West Quad
2-15 St. Charles East Co-ed
2-16 Downers Grove North
Quad Meet
2-23 Bolingbrook Co-ed
2-28 Glenbard East Dual
3-8 York Invite
3-13 S. McNamara Invite
JV Meet @ Rolling Meadows
3-16 MSL Indoor Meet
@ North Central College
3-23 Illinois Prep Top Times
@ Illinois Wesleyan
Outdoor Season
4-2 MSL Tri w/ Barrington
 @ Schaumburg
4-9  MSL Tri w/ HE & Hersey @ Palatine
4-12 Ritter Invite
@ Downers Grove North
4-13 VanDeveer Invite
@ Geneva
4-16 MSL Tri w/ Elk Grove
 @ Conant
4-20 Palatine Invite
4-23 MSL Division Meet
@ Hoffman Estates
4-27 81st Palatine Relays
4-29 FS & JV
Palatine Relays
5-3 MSL Championships
(Varsity & JV) @ Schaumburg
5-10 IHSA Sectionals
@ Palatine
5-17 IHSA State Prelims
@ EIU-Charleston
5-18 IHSA State Finals
@ EIU-Charleston
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2013 Pirate T&F Roster   ·    Weekly Practice Schedule   ·     Announcements 
Indoor Performance List   ·      Outdoor Performance List
4x800m Relay finishes runner-up at state in 9:12.    Meg Jump finishes 6th in the triple jump.

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May 21, 2013 - 4x8 Relay and Meg Jump earn medals at IHSA State T&F meet

Honolulu or Charleston???     2013 IHSA State T&F Qualifiers ready to put on a show
This past weekend the girls team traveled to Charleston to compete in the IHSA State T&F Championships on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.  On what is always an exciting weekend of the track & field we were hoping for a great showing of season bests and high finishes in the final meet of the year.  The first focus was good performances in Friday's preliminaries with the hopes of qualifying a number of girls into Saturday's finals.

IHSA State T&F Prelims - Friday, May 17 

In the field events we had two state meet returnees in seniors Meg Jump and Megan O'Brien, both double qualifiers, Meg in the TJ & LJ and Megan in the shot & discus.  Megan had just missed finals last year in the disc and Meg advanced to the TJ final, but missed out on a medal by one spot.  With that in mind each had big goals to step it up in their final HS meet. 

However, since last track season Meg Jump blew out her ACL in the fall and required replacement surgery.  The thought of her even competing this spring had to be in doubt, but she was not to be held back.  After a limited indoor season that saw her only running straights and taking very few LJ & TJ attempts, she had returned to near old form by the end of the outdoor season, but had yet to really pop the type of jump it would take make state finals. 

After some lackluster long jump marks (a best just over 14 ft.) to start the day off things were not looking great, but those that know Meg best understand that the triple jump is her "baby", that's the event she really gets excited about.  And boy did she!   Her first jump was in the 36's and looked good, but with some simple corrections she could have gone farther.  She would end the day with her best jump of the year going 37-1.25 to win her flight, the best mark ever by a Palatine senior, would rank 5th with three more attempts coming in Saturday's final. 

Megan would finish 19th in both the shot and discus prelims.  Not her greatest days as a thrower, but she should still be proud to leave PHS as a two-time state qualifier in both the events.
       
Seniors Meg Jump and Megan O'Brien competing in Friday's IHSA State Prelims
4x800m Relay - The relay would get the day started on the track.  We would be in heat two of three.  Coming in we were seeded second from the overall sectional times and would have the fastest seed of our heat.  However, I've learned you never really know what to expect in this relay as many schools will make line-ups changes, adding or subtracting, from what they did at the sectional meet.  I knew Jacobs would be solid based on their sectional performance, but knew that New Trier and Glenbard West had pieces missing from their sectional quartets that could make them much stronger and catch come off guard if they decided to run their top girls.  We chose to go with Liz, Kara, Tess, and Taylor, while allowing Cassidy to be fresh for the open 800m.

Liz broke from the outside position and was looking good early, under control and out of trouble.  She was sitting about 3rd or 4th through 400m, before New Trier's Smith made a big move down the final backstretch.  Liz was quick to respond and moved up to 2nd with 200m to go.  Off the final curve Liz made a move toward the lead and powered to the front past Smith.  A little slow at 400m (68) and 600m (1:43) allowed for a big final 200m of sub-35.  Liz had one her best finishes ever in splitting a PR 2:17.8 to give us the lead.  Kara was out fast (30.2...maybe too fast) and put a gap on the field, however she relaxed too much the next 200m and allowed a tandem of girls to sit on her from 400m to 600m.  Last year KB would have been toast, but her maturity showed here, as she put space on both over the final 200m, keeping the lead in handing off to Tess in a SB split of 2:21.1.  Tess would grab and go!  By the backstretch the lead had grown tremendously and it was clear that no one on this leg was in her league.  Her split of 2:16.1 was a season-best, but would it be enough?  While no one on the third leg was in Tess' league I knew no anchor was in Jacob's soph Lauren VanVlierbergen's league, as she lit up the track this spring.  With this in mind I knew no lead was safe, even though a couple nearby coaches tried assuring me that "you've got it".  I knew better.  Fortunately we had Taylor, who would be in a similar position to last years final, when she anchored home our relay to 4th in the, running all alone with teams charging from behind.  Taylor did a valiant job in running a season best split of 2:21.3, but would be nipped at the line by the Jacob's anchor, splitting what I heard was a 2:11.  Our time of 9:16.63 would hold up to be the second best of prelims after all heats were completed.
         
Gettin' the Job Done - 4x8 Relay would advance to the finals with the second best time in the prelims
800m Run - A two-year 4x8 state meet veteran, Cassidy would be running for the first time in an individual event and she would quickly discover just how different the feeling can be.  Without her normal crew of girls to warm-up with the nerves were likely at an all-time high.  However, once the gun went off she looked great.  Early on she would put herself into second down the backstretch, hitting 200m in 31.0 and 400m in 65.5, well within her range.  If she could just move well down the backstretch I knew she would be in a great position if she kicked hard.  600m looked great, as she passed in 1:41.2 still in 2nd, but for some inexplicable reason the wheels quickly came off.  I was waiting and waiting for a big move down the final 150m or so, but nothing.  She would run the final 200m in about 40-seconds and finish 3rd in 2:21.2.  Was it nerves?  Did she push too early?  Lack of focus?  Who really knows, some days it's just not your day and you have an off race.  Either way, she was extremely upset afterward in finding out she would miss the final by one spot, but would gain some very valuable experience for the future and would fortunately have a chance to take out her frustration in the 4x4 later in the day and in Saturday's 4x8 final.     

300m Low Hurdles - Sophomore Caitlin would be running in heat one in her very first state meet.  From lane 2 she would get a good look at the field ahead of her and have plenty of girls to chase.  And would she ever.  The girls to the right of her were out fast and she would never really be in the mix with the top girls in the heat.  Understandingly, there was a reason, as her heat would include five of the nine state finalists, including the eventual state champ (Detra) and runner-up (Spagnola).   Caitlin's time of 46.96 was just shy of her season best in gaining invaluable experience in making the state meet as a sophomore, one of only five qualifiers not a junior or senior in this event.
 
Cassidy (L) was out well, but struggled to seal the deal, while Caitlin (R) strides out before for her first career State meet race
1600m Run - Tess and Liz would find themselves paired up in heat 3, giving each a partner to warm-up with and a chance to work together, as both had reasonable chances to qualify to Saturday's final.  After solid runs by the first two heats, it was shaping up to be another tough year to advance, as ten girls had already gone sub-5:05 from the first two heats.  So Tess and Liz would need to shoot for low-5:00's to advance.  Each were close by one another through opening splits of 71/2:28, but a gap would quickly develop through lap three with NT's C. Ackerman, York's Fisher, and Yorkville's Bollinger making a break from the others.  I knew it was likely "all aboard or miss the final", but I had hopes the early pace would be sufficient to get the job done.  With a 1200m split of mid-3:49 it was clear our pace had dropped too much, so we were in need of monster last 400's to get it done.  I knew it was a tall task, but had confidence each could do it.  Unfortunately solid last circuits of 75.5 & 76.7 would leave each just on the outside looking in (14th and 15th overall) with finish times of 5:05.11for Tess and 5:06.34 for Liz.   Liz's time was an all-time PR to end her open racing for the season and Tess's time was a outdoor SB.  While disappointed I was very proud of the effort both gave.    

Great 1600m efforts by Tess and Liz of 5:05 and 5:06 were just not enough to advance to the final. 
4x400m Relay - Coming into this event we knew we were long shots to advance as our season best of 4:04 would likely have to come way down for that to happen.  However, we were optimistic that each girl could drop significant time and give us an outside chance.  We ran veterans Taylor leadoff and Cassidy anchor, with the two rookies, Caitlin and Basirat, sandwiched in the middle.  Taylor was in an outer lane to start and her lack of girls to chase had her being passed way too early into the homestretch.  Due to her passive early running she only managed a split of 61.1, well off her capabilities and had us in an early hole.  The other girls battled great, with splits of 60.7 from Caitlin, 61.4 from Basirat in only her 4th career 400m, and a big PR of 60.2 from Cassidy, but we just didn't have the 400m horse in there it usually takes to make a 4x400m final.  We've been pretty spoiled the past 3-4 seasons with a Laura Schweikert 56-57 split we could throw in the mix to keep us in just about any race, but we didn't have anyone capable of that this year.  The girls would run a SB time of 4:03.48 to finish 20th overall. 

4x400m Relay heads out to Big Blue
IHSA State Prelims - Pirate Splits and Performances   /   Results
 
IHSA State T&F Finals - Saturday, May 18th 

4x800m Relay - Entering the final seeded #2 after prelims we knew we could be in the hunt for the win if we ran well, but once again I knew to expect anything.  Our goals entering finals were to run fast (we felt on a good day we could challenge our school record of 9:09.72) and put ourselves in a position to win the race.  For the final we added Cassidy, so we knew we were good for at least a few extra seconds, and there was some added excitement that this was the first time all year (indoor included) we were running what we thought was out top four in this relay.

After a night of deliberation I decided Saturday morning to leadoff Liz, then to Cassidy, then to Kara, with Tess anchoring us home in her final race as a Pirate.  I told the first three girls before the race that if they get the baton to Tess in a good position she would get the job done and they agreed.  

Liz would start on the outside position of the first alley waterfall start.  She got out well, but was quickly engulfed by the girls on her outside.  She stayed calm as she was promptly shuffled toward the back of the pack just after 200m.  Stuck inside down the homestretch my tension eased as I spotted Yorkville's super-frosh Bollinger just in front of her near the front.  I knew she was the fastest in the field and would make a break soon to open up room for Liz to go with and get in the clear.   Around 300m the race broke open, however Liz found herself on the rail.  Miraculously, their was a big opening and Liz pounced, making a big move on the inside to put us into second.  Around the last turn Liz looked strong and smooth, as she kept Yorkville's gap from increasing.  Down the final straight Liz actually seemed to be closing on the lead.  She would hand off in a new PR split of 2:17.5, with plenty in the tank.  I really think she had a 2:16 in her if not for the early crowding.  Either way it was exactly the start we needed.

Cassidy took the baton and was off, closing quickly on Yorkville, and overtaking her around the 200m mark.  Yorkville would repay the favor down the homestretch as they would pass us around the 400m mark.  Cassidy was game and took tow on Yorkville's shoulder through the next 300m.  Down the homestretch it was a battle, but Yorkville hung to a slim margin.  Cassidy ran a strong 2:18.1 split, her fastest of the season, but likely cost herself some time with her early excitement leading to a slightly over-aggressive start.  At this point we were well out in the front with Yorkville, but Prospect had closed the gap with a strong leg from Santiago and New Trier had the Ackerman twins ready for pursuit.

Kara seemed to repeat Cassidy's start as she too would storm the first 200m (also sub-31) to put us in the front.  Just as she did in the prelim, she got a lead, relaxed a bit too much, and allowed some others to hang around.  While Yorkville was steady right behind, Prospect's Getchmann was doing all she could to get them in the mix, and NT's Jessica Ackerman was all business, as she would pass on the final backstretch to put them in the front.  In knew at this point we were in big trouble with sister Courtney (4:53 mile at Sectional) at the anchor and our chances of winning were likely out the window, but we still had to battle the others.  Kara gave a valiant effort after being passed and while she couldn't hang close enough to NT her PR split of 2:20.5 was enough to hand off evenly with Yorkville with a chance for a runner-up finish with Tess at the helm. I liked our chances.

While I fully trusted Tess in this situation, my concern was, did she trust herself.  Battling a foot injury (stress reaction) and missing time running for the first time in her career this spring had understandingly left Tess questioning her abilities and fitness over the past few weeks.  A ho-hum MSL meet two weeks back where she faded to a 5:22 1600m race had not helped matters and now here she is anchoring a relay in the state finals.  Tess took the baton and I could tell she was ready to pass early, just as Cass and Kara had.  Not so fast.  Stuck on the outside shoulder of the Yorkville anchor around the turn forced her a few extra steps, making it tough to get around.  She looked to relax around turn two perhaps to ready for a pass down the homestretch.  Not so fast.  With one lap to go she had her hands full and I sensed Tess having doubts, as the Yorkville runner seemed to have an extra step on her.  Just one year ago, it was Tess lighting up the track, passing at will, seemingly unstoppable.  She was the VanVlierbergen of last year.  Now here she is battling back from missed time and unsure of just how fit she really is.  Would she have it one final time?  Down the backstretch she looked good, as if to be readying herself to explode down the final stretch one more time.  Here it was, one final straight!  She swung wide to give it a go.  She passed with about 80m to go to move us to the front.  I knew then we had it.  Tess rolled home one last time anchoring her Pirates to a runner-up finish, not the time we wanted or the place, but I couldn't be any prouder of a group.  We finished in 9:12.21, #3 in school history and continued our legacy in this event.   
    
4x800m Relay - State Runner-ups - 9:12.21 - #3 All-Time in PHS History
   
 
Lady Pirates 4x800m Relay Legacy Continues
The four girls that ran the final (and Taylor for running prelims) should be extremely proud of helping continue the Lady Pirates storied legacy of 4x800m All-State performances.  This 2013 performance marks the 20th time since 1991 (23 track seasons) that the Lady Pirates have finished with an All-State 4x800m relay.  Even more impressive is that of those 20 All-State performances, only once did we not finish in the top four teams. 

Since 2000 (the last 14 track seasons), the Lady Pirates have finished in the top four every year except once (2004).  Here are the 4x8 state finishes since 2000...4th, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 2nd.    WOW!!!  
4x800m Legacy by the Numbers
Since 1991 (23 track Seasons)

20x All-State Medal Performances (Top 9)

19x Top Four Finishes

5x STATE CHAMPIONS

6x State Runner-ups

36 different girls

 
3200m Run - Jessica and Sabina had to play the waiting game before competing in their first IHSA State T&F meet, as there is no preliminary heat of 3200m run.  Both were entered in the first section, as it took just over 11:09 to make the fast heat cut.  Sabina was actually the first not to make it, so that put her seeded #1 on her heat.  Likely some extra pressure for a freshman in her first state meet.  Their heat would go off around 10:20am, well before the faster section 2 in the early afternoon, allowing for cooler temps at race time. 

Knowing going in that an All-State finish would be a tall task for both with the depth of the 3200m this year, the main goal was to run a solid race, putting ourselves in good position, and shooting for PR's.  Early on Sabina shot toward the front pack like a puppy out of a cage, sitting about top five through 400m, only to quickly get shuffled to the mid, and eventually, to the back of the pack in a matter of a lap or two.  Jessica on the other hand ran more poised and bid her time around mid-pack through the early stages of the race.

By midrace Jessica was in a pack of 3-4 at around 5:31 or so, while Sabina was in no-mans land by herself near the back of the race.  If Jessica's pack could keep rolling she was in a good position to PR.  Unfortunately her small pack got separated from the front pack with about three laps to go.  Jessica made some good moves to work up the field, however the gap to the front pack was large enough that it would be too tough to close.  Without the help she was unable to gain ground on her own and got stuck racing the slowing group around her.  In the end she would close well, but fall short of a PR finishing 9th in time of 11:20.   Sabina rallied a bit and moved past a couple girls late, but it was obvious that it was not her day.  She would finish 16th in the heat in 11:47, well off her season best.

Both were hoping for better races, but should keep their heads high and learn from the experience.  Jess finally made a state track meet after feeling she should have done so the past two track season and Sabina qualifying as a freshman will make her much stronger and prepared in the future.  I still remember my first trip to state track and how intimidated I was, each will be much better in the future.   

Triple Jump - Unlike the running events where Friday's performances mean little, the field event marks carry over to Saturday.  So coming in Meg was sitting 5th, but with the clear understanding that she could move up with a better mark, and more importantly, others behind her could as well.  Often you don't see a whole lot of movement in places the second day, but you never know and you can not get too comfortable with where you are placed coming in. 

Unfortunately Meg could not top her mark of 37-1.25 from Friday's prelim in any of her three attempts, however, not many girls could either.  In fact, of the twelve TJ finalists only one girl would do so, as a girl from Cary-Grove would move from 8th coming in to 4th.  This would bump Meg back one spot to 6th, still earning her the first All-State medal in her decorated career, sending her out in style.  It's only fitting that the girl that holds every Palatine indoor & outdoor class TJ record earns an All-State medal in her final HS meet.  This makes her only the second girl in PHS history to medal in this event and the first since Jenny Cowan in 1999.

On top of that Meg was so deserving of this achievement.  After her injury in the fall she could have walked off into the sunset, proud of her previous accomplishments and records, and never jumped again for this team.  She didn't do that.  She battled back, patiently doing what her coaches and doctors asked of her, bidding her time until she was cleared to resume jumping.  She cam back stronger, more motivated, and with a different perspective.  She was a great leader and teacher as a senior captain.  Very proud.  

2-Milers earning their stripes on the left, Meg Jump all smiles after a big weekend to close out a stellar career.
 
IHSA State Finals - Pirate Splits and Performances  /  Results
 
May 13, 2013 - Pirates win Sectional with 12 state qualifying performances
Last Friday night the Lady Pirates and Palatine HS hosted one of the area IHSA 3A Sectional meets at Chic Anderson Stadium.  After a beautiful early week of weather the 2013 Track Gods decided they weren't quite done with the cold and damp weather that has plagued us for most of the season.  With temps expected to be in the mid-to-upper 40's and a chance of rain we felt even more at home, as it was just like many of our meets this spring.  While I know our season had prepared us well for these conditions my only concern was would if have an impact on qualifying.  Fortunately the cold came, but the winds stayed low and made for a decent night to compete.

It ended up being one of the most exciting Sectional meets I've ever been a part of.  From the first event on the track we got rolling and ended up qualifying a number of girls into the state meet this weekend at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.  As well we captured the 16th IHSA Sectional team title in Lady Pirates track history.  Great job ladies!

STATE QUALIFIERS
4x800m Relay -
Tess W., Liz C., Cassidy M., Kara B., Taylor T., Kelly O.
3200m Run -
Jessica L. & Sabina Y.
800m Run -
Cassidy M.
300m LH -
Caitlin R.
1600m Run -
Liz C. & Tess W.
4x400m Relay -
Taylor T., Caitlin R., Basirat I., Cassidy M., Liz C., Kara B., Tess W.
Shot Put -
Megan O.
Discus -
Megan O.
Triple Jump -
Meg J.
Long Jump -
Meg J.

Race Highlights...

4x800m Relay - After a slow start that saw us down big this group rallied to run one of the fastest times (9:22.65) we've ever run at Sectional to qualify with a big win well under the qualifying mark of 9:38.  Kara (2:21.7) led off with a season best, but was back after a big leadoff leg by Barrington's Reynolds set them up well.  Taylor (2:24.2) ran second but was out a bit slow (34.7/69.1) allowing Barrington to stretch their lead and others to get into the mix.  Liz got the baton with lots of ground to catch up, but did an absolute phenomenal job in being patiently aggressive and pouncing at just the right time.  Her split of 2:18.2 was a big PR and gave us a solid lead for Tess' anchor run.  Tess ran a nice controlled effort (2:18.3) to bring us home well ahead of Barrington's 9:31 runner-up.  

4x100m Relay - This was one of our near misses, as Meg, Basirat, Ashley, and Gabbi would run very well in a SB mark of 50.59, but couldn't not match the killer punch at the end with two of the state's best in Warren's Ellis and Wheeling's Keith.

3200m Run - This was the race I was most concerned about when it came to the weather as cold windy conditions is often a killer for the 3200m.  Luckily it was not too windy and a slew of girls came in under for near the qualifying mark of 11:22.04.  However, our entrants, Jessica and Sabina, had yet to run under this this outdoor season, so we knew we'd need to see SB runs from each.  They were out fast (76.9 at 400m) to give themselves a cushion.   If they could average around 85-sec per lap the rest of the way they would be good.  Lap 2...84.9....they could not afford to slow down much!  At this point BG's Ko and Mundelein's Palacios had asserted themselves up front and large trail pack had formed.  Lap 3...85.2...good!   Lap 4...85.8.   I instructed them to pick up the rhythm and Jess responded with a bit faster 84.4 on lap 5 to in passing a few girls.  With three to go I knew they were good if they stuck with the pack.  I started yelling for all the girls they were with..."Keep working together and you all are going to state!"   With one to go the pace quickened as the pack started jockeying for position. Sabina made a big move, but Jess looked to be struggling.  Sabina closed really well to end up 6th in a big PR of 11:09.64 (good for #12 on the A-T 3200m list & #4 Frosh) and Jessica would hang on for 8th in a slight PR and qualifying 11:16.44 (now #18 on the A-T 3200m PHS list).  Very proud of both of these two.

100m HH - Caitlin was the last finals qualifier with her 16.92 in prelims and would finish 7th in 16.87 to just miss a medal.  Kearia would not advance to finals, but did run a SB 17.28.

100m Dash - Without a legitimate point scorer or potential state qualifier here we gave to rookies a chance to run in a Sectional meet to gain experience.   Both were off their season bests with Gabbi in 13.86 and Katelyn in 14.08.

800m Run - Cassidy and Kelly were both in the final and fastest heat.  Cassidy was looking for her first individual state qualifier and Kelly was hoping to capitalize on her fast end-of-season improvement with another PR and perhaps a medal.   Cassidy was out well, through 400m and 600m as well as she had all season, but her lead was taken away heading into the 600m mark.  However, unlike last week's MSL meet she was not to be rattled.  She put her head down around the turn and made a great move into the homestretch to get to the front.  I thought she might pull away for the win, but Libertyville's Stewart had more fight in her and would edge her back at the line.  Cass did qualified by place and time, as her 2:18.17 was a new PR and under the state mark.  Kelly was back too far early I thought, but she did a great job rallying over the final 300m to move into 4th at the end, earning a medal and a new PR of 2:24.07.  With a better start she could have dropped much more time, but she got some great experience for a freshman.

4x200m Relay - This was a relay that had not run our full "A" squad in a while, but with Meg (27.7), Basirat (26.3), Ashley (26.6), and Taylor (26.8) grouped up we thought we had a chance.  The qualifying time of 1:44 and change may the toughest mark of all events, so we were looking for a top two finish.  In the end our 1:47.39 was a big season best, but about three-tenths back of Barrington, who was runner-up. 

300m LH - Caitlin was our lone entrant with a SB best hovering near the state mark, but she had the top seed time of all entrants, so we knew this was another race we could get downstate.  Caitlin stormed out fast and worked a great turn to head into the homestretch with a slight lead.  She continued to power away, looking extremely strong in taking the win in 47.08.

1600m Run - Tess and Liz were both in the fastest of the three heats, with seed times from the MSL indoor meet that topped the field, however a lot has changes from that time.  Tess nursed a sore foot most of outdoor and has had to regain her racing legs over the past couple weeks, while Liz has continued to build on her breakout season.  With goal number one to qualify, the two took it amongst themselves to hit the mark and not let place determine their fate.  Both went to the front and got things rolling early, Liz on the curb and Tess right off her shoulder.  With splits of 74.0, 2:33.9, and 3:53.3 they did enough to be well under qualifying pace.  The last lap turned into a four-way battle with LF's Schlachtenhaufen edging Liz (5:06.89 - #10 A-T PHS 1600m) at the line and Tess (5:09.22) hanging on for 4th, just behind a big PR run by Barrington's Reynolds.

200m Dash - Ashley would be our lone finalist with her 26.61 time in prelims.  She would start the final from an outer lane and run 26.76 for 6th and final medal spot.

4x400m Relay - We entered this race unsure if a win was doable, as you're never sure what other teams are lining up, but with the confidence we could hit the state mark.  In what turned out to be a slower than expected race, we found ourselves near the front early.  Taylor (61.1) led off to put us near the lead, Cassidy (61.1) took the baton and cut the tangent perfect on the backstretch to put us out front, handing off to Basirat (in only her third career 400m) in the lead.   Basirat took the baton, put her head down and was off.  Her PR split of 61.0 kept us in front and kept us on pace to hit the time, as Barrington and Lake Zurich were hot on our tail.  Caitlin showed a ton of heart and desire, running a hard backstretch to hold off the others, and really digging down the last stretch. She crossed the line first in a PR 60.7 split and a team SB of 4:04.26, under the state mark.  Barrington would edge LZ for second, as LZ would have heartbreak, in just missing the state mark.

Field Events -  Highlights Coming


IHSA 3A Palatine T&F Sectional - Lady Pirates Splits & Performances
Overall Results
 
May 7, 2013 - Lady Pirate compete well to finish runner-up at MSL meet
The Lady Pirates entered the MSL meet hoping to revenge their loss to Prospect in last year's MSL Championships, but odds were stacked against us going in, as Prospect was seeded to score well close to 70 points in field events alone....and that they did.

Field events scores alone we were down 37 points (70 to 33), a big gap to close on the track from a team with numerous All-Stater's on their distance crew.  We did close the gap a bit (24 points - 153 to 129), but each time we closed ground they were right there to respond.  Great effort by our girls and congrats to a tough Knights squad.

This also marked the first time the JV meet was run simultaneous to the Varsity meet.  We had some solid marks and performances from a outmanned JV group the ended up 4th, behind large squad in Barrington, Prospect, and Hersey.

Varsity Meet Highlights....

MSL Varsity Champions
4x800m Relay - 92;28.30 -  Liz (2:20.5), Taylor (2:25.9), Tess (2:19.2), Kara (2:24.5)
300m LH - Caitlin Riedy (46.82PR)

Varsity Runner-ups
200m Dash - Ashley Proksa (26.47PR)
1600m Run - Liz Cox (5:14.47)
4x400m Relay - 4:11.70 - Cassidy (63.1), Basirat (62.6), Taylor (63.3), Caitlin (62.5)
4x100m Relay - 50.93 - Meg, Basirat, Ashley, Gabbi H.
Triple Jump - Meg Jump (35-8.5)


JV Meet Highlights...

MSL JV Champions
4x800m Relay - 10:11.46 - Madi (2:30.7), Jacqui (2:32.9), Noemi (2:31.7), Ana Maria (2:35.4)
3200m Run - Kelly Ocock (11:46.97PR)
1600m Run - Amy Kieliszewski (5:29.18PR)

JV Runner-ups
3200m Run - Megan Beach (11:47.28PR)
1600m Run - Allison Falduto (5:36.1) - DQ'd for lane infraction


MSL T&F Championships at Schaumburg - Lady Pirate Splits and Performances
Overall MSL Meet Results
 
May 1, 2013 - JV & FS Palatine Relays
After a busy day helping work at the 81st Palatine Relays on Saturday, those who didn't have an opportunity to compete did so at the JV & FS version on Monday.  On another beautiful and  warm afternoon we had some solid running in our final meet before the post-season starts this Friday night at the MSL meet.  For some this was their farewell meet as a Pirate.

There were no team scores in this eight team meet, but the girls competed very hard as many are looking for season bests in these final few race opportunities.

Meet highlights...

Katelyn Nix won the 100m dash in 13.5.

Both the Frosh-Soph & JV 3200m Relay squads would go 1-2 overall in winning their individual levels.  The FS crew narrowly missed breaking the 10:00 mark, in running 10:00.4.  Kelly Ocock (2:31.7), Kelly O'Brien (2:24.6), and Amy (2:28.0) each ran lifetime best in teaming up with Megan (2:32.7), who left the meet early due to illness. 

The 1600m race looked like a cross country meet on the track as we combined both the FS and JV divisions to make for some exciting racing.  Sabina would get pass with 200m to go in finishing runner-up in 5:27.   Amy (5:30.1 PR) and Allison (5:30.3 PR) came so close to breaking 5:30 for the first time ever, while Kelly O'Brien would get another PR on the night in running 5:33.3.  Kelly Ocock (5:38), Noemi (5:39), Ana (5:41), Lei Ann (5:56), Marissa (6:07 PR), and Caitlyn (6:29) each ran best times of the season.

More to come...


JV & FS Palatine Relays - Lady Pirate Splits & Performances
Overall Results
 
April 29, 2013 - Big performances shine on sunny Palatine Relays victory

Lady Pirates Track & Field capture another team victory in the 81st edition of the Palatine Relays 
After combating cold and less than desirable conditions through most of the spring we were finally welcomed with an absolutely beautiful day for track and field at the 81st Annual Palatine Relays on Saturday.  It took a full team effort of very solid performances to help lead us to our second team victory in four days, once again outdistancing a pesky Barrington Fillies crew 117.5 to 95.

We had a number of outstanding performances to highlight the day...

Individual Events

200m Dash - Ashley continues to roll after a career day at the MSL Divisional meet as she set two new PR's in the 200m with a 26.88 in prelims and topped that with a 26.78 best for 4th in the 200m finals.

400m Dash - Taylor started in a disadvantaged lane 7, but did what she had to....get out fast and hang on.  While she would be chased down by a a few down the stretch her 60.92 SB would earn  her 5th.

800m Run - Cassidy would have her hands full with talent sophomore new comer Lauren VanVlierbergen of Jacobs, who had dropped times of 2:14/4:58 coming into the Relays.  Cassidy was out well, but would be passed at about 300m in.  While VanVlierbergen was out her league on this day, Cassidy still gave up too much space to early and was caught in no-mans land.  She did hang on for a runner-up finish in an ever-so-slight PR of 2:20.11 (2:19.9 hand-timed). 

1600m Run - Liz took the race early and did all the work from the front, running a outdoor PR of 5:13.12 (5:12.9 hand-timed).  She was out well and settled midway before kicking home over the final 200m for the win.

3200m Run - Sabina would run with a pack of six or so through the 1600m mark before the pack would quickly bring the final few laps down to just her and Barrington's Simon.  Simon did most of the work with Sabina looking relaxed in tow.  With a lap to go Sabina moved up on her outside shoulder and made a move to pass.  Simon was not going down easy and responded with a big move of her own.  She would pull away steadily as Sabina's appeared to lose hope over the last 150m or so.  A good, but not great race for Sabina in running her second best 3200m time of 11:34:05, and a big 8 points for the team.

Alumni Mile - Proud to say I met my goal of continuing my streak of sub-4:30 miles for the 21st straight track season in running 4:23.4.  I've now dipped under 4:30 every season since 1993 as a sophomore in HS.  Thanks for the cheers and support ladies


Relays

FS 1600m Medley (400-200-200-800) - Kara kicked it off well with a 61.9 split, and Gabi (27.3) and Basirat (26.7) did their part in getting us to the front at the final exchange with Kelly O'Brien taking the handoff from lane two, which would wind up to be a problem.  While Kelly did split another 2:25 for the second straight meet, she helped Barrington make up plenty of ground way too early as she failed to cut in to lane one until on the backstretch.  Barrington's anchor was on her heals right away and moved by quickly to eventually run to a win.  We would end up runner-up.

FS 800m Medley (100-100-200-400) - Basirat and Gabbi H. led the way through the first two legs (26.1 total), in getting good positioning for Ashley's 200m, who would run a solid (26.4).  They would give Caitlin a lead to work with and she was aggressive early, taking us to victory and a PR split of 61.1.

Distance Medley Relay (1200-400-800-1600) - The DMR would round out the morning session with a solo run of 12:31.48 for a 20+ second victory and a very solid time running all alone.  Tess lead off in a very smooth and controlled 3:46.1 effort for 1200m, running splits of 74.8/75.7/75.7.  Lorena would run a PR split of 64.0 for the 400m leg and Liz would split a PR 800 leg of 2:20.2 to give us a commanding lead for Jessica's 1600m leg.  Jess was out well, but would be entirely all alone.  She would split 5:21.3, her second best 1600m ever.  

4 x 100m Shuttle Hurdles - Keaira (17.2) and Caitlin (16.2 anchor) would team up with rookies Megan C. (19.3) and Theresa (19.8) to take 5th in the Hurdles. 

4 x 800m Relay - Cassidy (2:21.3) led off with a strong leg to get us to the front for Taylor to run leg #2.   Taylor took the baton and was off... as in "way off."  Like 28-pt through 200m "way off."   I knew then she was in big trouble.  As her leg continued she continued fade and get passed late.  She was way too excited early and it cost her big time.  She ran 2:33.6, well off her best and it put us in a big hole.  Kara (2:22.7) moved us back into contention in 2nd, but well off a strong Lane Tech quartet.  Jessica took off and ran a PR split of 2:26.2, however would be overtaken by Jacob's VanVlierbergen late to end up third.  

4 x 100m Relay - Meg, Basirat, Ashley, and Gabbi H. would end up in 4th after some confusion and discussion over place as it was a photo finish with Barrington (51.66 to 51.67).  Originally they missed us and put us 5th to Barrington's 3rd. It was corrected later.  See finish photo below.

OH SO CLOSE....4 x 100m Relay nipped at the line by Barrington.
4 x 200m Relay - Basirat (26.7), Lorena (28.7), Megan T. (27.5), and Kearia (28.1) would only manage 5th in 1:50.80, but would take advantage of a botched baton exchange by Barrington on the on the final exchange to give us a bit more of a cushion.

4 x 400m Relay - With a team victory seemingly at hand heading into the final event the girls went out relaxed and ran four solid legs.  After Taylor got a baton (she nearly started without one...that would not have been good) she would lead off in 61.9, followed by Caitlin in 61.4 (her second 61-pt 400m split of the day and career), then Cassidy and Kara would each run PR splits in their third races of the day, running 61.0 and 61.1 respectively.  The four would finish runner-up to Barrington win a season best time of 4:05.57, right near state qualifying.

Field Events

The field girls came up big with two first (TJ & SP), a second (LJ) and a 4th (HJ) in four of the six events.  Highlights...

The SP threesome of Megan, Haley, and Kendelle came though with a big win, with Haley (30-3) throwing her first time ever over 30 feet.  The same three would just miss points in the discus, as they were 7th.

The TJ threesome of Meg (35-2), Megan T. (33-7.5), and Gabbi H. (32-3.25) would place 1st, 3rd, and 7th overall all individually to win handedly. 

Long Jump girls would take 2nd with Ashley (16-4), and Meg (16-0.5) taking 2nd and 6th overall. 

Megan C. would place 9th overall in the PV with a PR make of 7-0.

81st Palatine Relays - Lady Pirates Performances & Splits
Overall Results
 
April 26, 2013 - Lady Pirates win MSL West Division Meet
After a one day postponement of the MSL West Division meet on Tuesday, moving it to Wednesday, the Lady Pirates appeared to be competing on rested legs, as we had a number of quality performances in putting together our best outdoor meet as a team to date.  We scored 170 points at the varsity level easily distancing ourselves from the pack with Barrington finishing runner-up with 111 pts.

Meet highlights....

Ashley Proksa had the performance of the night, as the sophomore won all four of her events.  She won the 100m and 200m dashes, LJed 17-3.5 for a new PR (and
#11 All-time PHS LJ), and she was a part of the winning 4x100m Relay, teaming with Meg, Basirat, and freshman Gabbi Heidrich.

Other meet winners were the 4x800m Relay with Liz (2:21.2), Taylor (2:23.3), Sabina (2:28.5), and Kelly (2:25.2) all ran SB splits, with frosh Sabina and Kelly both running all-time PR's.     Cassidy (2:21.9) won the 800m run, with Kara (2:23.2) following for runner-up. 

JV wins went to Allison (5:31.8 PR) in the 1600m, just ahead Madi (5:34.1) in runner-up.   Gabi Wilson won the 200m in 29.4 for our only other JV win, after PRing in 64.8 for a runner-up finish in the 400m.

Near Misses...

Caitlin was runner-up in both hurdles races, managing a PR of 16.8 in the 100m HH, and just being nosed for the win in the 300m LH.

The 4x400m Relay of Kara (61.5), Cassidy (61.6), Lorena (64.5), and Caitlin (62.7) battled a tough Schaumburg crew only to get edged at the end.  Kara, Cassidy, and Lorena all ran lifetime bests, while Caitlin was just off after doubling back from the 300m LH race.

Other PR's & SB's...

Kelly (11:47) and Megan B. (11:48) both went just under the previous all-time best in the 3200m run for 5th & 6th overall.  

Amy split 2:30.9 in the 3200m relay and 67.3 in the JV 4x400m Relay for a two PR's.  Marissa with a 2:42.9 in the open 800m.   Ana split a PR 68.8 in the JV 4x400m.

Jessica Lincoln had one of her best races of the season and finally blew past her prior 1600m PR, running 5:17.5.  

Meg had a SB of 16' 9" in the LJ.   Freshman Abbie Powers PR's at 29' 5" in the SP, as she nears the 30-foot mark and Haley got a slight PR of 77' 5 in the discus.   Krista (13' 7") and Sofia (13' 0") both PR in the JV LJ.  

MSL West Division - Pirates Performances & Splits
Overall Results
 
April 24, 2013 - Palatine "Frostbite" Invite
    
Is This Track Season?    While the morning started off with a snow covered track the sun came out to make it a decent day.
Last weekend we hosted a the small five-team (us, DGN, Hoffman, Libertyville, St. Viator) Palatine Invite at Chic Anderson Stadium.  After a night of light snow we were shocked to find the track completely covered in snow with just over an hour until start time.  However, the Track Gods did their work and got things cleared off in time with the help from some workers (and even visiting coaches) pitching in.  It turned out to be a relatively nice day, albeit a bit cool and breezy, but the sun was shining so their wasn't too much to complain about.

This meet is non-scored which allows us to run girls where we see fit without the concern of having a top scoring line-up or working girls overtime.  In the end we had some positive things happen and got in some quality work in preparations for the Relays this weekend and the impending post-season barrage.

For all of you that worked the meet I appreciate it and apologized for having to leave early as I had to get home to take care of my sick wife and kids. 

Meet highlights....

Distance Crew - Cassidy won the 1600m in a SB 5:18.8.   Kelly O'Brien PR'd in both the 800m (2:29.0 split) and 5:38.9 in the 1600m.  Kirsten ran a PR 12:19.1 in the 3200m run, while Allison ran a SB 12:12.  Liz ran a SB open 800m of 2:24.2 for runner-up.   1600m saw SB races from Megan B. (5:40), Kelly Ocock (5:41), Jacqui (5:42), Amy (5:43), & Lei Ann (5:57), while Cynthia ran a big all-time PR of 6:09. 

Sprint Crew - Basirat ran a lifetime PR and her first sub-13 (12.9) to win the 100m dash.  Ashley won the 200m in a solid 27.1.   Taylor (63.2) and Caitlin (49.2) were runner-up in the 400m and 300m LH respectively.  The 4x100m Relay (Meg, Ashley, Taylor, & Caitlin) won in 52.4 to edge Hoffman (52.5).  On the JV side we saw wins from the the 4x100m and 4x200m Relays.  Megan Cunningham was 1st in the 100m HH and 2nd in the 300m LH.  Isabel (30.0) was runner-up in the 200m dash.

Field Events - On the JV side we won four of the six FE's, as Haley threw a PR 29-6 to win the SP; Gabbi H. won both the TJ (31-7) and the HJ (4-6); and Krista won the LJ (13-0), followed closely behind by Sofia in 12-11.75.   Rebecca R. topped the 20-ft mark for the first time ever in the SP with a toss of 20-5.

On the varsity side, Megan (104-7 in the discus), Meg (33-10 in the TJ), and Ashley (16-9.5 in the LJ) were event winners.  Ashley's LJ mark was an all-time PR.   Megan O. (SP) and Megan T. (HJ) were runner-ups.  

Both Katie and Megan had PR's of 6-6 in the PV.   Lorena PR'd in the TJ with a mark of 30-2.5 and Liz threw a PR of 77-3 in the Disc.


Palatine Invite - Pirates Splits and Performances 
Varsity Results  /  JV Results
 
April 17, 2013 - Pirates pick up team wins, SB's, and PR's at MSL Tri
Even the slightest improvements in the spring weather was a pleasant sight to see for the Lady Pirates as Tuesday's triangular meet at Conant brought some warmer temps and early sun, if only for a while.   Either way we saw some very solid improvements on our way to team victories at both levels against host Conant and visiting Elk Grove.

Meet Highlights....

Field Events - We had wins by Meg in the LJ, Gabbi H. in the HJ, Megan C. in the PV, Claudia in the JV TJ, and Krista A. in the JV LJ.   Gabbi looked good in her first HJ clearing a solid 4'8".

In the throws, Haley (75'3") and Rebecca (62'4") had all-time PR's in the discus, while Haley (28'8") also PR'd in the SP, along with Abbie's 27'4.5".

Megan O. just topped her SB with a toss of 111' 0' in the discus.


Distance Crew - The 4x8 opened up with a narrow win over Conant.  Megan B. (2:32.2) and Allison (2:30.7) both managed season best splits.  On the JV side, Kirsten (2:39.8), Abril (2:38.3), and Makenzie (2:54.9) ran SB splits, with Marissa running a big PR of 2:44.6. 

The 3200m girls went in with the goal of seeing how many we could get under 12:00, as I had hopes we could get at least seven.  Unfortunately a slow start by a few and a fade by another put all seven under 12:10, but only two under 12:00.  Liz pulled away for a big win and all-time PR of 11:17.4 (
making her the #17 3200m performer in PHS history), Cassidy ran 11:30 in her first real attempt at the distance, KB (12:01.9) faded hard in her first ever serious attempt to just miss 12:00, then we had a group that simply couldn't negative split to make it happen.  Jacqui ran a SB 12:05, Kelly O'Brien ran 12:06.0 in her first ever attempt (#6 All-time PHS Freshman 3200m debut - scroll to bottom), Amy tied her SB on the nose at 12:07.3, and Noemi was 12:09.9.  Behind them Cynthia ran a great PR of 13:07.9, topping her 13:25 from indoor. 

800m run saw the return of Carly Lynch and she had a great run to win the JV race in a very solid 2:38.2 after missing weeks of racing, behind her Lei Ann ran an All-time PR of 2:44.1, and Madi won the varsity race in 2:34.1, an All-time PR for the open 800m.

The 1600m run was loaded with both the JV and Varsity line-up and run XC style.  Lots of SB's and PR's here.  Sabina ran a big PR of 5:21.2 for the win.  Allison (5:34), Kirsten (5:41 PR), Megan (5:43),  Ana (5:47), Abril (5:50), Lei Ann (6:03), Marissa (6:08 PR), Makenzie (6:13), Harpreet (6:14), Lisa (6:29), Caitlin (6:31), and Brianna (6:56) all ran best time for the 2013 track campaign. 


Sprint Crew - Hard to compare many sprint times to the past few meets wind-aided efforts, but we had some very solid running and the girls looked good, especially with some running their third meet in five days.  

Ashley and Meg looked really good in both the 100m and 200m going 2nd & 3rd in 13.0/13.6 & 1st & 2nd in 26.9/27.6 respectively.   Taylor ran a solo 62.5 to tie her season best effort from last Tuesday, looking very smooth and relaxed.

Megan C. (18.7/56.3) & Theresa (20.3/58.8) would run PR's in the 100m and 300m hurdles races.  Caitlin came back from the 300m hurdles to run a SB 4x4 split of 63.8, along with a lifetime PR tie of 65.6 from Megan T. 

Isabel (29.8), Sofia (30.2), Gabbi H. (30.0), & Niara (32.9) ran PR 200m splits in the 4x2 relay.


Good efforts girls.  Not much time to go before we hit the season ending meets.  Keep doing the small things and make sure you are taking care of yourself.   Many of you are getting closer and closer to your goals.  Keep working!   Some of you have already surpassed them.  Keep dreaming! 

MSL Tri at Conant with Elk Grove - Pirate Performances & Splits  
April 15, 2013 - Successful weekend for Lady Pirates T&F at DGN and Geneva
This past weekend was a busy one for the team as many girls doubled back from Friday night's Ritter Invite at Downers Grove North and competed Saturday at Geneva's VanDeveer Invite.  It was a long weekend for the girls (and coaches) that battled the cold and windy conditions, but was definitely worth the trip as we had a number of good things happen this weekend.

At the DGN Ritter Invite we squared off against fifteen other schools and left with a 3rd place plaque.  We scored 90 points (well up on our 68 from last year), only to be outmatched by a strong West Aurora squad, who had been runner-up for a number years now, and a field event deep Prospect crew.   We came back the next day a showed a lot of grit at Geneva.  In what was a very long meet (9:00am to about 5:30pm) we battled the conditions and a field of teams we rarely get to see, pulling out the team win over the host Vikings with a number of girls stepping up with big performances.

You all should be very proud of what we accomplished this weekend and the directions we are heading in with only a few weeks remaining in our season.  

DGN Ritter Invite Meet Highlights...

100m Dash - Basirat (13.52P) and Gabi W. (14.23) both failed to advance to finals

200m Dash - Ashley (27.55P) would easily win her heat and advance to finals where she would place 5th (27.82F).  Lorena ran 29.65 in prelims, but would fail to advance

100m HH - Caitlin (17.32P) would advance to finals and gain valuable experience.  Her finals run of 17.10 would be a new PB and place her 6th.  Kearia had a rough go in prelims, hitting numerous hurdles along the way, and would not advance.

300m LH - Caitlin was our lone entrant and would run a solid 5th in a time of 50.32 in the wind.

800m Run - Cassidy and Kara were both doubling back from the 3200m Relay.  The pace went out slow early and Cassidy would begrudgingly take the lead in what quickly was turning into a tactical affair.  At 400m the race was still bunched with Cassidy near the lead and Kara bunched tight near the back.  With 300m to go the race surged with GW's Riefel shooting to the front followed by Prospect Santiago.  Cass would gamely hold on for 3rd (2:22.57) and Kara was never really in the mix, finishing just ouf of scoring in 2:28.13.

1600m Run - In this one we had Liz doubling back from a 4x8 leg and Tess running fresh.  However, after cross training all week with a sore foot Tess had a tall task of having to battle two of the hottest runners in nation right now in State XC 1-2 finishers GW's Madeline Perez and York's Emma Fisher, who have been on fire since last fall.   Tess sat in tow for about 800m to 1000m, but lost enough contact with a lap in a half to go, making things much more difficult.   Tess would hang on for a strong run of 5:10.51 and Liz (5:18.62 SB) ran a very solid race, just getting nipped by Prospect's Wolfe in the last few meters to end up 6th.

3200m Run - Jessica and Sabina knew the pace up front would be fast with GW's Perez and knew they had to focus on themselves.  (Perez would go on to run a state best 10:27 in the wind and cold.)  Both were out well (a little too well on lap one...sub-75) and Jess was leading the primary pack, with Sabina tucked right in.  Things looked good early, but it was clear Jess was not feeling it when Prospect's Wolfe easily separated herself just before halfway and there was not response.   Sabina on the other hand looked smooth and relaxed and would overtake Jess early in the second mile.   She would have a couple girls trail close, but unlike her last two attempts as the distance she would prevail with a 4th place finish and PR of 11:30.10.  Jess struggled home in 11:50 in what was chalked up to a really rough day. 

4 x 100m Relay - The quartet of Meg, Ashley, Kearia, and Basirat would end up 7th in a season best time of 52.62.

4 x 200m Relay - A very solid run by Meg (27.8), Ashley (27.4), Taylor (27.4), and Basirat (26.8) to finish 4th.  Meg, Taylor and Basirat would all run season best splits. 

Frosh-Soph 4 x 400m Relay - Kara led off in all-time PR of 62.5 in her third race of the night, Basirat would anchor in 63.0 for a PR, and Gabi W. would PR in 65.0.  Caitlin's 66.3 (coming off a 300m LH race) completed the quartet's 4:17.02 for a solid 3rd place finish.

Varsity 4 x 400m Relay - Cassidy (62.0 SB), Taylor (64.4), Lorena (66.3), and Tess (61.3) would finish 7th with a time of 4:14.51

4 x 800m Relay - Liz (2:23.8) kicked off the relay and had us in second just behind York, who led off with Fisher.  Taylor (2:27.9) moved well early (perhaps too well...as her 200m & 400m splits were fastest of the four), but would struggle a bit over the last 300m to be overtaken by DGN and York.  Cassidy quickly got to work and moved up very steadily.  Her 2:21.8 split was tops of the four and would give us a slight edge over the host Trojans.  Kara made a tactical error of getting out to passively and allowed DGN's anchor to quickly tuck behind, letting KB block the wind and do the work.  In the end it paid off for the Trojans as the anchor would move past KB in the last 200m and to the win.  We ran a solid 9:38.04 (about .8 back) and learned some valuable lessons.   

Field Events - On a rough night in the cold and wet for anyone in FE's, however Meg would capture our lone victory of the night with a TJ best of 35' 2.25" followed by Megan T. in 4th with a all-time PR of 34' 3".  Megan's jump moved her from 14th to 6th on the
All-Time PHS TJ Performers List.  Megan T. would also score in the HJ with a mark of 4' 11".    

Ashley and Meg would go 5-6 in the LJ with marks of 16' 2" and 16' 1.25".   In the throws Megan O. would pick up some solid points with a 5th in SP (36' 1.5") and a 4th in Disc (96' 11"), while Kendelle would toss a PR of 31' 11" in the SP for 8th place and one point.

DGN's Ritter Invite - Pirate Performances & Splits  /  Overall Results 
Geneva's VanDeveer Invite Meet Highlights... 

A strong team effort saw the Pirates climb back form a deficit to capture the team title in our first ever trip to Geneva
 
3200m Relay - We ran a crew of Sabina (2:29.8), Kelly O'B. (2:29.9), Madi (2:32.2), and Amy K.(2:32.4).  Going in I knew sub-10 was doable if they ran well and had some competition.    They did run well, but had to do most of the work from the front battling wind and temps in the low-30's.  Not ideal track weather.  However they did pick up a big win, all running SB performances, with Sabina, Kelly, and Amy all running all-time PR's.  Great start on the track.

400m Relay - A poor first exchange cost the crew of Meg, Taylor, Basirat, and Ashley a better time and place, as they ended up 5th in 53.79.

3200m Run - With wind chills hovering around 30 degree's I told a few of our girls that Megan B, Kelly Oc., and Ana Maria were either crazy or tougher than I when I spotted them on the line with no long sleeves, tights, hat, or gloves.  Either way the cold wind didn't seem to have an affect on two of the three as Megan and Kelly ran huge PR's of 11:49 and 11:52.   Ana was right with the two through halfway, but would struggle mightily from then on, as she had a really off day.  I know she's in shape to go sub-12 as well, just didn't happen on this day.  Keep your head up.

100m HH - No finalists here as Kearia, Megan C. and Theresa would run well off their season best in the cold morning wind.

100m Dash - Gabbi H. (14.52) would run a season best and Isabel would run 15.18, but each would not make finals

800m Run - Noemi ran in middle of three heats and would gamely go for the win only to be overtaken to finish second in 2:34.27 for a PR.  In the final heat we saw Liz run a solid 2:26.9 after Friday night's double to finish 4th, while Jacqui would work her way up the field, just missing 6th by .04 of a second in a new PR of 2:29.89 her first career sub-2:30.  

800m Relay - Strong legs and solid exchanges led to a nearly 5-second win.  The crew of Meg (28.5), Ashley (27.4), Lorena (27.6 PR), and Basirat (27.2) would run 1:50.86 to cruise to victory.

400m Dash - Here we saw Gabi W. (7th in 65.93) and Kelly O'B. (69.38) each run all-time PR's in their heats.  Taylor drew the fastest heat, but was placed with a slew of girls who were seeded well above their ability, making her heat much weaker than it appeared on paper.  Her 63.24 was good for 2nd in her heat, but 3rd overall. 

300m LH - Just before this event I heard we were down by 15-20 points team-wise and knew we needed some big points to pull out the meet.  Caitlin (now dubbed "Always Ready Reidy" thanks to a Twitter typo) ran a strong race to pull out the win over the last couple hurdles and 10 big points in a new PR of 49.04 FAT, good for around 48.8 hand-timed.   Theresa would run a PR 59.76 in the first heat.

1600m Run - After Caitlin's win the team title was well in grasp with a good run from our three milers Cassidy, Jessica, & Kara; however all three were doubling back from the previous night and had sat around in the cold for about 4-5 hours.   Tired and weary they came through great, working together early and completed a big 1-2-3 sweep for 24 points to put us in the lead.  Cass would win in 5:21, with Jess and KB back just a bit in 5:26 each.
     
34 combined points from Caitlin in the 300m LH and Jess, Kara, and Cass in the 1600m help move us back to the team lead
200m Dash - Isabel (31.02) was out lone entrant and would not make finals

1600m Relay - With team win in grasp barring a DQ and a Viking win, the instructions were to run fast, loose, and relaxed; making sure #1 to get the baton to the line.  Caitlin (64.6), Ashley (64.4), Lorena (66.3), and Liz (64.1) would end up second in 4:19.47....all four running SB splits.

Field Events - Megan O. had a big day with a PR Shot Put toss of 38' 5" for the win and a Discus runner-up throw of 108' 0".   Kendelle threw over 31' for the second straight day. 

Megan T. and Gabbi H. were 4th and 5th in the TJ, with Gabbi's 31' 8" was a SB.   Megan would also get 3rd in the HJ at 4' 10".


Geneva's VanDeveer Invite - Pirate Splits & Performances  /  Overall Results
 
April 11, 2013 - Cool weather continues at home MSL Triangular
With getting together meet line-ups for three meets this week, including hosting on Tuesday, I have yet to get time to do a meet write-up.  Until then you can view meet results and splits below.   As well, the outdoor performance list has been updated.

On Tuesday we hosted Hoffman Estates and Hersey on another cool and windy evening.  While not running a full line-up, we did manage to pick up a team win on the varsity side and were edged for the second straight week at the JV level.

Pirate Splits and Performances - MSL Triangular #2 - Hoffman & Hersey at Palatine
Varsity Overall
JV Overall
 
April 4, 2013 - Girls pick up win in chilly outdoor opener at Schaumburg
This past Tuesday the Lady Pirates opened up the outdoor season under cold and windy, although fortunately sunny and dry, conditions in our first of three Tuesday MSL triangular meets. We competed against Schaumburg and Barrington with the Saxons serving as meet hosts. 

This being our first meet since mid-March it was nice to get away from the daily practice grind and get some competition involved as we start to head into a outdoor season that will go fast as we are less than five weeks away from the MSL Championships meet in early May and only seven weeks out from the IHSA State meet. 

Team wise we won the varsity meet scoring 74 points over Barrington's 59, and the host Saxon's 54.  The JV crew ended up in 2nd with 65 points to Barrington's 70.

Overall we had some good performances for our first outdoor meet, but still have lots of improvement to reach our final goals for the end of the season.

Meet Highlight's Include...

1st place finishes
Varsity - 3200m Relay of Taylor, Tess, Kara, & Jessica; Ashley in 100m dash; Tess in the 800m run & 400m dash; Liz in the 1600m run; Megan O. in the SP & Discus; and  Megan T. in the TJ

JV - 3200m Relay of Kelly Oc., Megan B., Ana Maria, & Noemi; Megan B in the 3200m run, Megan C. in the 100m HH, Jacqui in the 800m run, Allison in the 1600m run, & Abbie in the SP & Discus.


Other notables...

Many of distance crew tackled the grueling Quad Club workout challenge by running four miles worth of races with a 4x800m leg, the 3200m run,  the 800m run, and the 1600m run.  They did a great job considering conditions.  Tess and a quartet of freshman completed the less daunting task of the MD Quad (4x8m, 800m, 400m, 4x400m).  Click here for the
All-time Quad Club records.

Liz ran a very solid 5:23.9 1600m to close the day, as she (22:30.9 total) and Cassidy (22:31.4) had the 4th and 5th best Quad performances ever behind only multi-All-State performer's Tess, Sarah McIntosh, & Courtney Brown.  Kara ran one of the best times ever for a sophomore in 23:15.7.   Overall everyone did a tremendous job considering the circumstances and weather.  To put into perspective Ellen Smith (who finished her career as a 5:19/11:30 performer) ran 24:32 as a sophomore in her first attempt (in much nicer weather I might add).  On Tuesday we had nine first-timers top that performance, including times of 23:42, 23:43, & 24:02 from sophomores Megan, Ana, and Kelly.

Side note - Cynthia Siddiqui completed the Quad with times of 2:50, 14:05, 2:58, & 6:28.  To put some perspective on her improvement she end last season with best marks in each event at 2:58 for 800m, 6:27 for 1600m, and 13:57 for 3200m.  In one year's time she was pretty much able to duplicate all of her PB's from 2012 in one single meet.  Awesome!

Caitlin Riedy's 49.1 in the 300m LH was close to what she was running at the end of last track season.  Great start. 

MSL Tri with Barrington & Schaumburg - Pirates Performances & Splits
 
March 18, 2013 - MSL Indoor Champs!!!

Lady Pirates racked up history making performances on their way to a MSL Indoor Championship
This past Saturday at the Merner Fieldhouse on the campus of North Central College the Lady Pirates put together one of, if not 'the", finest team performances in indoor school history.  On their way to a 94 to 85 victory over a tough Schaumburg squad the girls had a number of all-time ranking marks in nearly every event they competed in.  It was a great day to a be a Pirate and you should all be very proud of your team effort.

Meet Highlights...

3200m Relay - The relay kicked the meet off in style.  Liz led off and did a great job running under control and moving her way up the field.  She would close really well the last 200m to give us the lead in a PB split of 2:20.3.  Kara would run next and would have to deal with a scrappy Saxon crew that was hanging tight.  KB would hold a lead until the last 100m when Schaumburg would go to the front.  KB's split of 2:23.3 was also a PB and would keep us right in it for Taylor's 3rd leg.  Taylor got to work quickly and would move us quickly back to the front.  She continued to open the gap for us and would hand off to Tess with a split of 2:27.9, well under her 2:33 from her only other 800m attempt this season.  Tess would bolt out quick to stretch the lead and would have the luxury of relaxing a bit the last lap or two.  The final time of 9:28.83 would give us the win and regain the #1 time in the state.   It would also rank as the #2 All-time performance in PHS school history.  These girls did a great job.  Liz's run was a huge breakthrough (and she was just getting started - see 1600m) placing her #8 overall and the #3 junior on the All-Time PHS 800m Relay Split list, while Kara and Taylor both hit all-time indoor PB's themselves.  Awesome start to the meet.

4 x 200m Relay - This was a relay we through we could get some points in if we ran really well, but also one that we could be shut out in if not.  The quartet of Basirat (26.8), Ashley (27.0), Caitlin (27.8), & Lorena (28.6) ran a tremendous team race with great handoffs and very solid running for each.  Running from heat #2 (heat #3 was the fastest) allowed us to get out quickly and run mistake free, also giving us the inside lane throughout, but could have given us false hope we were running better than we actually were.  We led our heat until the very end when Lorena was edged by a Fremd girl as we finished in a big season best time of 1:50.53.  All  four girls ran season best splits as well.  In the end our time held up as 3rd best and garnered us some huge points.

3200m Run - Coming in with the 2nd and 3rd seeds we were expecting big points from Jessica and Sabina and they pulled through.  Jessica once again did all of the work up front, but would have company with Schaumburg talent Kurdej comfortably clipping her heals the entire way before surging to the front with a lap to go.  Jessica would finish second in a new PB of 11:17.21.   Sabina would get out well, but just as she did at York she would end up running solo much of the way only to get caught in the later stages.  Her time of 11:40.24 was also a PB, as she did a better job the second half of the race than last week.  Jessica would for the second straight week move up the
All-Time PHS 3200m Indoor list to #5, while Sabina would add her name at the #14 spot overall and one of the fastest freshman ever.

55m Hurdles - Only one of our two entrants would advance past the preliminary round to the finals, as Kearia's 9.55 PB would give her shot at some points later in the day.  Caitlin's 9.80 would place her 11th overall.

In the finals Kearia would set another PB in a time of 9.55 for 6th place and a point.  Her time also put her #10 on the
All-Time PHS 55m Hurdles list.

55m Dash - This event also only saw one entrant make finals, as a poor start by Basirat would see her bow out in round one tying her SB in 7.87.  Ashley would advance to final in in a PB of 7.66.

In the finals Ashley would pick up some points with a 4th place finish in another PB of 7.64.  Her time places her #4 on the
All-Time PHS 55m Dash list and ties her as the #1 sophomore in school history.   Basirat's mark puts her at #14 all-time.

800m Run - Cassidy entered this race fresh and we had Kara doubling back from a PB split in the victorious 4x8.  Cassidy was out in a controlled 32.5 at 200m at the front, with KB lingering in the top four or so in 33.7.   By 400m Cassidy had asserted herself as the girl to get and Kara had moved up to 3rd.  Coming by 600m with a lap to go Cassidy (1:42.8) looked good and cruised to a big win in a indoor PB of 2:19.37.  KB battled tough and even looked like she might give the runner-up a challenge, but had to settle for 3rd in a new PB of 2:23.08.  Cass and Kara's performances moved them into #4 and #7 respectively on the
All-Time PHS 800m Indoor list.   Cassidy is now the 2nd best fastest junior ever and KB is the 3rd fastest sophomore ever.

400m Dash - Taylor was our only entrant and struggled from 200m on after getting out well, perhaps too well.  Her time of 65.96 was good for 7th and a season open 400m best, but was out of the scoring.

1600m Run - Tess and Liz would both be doubling back from the 4x8 and Tess would take control early with a 71.8 first 400m.  Liz was wisely keeping contact near the front of the pack, hitting 400m in 73.3.  As the race progressed Tess continued to assert herself running all alone out front and was never really pressed.  While her pace would slip a bit the second half she would still close well enough to run a indoor PB and top her school record in a time of 5:03.72.  Liz was closing hard in a battle with BG frosh Ko and would run her last 400m in 74.5 (compared to Tess' 76.1) to run a huge PB of 5:07.66 for 2nd place closing out a breakout day and one of the best distance doubles in PHS history.  Tess' time topped her 5:05 school record from York last winter and Liz's performance took her from not even being in the top sixteen all-time to now being #3 on the
All-Time PHS 1600m Indoor list and #2 junior performer ever.  Incredible!

              
Breakthrough Saturday - Liz (left) closing out the opening 4x8 leg in 2:20.3 &
(right) gearing up for a big finish with a 5:07.66 runner-up finish in the 1600m run.
 
200m Dash - With the Saxons hanging close entering this event and seeded 1-2, the results of this race would determine if we needed to run our "A" 4x4 squad, which we were hoping to not have to.  We would need something big and we got it in a tremendous run from Basirat, as her 27.21 PB run would place her 4th ahead of one of the Schaumburg girls.  Basirat's run would give us some much needed points and place her #3 on the All-Time Indoor 200m list and the #2 sophomore ever.   Ashley running from another heat would run a time of 28:08, which is good for #8 on the All-Time list.

1600m Relay -  The quartet of Cassidy (62.4), Caitlin (63.4), Kara (62.7), and Lorena (66.8) would run with the knowledge of a team victory already in hand.  Their 4:15.50 would be good for a season best team performance and 3rd place, as they were in 2nd until being overtaken by Barrington down the homestretch.  Each girl would run (or tie) their all-time indoor PB.  Cassidy would tie her #16
All-Time PHS 400m Split performance from last winter, while KB would add her name to the list at #17 overall, ties with Tess and Laura Schweikert at #6 for sophomores.

Triple Jump - Senior Meg Jump has amazed us all winter with her recovery from fall ACL replacement surgery and continued here with a new school and meet record of 35' 11.5" in only her second triple jump competition of the season.    With this jump Meg confirmed her place in PHS history as the "Queen of the Hop, Skip, & Jump", as she now holds all
TJ school records to this point.  Amazing! 

Megan T. continued her rise in this event as well with another PB of 33' 7.5" for 4th and some big points.  Her mark moves her to #6 overall & the #2 sophomore on the
All-Time PHS TJ list.

Long Jump - Ashley and Meg would both go season best distances of 16'3" & 16'1", with only Ashley earning points with her 5th place ahead of Meg's 7th.  Ashley inched up (literally) from her season best 16' 2" at end her season ranked #13 overall and the #3 sophomore on the
All-Time LJ list.

Shot Put - Megan made finals here, but on an off day could only muster a 36' 4" toss good for 6th (sheet said 7th at the meet, but 6th online....so I need not 100% here).  Kendelle was off as well with a best of 29' 2".

High Jump - After jumping 5'0" last week we were hoping Megan T. could repeat that height and get a point or two here, but could only clear 4' 9" on the day.  A clearance of 4' 11" would have tied her for third, but the 4'9" left her from a scoring place in 7th.

MSL Indoor Invite - Pirate Performances & Splits
Overall Meet Results
 
March 15, 2013 - Shannon McNamara MSL JV Invite
The Shannon McNamara JV Invite is held each year at Rolling Meadows and has for years now served as our unofficial MSL JV Championship meet, with all but two MSL schools (BG & EG) in attendance.  Being a JV only meet it is typically a very competitive meet with girls vying for nice medal for the top six and their last attempt at a season best performance for the indoor campaign. 

While the meet is not scored team wise we took home medals in nine of the ten running events, even doubling up in the 3200m, 800m, & 1600m runs.  Field event were not our strongest suit of the day, as we only scored in on of the five events we entered, but did have a big PB toss in the shot by freshman Abbie Powers.

Overall, I thought we did a great job of competing and finished our JV season with some great performances.

Event Highlights...

3200m Relay - We started the racing finals off with a line-up (Megan B., Noemi, Kelly O'B., & Ana Maria) I thought could challenge the meet record of 10:20 if they all stepped up and ran well.  We got off to a decent start.  Megan looked a bit tentative on the first leg as she hung back in the pack early, moving up some, but never hitting the pedal like she did last week at York.  Her split of 2:37.4 told me she left a bit too much in the tank, however she still had us well in the mix.  Noemi would quickly get to work, darting to the lead and giving us a commanding lead with her all-time PB split of 2:36.6 on the short track.  Kelly O'Brien would take over, but too looked a bit passive, pushing hard for a moment, only to seemingly back off the pressure, as you could see teams moving up from behind.  With a lap to go I could see from a distance the anchor legs being lined up and the next thing I knew an exchange took place.  As I took the split (2:05.9) it was clear that Kelly had run a lap short and had only run 650m  Ana unknowingly took the baton and was off. 

As well six others teams followed suit, however, three teams were able to resist the early exchange, in the end keeping their run legal.  Ana would go on to split 2:35.1, another big all-time personal best.  As she cross the finish line I'm not sure if she was instructed to run another lap or was thrown off by a team we lapped, but she ran one more lap (:34.8 - over 3:00 800m pace) for good measure, giving us a final unofficial time of 10:29.7, still faster than last years winning team. 

In the end their was a big debate as to where to place the blame of the error.  Many thought the official did a poor job of counting and lined them up early, while others thought the girls and coaches were most responsible for counting laps.  Ultimately they awarded the three teams that got it correct 1-3, and us with the fastest time was awarded 4th.  Obviously we were disappointed, but left with a good learning experience for the future.  We had two all-time PB splits in Noemi & Ana, with Ana tacking on another 150m for good measure.  What can I say..."Heart of a Champion!"

4 x 150m Lap Relay - With Gabbi H. out sick all week we had a last minute shuffling of the planned line-up with Isabel as her replacement.  The freshman trio of Gabi W. (22.6), Katelyn (22.0), & Megan C. (22.8) did good job getting the stick to Isabel (23.0), as she would just hold off a closing Wheeling anchor.  After the three heats were tabulated we would edge Schaumburg by .01 for the sixth and last medal spot.

3200m Run - Madi Berg and Kelly Ocock  would run to an early lead and run away with this one from the front.  A Fremd girl would close in late, but never get into contention to truly challenge either one.  After a few laps of trading the work Kelly would do much of the work past the mile before being overtaken late for the second straight week from a hard-charging Madi who's 12:14.1 would be an indoor all-time PB, just ahead of Kelly's 12:14.9 PR run.

55m Dash - Katelyn would roll through the prelims & semis (7.8 each) to get to final where she would end up 3rd in 7.9.  Krista would bow out in the prelims in a time of 8.3.

800m Run - This was another race we would leave with two medals.  Kirsten and Jacqui (a last day replacement for Abril) would each run in the fastest heat.  Jacqui went right to the front early but let the pace lag too quickly and would be overtaken by a pack of about four or five.  Kirsten and Jacqui would hook up and watch a small gap develop between them and the top four.  Both would rally late and make moves, especially Jacqui who would storm back to run her all-time indoor PR in 2:39.2, with Kirsten just nearly moving to 4th in 2:40.2

400m Dash - Gabi W. was out lone entry and would win her heat in 67.9, but was outdone by a Conant girl in the middle heat. 

55m HH - Megan C. went 10.4 & 10.3 through prelims and semis to advance to finals where she would end up 3rd in 10.4.

1600m Run - Last year this was one of the most exciting races as Allison and Madi battled two Hoffman girls all the way with both going under the previous meet record along with one of the Hoffman girls, as Allison walked away champion in 5:39.4.  With Allison returning with a season best of 5:38 and Amy coming in with a 5:36 SB the record assault was once again on. 

Amy was very aggressive from the get-go, rolling through 400m in 77.9, with Allison feeling it out in 79.1, but would quickly assert herself up by the 800m mark as they cross together in 2:42.  After that Amy continued to lay on the pressure and a :02 lead with 400m to go, with Al Fal hanging just behind.  Amy would finish strong in a new all-time PB of 5:33.4 to smash the year old record.  Allison looked frustrated late, but did hang on for 2nd in 5:40.3.  A solid run, but obviously below her expectations.  To put the past two years in perspective, before then the meet record was 5:42 from 2006 (Palatine's Laura Boruta).  The last two years all four of our girls have dipped well under that mark.  Good stuff!   

200m Dash - Isabel (31.2) & Sofia (31.5 would run lifetime PB's.

4 x 400m Relay - The quartet of freshman Morgan, Kelly O'B., Gabi W., and senior Kirsten ran a solid race only to get kicked down by a very good Barrington Fillie on the anchor leg.  Morgan would manage a season best 69.8 opener and have us in good position.  Kelly (70.1) and Gabi (67.7) would move us well to the front, but you could see that gap close quickly after one lap of the anchor leg.  Kirsten fought hard, but was little match for what looked like a :65-ish or better leg by Barrington to give them the win, putting us to 2nd.

Field Events - This was a weak area of the night for us.  With no HJ entries, Gabbi H. out of the TJ with sickness, and Sofia scratching all three TJ attempts of her own we've seen better days. 

Katelyn and Krista had decent, but not their best attempts in the LJ, and Megan C. & Katie still have a ways to go to be competitive in bigger meets in the PV.

However, we did have a huge PB toss by freshman Abbie Powers in the shot put as she skipped right past the 26's, 27's, & 28's to take her previous best of 25' 10" all the way to 29' 5".  

Shannon McNamara JV Invite - Pirate Performances & Splits
 
March 12, 2013 - York Invite
For those of you that check the site often for updates, my apologies for the wait.  Been catching up on some work and focused on the last two meets of the indoor season for most of the week.  Last Friday night the girls got their first opportunity to get back onto a 200m track since the season opener at Proviso, at the ever impressive York Indoor facility.  With a nice track and solid competition the girls were hoping for big performances heading into the MSL week.  Unfortunately team wise we were edged by a tough Glenbard West squad on the varsity level (124-105) and at frosh-soph levels by both GBW (102) and York (109) as we scored 100 pts, but we did leave with some big improvements, some all-time PHS top indoor performances, and a state leading relay time.

Meet highlights....

3200m Relay of Cassidy, Kara, Tess and Liz ran 9:34.55 for the fasted time in the state
Jessica L. #7 on the all-time 3200m indoor list with a PB 11:22.2
Ashley Proksa improved on her season best LJ with a leap of 16' 2"
Megan Thabuteau moved into 5th on the all-time indoor list with a PB of 5'0"
Kara Burton 3 indoor PB's in one meet - 2:24.9 4x8 split, 5:24.9 1600m, and 63.9 4x4 split 


Other notables...

Sprints
55m Dash - No PB's but Ashley, Basirat (5th), and Meg would tie their season best marks.  Gabbi H. (2nd in 8.0) and Katelyn (5th tie) would each score.

55m HH - Megan would place 3rd in the F-S level and Kearia would place 2nd in the varsity race.

200m - Ashley ran a team season best of 28.0, while freshman Gabi W. ran a PB of 29.8.  Also season best for Megan C. (30.6), Katie (32.2), and Jessica C. (35.6).  Niara Jones had her HS racing debut in a time of 34.7 smiling all the way.

400m - Gabi W. ran a PB of 66.6, as did Brianna in 81.5

4x200m Relay - The varsity crew of Basirat, Lorena, Kearia, and Megan T. would run a season best time of 1:53.3.  Basirat would run a huge PB (along with the other three) and team season best split of 27.4 out of the blocks.   Gabbi H. (29.9) and Isabel (31.3) would run very solid legs for their F-S and Exhibition level teams.

4x400m Relay - The quartet of Taylor (64.6), Lorena (67.3), Cassidy (64.4), and Kara (63.9) ran a team season best of 4:20.2.  All four girls ran SB times, with Kara running an indoor PR.  Morgan ran a SB of 71.0 in the F-S race.

Distance
800m - Taylor made her season debut in a time of 2:33.2 after doing much of the pace work before being overtaken late.  The best performance in this event was Cynthia with a big breakthrough in breaking her previous PR of 2:56 with a 2:49.2.

1600m - Some good stuff here as all seven girls ran SB's and a couple all-time PB's.  Cassidy (5:19.3), Liz (5:19.5), and Kara (5:24.9) would lead the way in the varsity race behind a state best mark of 4:59 by GBW's Madi Perez in heat 3.   Heat two featured a back and forth battle with three Pirates with Madi finally putting her foot down with a lap to go leading a 1-2-3 finish in 5:38.9, to edge Kelly Ocock (5:39.4), and Noemi (5:39.9) in a very exciting race.  Marissa would just top her all-time best and get another PB of 6:12.4 as she continues her march toward the sub-6 club

3200m - Another slew of girls ran well here, as six of the seven entered would leave with a PB.  Jessica would leapfrog Liz's Glenbard performance on the all-time 3200m list to move to 7th in 11:22.2.  Sabina would be alone in 'no-mans land' but would still manage a big PR of 11:49.8 for 3rd in the varsity race.  Behind Sabina, Ana (12:09.4 PB), Allison (12:14.9 indoor PB), Kirsten (12:26.6 PB), and Lei Ann (12:34.2 PB) would run very strong efforts.

4x800m Relay -  Our F-S kicked it off, but not without a scare, as Amy would get tripped up in the first 50m and we would have to climb our way back.  Amy (2:38.3) recovered well, but we were still in the hole.  Megan quickly made up ground in a huge indoor best of 2:32.9, and Kelly O'Brien's PB 2:33.2 3rd leg would give us a solid lead for Kelly Ocock's 2:39.4 anchor.  All season best marks, and a big PB for Kelly O'Brien  This meet has historically seen very good varsity 4x8 relays kick the meet off, as with last year low 9:20's burner from York and GBW, ahead of our solid 9:38.  I was hoping for a quick and competitive one here, but it was not to be.  We would run a state's best 9:34.55, but would win by over :20 seconds.  All four girls (Cass, KB, Tess, & Liz) would run season best splits.

Field Events
Coming....  

York Invite - Pirate Performances & Splits 
Varsity Overall
Frosh-Soph Overall
 
March 1, 2013 - History ranking performances highlight team win at Glenbard East
 In our fifth indoor meet of the season we saw some big team progress and some individual performances that rank within the best ever for Palatine girls indoor track.  Moving up to a roughly 180m track from the 160m tracks we saw the last three meets at Bolingbrook, DGN, and SCE was a nice change of pace and a benefit to most of the events.   In a meet that started late and ran way long with the time schedule we would still manage lots of all-time PR's, many season best marks, and eight marks that put girls (or moved them up) among the top 15 in their event in PHS indoor history.    Team wise we would take home victories in both levels over host GBE and visiting Sandburg. 

Meet Highlights.....

Tess Wasowicz (Sr.) - #2 All-Time PHS Indoor 3200m run - 10:59.9
Liz Coz (Jr.) - #7 All-Time PHS Indoor 3200m run - 11:22.3
Ashley Proksa (So.) - #14 All-Time PHS Indoor in both 55m & LJ - 7.6 & 16' 0"
Megan Thabuteau (So.) - #7 All-Time PHS Indoor TJ - 32' 8.5"
Kearia Coney (Jr.) - #10 All-Time PHS Indoor TJ - 32' 0"
Megan O'Brien (Sr.) - #8 All-Time PHS Indoor SP - 37' 8.5"
Cassidy McPherson (Jr.) - #6 All-Time PHS Indoor 800m - 2:23.1


3200m Relay - Sabina (2:34.0), Madi (2:37.3), and Ana Maria (2:39.5) each would run splits topping their best 800m mark of the season.

3200m Run - Running in one of the few 3200m races she has attempted throughout her career Tess would unknowingly come ohhhh-so-close to adding her name atop the record list, as her negative split (5:32/5:28) time of 10:59.9 would just miss Amy Laskowske's school record of 10:58.4 from 2006.   Behind her Liz would make her 3200m HS debut and showed she is in great shape, running 11:22.3, which puts her at #7 on the
All-Time PHS 3200m Indoor list.

Three of our JV entries also ran tremendous races as each hit big all-time PR's.  Megan and Noemi would battle again for the second straight week with Megan once again coming out on top in times of 12:11.2 and 12:11.7, each improving from their 12:38 & 12:35 season debuts.  Cynthia also ran a huge +:30 all-time PR with a time of 13:25.  Her previous best was 13:57 from outdoor last year, and she only ran 14:22 last year indoor.   Abril made her career debut in a time of 12:58.

55m HH - Caitlin (9.5), Kearia (9.6), and Bridget (9.9) would go 1-2-3 in the varsity race

55m Dash - Ashley would take second in a PR and a tie with a slew of girls at #14 on the
All-time PHS 55m list in a time of 7.6.   Kearia (7.9), Gabi W. (8.0), Lorena (8.0), Megan T. (8.1), Jessica C. (9.3), and Jasmine (9.7) would each top their prior season best.

800m Run - Cassidy would lead the entire way until the last 70m or so towing GBE freshman phenom Lindsay Graham who would let Cass do the pacing duties before kicking home for the win in 2:22.3.  Cassidy's time of 2:23.1 was a indoor open 800m PR and moved her to #6 on the
All-Time 800m PHS list.  

The JV race would see Rebecca Das lead wire-to-wire in a season best 2:45.5 and Bridget S. run a PR 2:46.9.

800m Relay - The foursome of Basirat, Ashley, Taylor, and Caitlin would finish runner-up in a team season best 1:55.9.     The JV all frosh squad of Katelyn, Gabi W., Krista, and Megan C. would run a Frosh-Soph season best of 2:03.6, but would be DQ'd.

400m Dash - Three of our four girls running were season debuts with Bridget's 66.2 topping the group for a runner-up finish.  Emma's 85.0 bettered her previous season best.

1600m Run - We had loaded fields of over twenty runners in both the JV and Varsity races.  The JV kicked it off with a 1-2-4 finish and all seven girls finishing in season best marks, with Kirsten taking the win in 5:48.7, Lei Ann runner-up in 5:56.8, and Marissa dropping a big PR in 6:15.1 for 4th.  Marissa PR coming into indoor was 6:46 from last fall's XC 1600m time trial.  

Harpreet (6:27.9), Duduzile (6:34.2), and Caitlyn (6:52.6) had season best marks.  Freshman Brianna Vargas run 6:57.6 in her debut, after only managing a best of 8:18 last fall as she battled injuries.

The varsity race saw us line up ten girls each vying for a season best mark.  All ten girls would crack 5:52 or better.  Jessica would take the win in 5:25.3, which topped her lifetime PR.  Kara would run an indoor PR of 5:30.7 for runner-up.  Behind those two Allison had the race of the night for 4th in 5:38.5 for a big season improvement.  Madi (5:44.8), Jacqui (5:51.2) and Kelly O'Brien (5:51.5) would each leave with SB's.

All told we had twelve girls for the night break 5:57 or better.  Last year in this meet we only had seven under 5:59.

200m Dash - Lorena (30.0) and Kearia (30.0) led the varsity girls, a SB for Lorena.  Katie (32.4) ran a season best. 

1600m Relay - Cassidy led the varsity girls with her season best anchor split of 65.2 for an overall time of 4:27.0, but was outgunned early by GBE.  The JV crew of Megan C., Gabi W., Isabel, and Bridget S. would take the win in 4:48.1, with a group best split of 68.0 from Gabi and  Bridget S. closing with a season best 71.2.

Field Events - Megan O'Brien threw a SB and lifetime indoor PR of 37' 8.5", which moved her up on the
All-Time PHS Indoor Shot Put list to #8. 

The LJ saw three girls top the 15' mark (Ashley, Meg, & Taylor), with Ashley's PR jump of 16' 0" moving her to #14 on the
All-Time PHS Indoor LJ list, her second list maker of the night.  Newcomer Gabbi H. topped the 14' mark at 14' 3" in only her second week out for a new PR.

In the TJ we had three girls top the 32' mark (Megan T., Meg, & Kearia), as Megan T. (32' 8.5") and Kearia (32' 0") joined Meg on the
All-Time PHS Indoor TJ list at #7 and #10 respectively.  Keyaira E. would have a solid season debut of 27' 8" off little practice.


Overall it was a long, but very productive and exciting night.  Now it's back to work.  Not a time to get complacent.  Next week we will be at York on a great track against great competition.  Let's have a good week of practice and continue to look for ways to improve.  Go Pirates!!

Glenbard East Tri Meet - Pirate Performances & Splits
 
 
February 25, 2013 - Progress made in dual meet victories at Bolingbrook

Tess on her way to matching the school record of 1:43.0 in the 600m run.
On Saturday the girls traveled south to Bolingbrook for a co-ed dual meet with the Raiders of Bolingbrook.  Running on a 160m track that allows no spikes, along with limited competition in many events, which you often find in dual meets, the Lady Pirates turned in some very solid performances and saw a lot of progress in lopsided wins at both the varsity and frosh-soph levels.   The frosh-soph level scored 97 points to the Raiders' 32, while the varsity outscored their opponents 89 to 50. 

Meet Highlights...

Sprint Crew - We had numerous season best marks in the 55m dash with Basirat's 7.6 time leading the way.  Basirat also led off the varsity 4x160m lap relay with a splits time of 22.3, a time that ranks her tied for #14 on the
All-time 160m split list, in helping Ashley, Lorena, and Bridget take 2nd behind a very tough Bolingbrook quartet.  Basirat would close out her day with a 65.8 career debut in the open 400m dash, showing signs we may have found a new event.

Freshman Gabi Wilson continues to impress and improve, as she would take F-S wins in the both the 200m and 400m with season best marks of 30.2 and 67.7.  Her 400m time is putting her well within striking distance of our all-time top freshman indoor marks.  Gabi, along with other frosh Katelyn, Megan, and Janie would run a solid time of 1:37.5 in the F-S 4x160m relay.   Katelyn would also run a impressive 7.8 PR in the 55m dash and debuted in the long jump with a respectable 13' 0.25".

Newcomer Gabbie Heidrich would run 8.0 in the 55m dash, LJ over 13 feet, and TJ over 27 feet after only a few days of practice.  In the 55m dash Gabi, Katelyn, Janie, Pola, Sam, Berenice, and Brianna all had season bests.  in the 200m dash Gabi, Keyaira, Janie, Isabel, Pola, Jessica C., Brianna, and Jasmine each improved for the season.

The 4x400m relay saw Taylor (65.4) and Caitlin (66.1) each turn in season bests in helping lead the team to a win.  Taylor would run improve on her 600m time from St. Charles in running a 1:51.4 for 3rd. 

Distance Crew - For the second straight weekend Tess would continue to put her stamp on the record books, as her winning time of 1:43.0 in the 600m would tie the school record and make her the fastest senior ever.  Behind her Cassidy's 1:46.0 would bump back some teammates to move her up to 6th on the
All-time PHS 600m list.  Taylor, Jess, Abril, Morgan, and Ana Maria would turn in solid efforts as well.

In the 3200m relay we attempted to pit two evenly matched squads and have a race off.  It ended up working very well and made for an exciting finish.  The quartet of Noemi (2:38.5), Tess, Kara, and Abril shot to a sizable lead after Tess' 2:20.9 leg, but would have their work cut out for them as Kara and Abril would have to hold off a charging Liz and Jessica, after strong legs from their lead legs Allison (2:40.2) and Cassidy(2:28.6).  Not much ground was made through the third leg (Kara's 2:32.0 to Liz's 2:32.9), so it would be up to Jess to fight back and Abril to hang tough.  You could see Jess eating up ground and it was looking like it would be close.  With one lap to go Jess started to make her move around and Abril (2:44.3) tried to fight her off, but to no avail.  Jess (2:31.5) would swing by to lead her team to victory in 10:13.3, while the other team finished in 10:15.8.    The F-S group was never in striking distance of the varsity squads, but had some solid splits and season best efforts in Sabina (2:36.0), Morgan (2:37.5), and Ana Maria (2:40.6).  

The 3200m run saw a great team effort by Jacqui, Madi, and Kelly Ocock lead to big season improvements and a great debut.   Switching leads throughout would keep the girls working well and pushing one another.  After sticking together trough 1600m Kelly looked as if she may try pulling away late, but Jacqui would hang close enough to kick her down over the last 100m taking the win in 12:28.3 over Kelly's 3200m career debut in 12:28.6.  Behind them, Madi would fade a bit, but run a big season best of 12:36.9 and Lei Ann would close well over the last mile to run 12:48.9.  Jacqui, Madi, and Lei Ann all improved their time from Proviso by over :20 seconds.

The 800 saw Silvia (2:48), Dee (2:57), Harpreet (2:58), Lisa (3:04), and Caitlyn (3:06) all post season bests in the varsity race.  The F-S 800m girls gave us a 1-2-3 sweep all in in season best times.  Kelly O'Brien won her first HS race in 2:40.2, with Rebecca (2:46.9) and Marissa (2:49.7) each breaking 2:50 for the first time this season.

The 1600m race was won by Sabina in an all-time PR (breaking her best from the XC time trial) in 5:36.8 all alone out front.  Behind her Megan, Noemi, and Cynthia would run indoor PR's of 5:46.3, 5:52.9, and 6:19.0, while Makenzie would run a season best of 6:07.6.

Many of our girls were completing a workout for the day, running 400's and 200's along with their standard distance events.  Tess (28.6), Cassidy (29.6), and Kara (29.8) would each breakk :30 seconds in the 200m.  Kelly O'Brien and Marissa would both break :70 second in the 4x400m relay. 

Field Events - Katie (6' 6") and Megan (6' 0") would both hit season best marks in the pole vault.  In Kendelle's return from basketball she would top her best throw from all of 2012 (indoor or out) with a toss of 31' 11.5".  

In the LJ, Ashley would also better her all-time best with a jup of 15' 8.25".   Also, in the LJ was multi-time MSL jumping champ Meg Jump getting her first LJ marks of the season after ACL surgery in the fall.  She would jump an encouraging 14' 4.5".    In the TJ, Bridget Ryan would jump an all-time PR of 28' 3" in her first meet since basketball ended.

Overall we saw lots of good things and improvements in all areas of the team.  We've got three weeks until our final indoor meet so we need to keep getting better.  Next up on our schedule is another dual meet this Thursday against Glenbard East.  Go Pirates!

Bolingbrook Dual Meet - Pirate Performances & Splits  
 
February 19, 2013 - Solid performances at back-to-back weekend meets
This weekend is always a tough test for our squad as we are essentially forced away from Palatine due to the school hosting the IHSA State Gymnastics meet.  With no place to practice we have a longstanding tradition of heading out of town for a Friday night at St. Charles East/Saturday morning at Downers Grove North back to back "meet grinder".  This makes for a challenging and tiring weekend as we are in the early stages of our training with girls just getting accustomed to the regimented practice routine and many girls not accustomed to racing at all, much less two days straight.  However, these two meets give the girls a great chance to get accustomed to preparing themselves mentally for the bigger meets down the road and for us to see how competitive we are looking at this early part of the season.

While our primary focus of the weekend of geting in some good quality racing and gaining more experience likely cost us some team points, and perhaps team victories, we walked away with some very encouraging performances in many areas.  However, we have a long way to go and will need to improve significantly to contend for the both the indoor MSL meet in March and the outdoor MSL Championships in early May. 
 
Friday, Feb. 15 - St. Charles East Co-Ed Dual
On Friday night we traveled to St. Charles for our annual dual meet against the Saints.  This meet serves as a nice warm-up for Saturday morning, featuring a few rarely run events, and  most of our girls racing light in prep for a heavier load at DGN.  Even while not loading the events to maximize points we were still in contention until the final event.  Unfortunately we brought to the 4x400m line a crew of distance girls not necessarily known for their 400m prowess.  They gave a valiant effort, but a hotshot lead-off for SCE would give them the gap they would need to take the victory.  However we had some exciting things happen and many new girls learned some things along the way.

Highlights...(unfortunately SCE did not keep very good results, so I do not have places for many events as of yet)

Sprint Crew
Basirat Iginla ran a great 200m (28.7) which just misses the
All-time 200m list, something she should be able to improve on later in the season on a larger track.  She also led off the 4x16om in a team best 22.5, which also just missed the the All-Time 160m Split list

Freshman Gabi Wilson debuted in her first 400m at a Pirate and looked smooth in an impressive 68.9 on the short track in training shoes.  Gabi also anchored her first varsity relay ever to a solid 1:31.3 time in the 4x160m relay, splitting 23.3. 

Caitlin and Kearia both dipped under 10.0 in the 55m hurdles for the first time this season in 9.9 each. Across the board there were girls that made improvements since their first meet at Proviso a week ago.

Distance Crew
Tess nipped her own school record in the rarely run 1000m.  Her time of 3:01.4 just edged her time of 3:01.6 from last year.  While most school records would take the HOM (Highlight of the Meet) award, I have to give this one to the girls in the 600m.

Like the 1000m the 600m is not a race we run often, so the records are not all that deep.  However we had some very solid races from four of our girls.  With no Saints entered it turned in to a Pirate time trial.  Kara took first in 1:45.6, Liz 2nd in 1:46.7, Jess 3rd in 1:51.4, and Taylor 4th in 1:52.7.  The top three all ran PR's for the event and now place 4th, 6th (tie), and 12th respectively on the
All-Time 600m list.  Kara's time was a big drop from her best of 1:51.7 last year at Bolingbrook and puts her as the #3 sophomore behind 800m greats Ruth Allen and teammate Tess.  Liz had a huge drop as well from her previous best and looked great in only her 3rd race of the season. 

The 800m had an exciting finish with four Pirates finish within .04 seconds of one another in season bests times.  Ana Maria, Sabina, and Madi had a photo finish all in 2:39.1, with Megan getting squeezed back to 2:39.5.  You know what they say. "Three's company...four's a crowd!"  Sorry Megan.  Cynthia broke 3:00 (2:57.5) for the first time this season in the JV race.

Freshman Kelly and Marissa had encouraging marks in the 1600m.  Marissa is making quick gains and running with much more confidence than in the fall.  Her season ending XC 1600m time trial was run in 6:46...she opens up her track season in 6:25.  Awesome!.   Kelly was running her first HS meet ever after only four days of practice.  She looked like a lost puppy out there, but managed a solid 5:57.5 in her debut.   This puts her on the short list of freshman PHS girls to run under 6:00 in their debut 1600m and second this season with Sabina. (
All-Time 1600m list - scroll to bottom for debuts). 

The 3200m relay was outgunned but did have a solid anchor leg by Noemi.  Her 2:38.5 leg was an all-time PR for her as she valiantly tried to make up ground.

Field Events
Megan O'Brien is starting off where she left off last year in qualifying for state in the short and discus.  She through 37' 6" which is a huge start for this early part of the season, over a foot farther than she through at this meet in 2012.

Taylor had a season debut of 15' 0" in the long jump and Lorena improved as well to 13' 10" unofficially, as she went off the wrong jump board. 

St. Charles East Dual - Pirate Performances & Splits
 
 
Saturday, Feb 16 - Downers Grove North Quad
After arriving home around 9:00pm on Friday the 7:45am bus time to Downers Grove North came quick, making it feel as if you never left a meet.  However, there were little complaints and the girls did a very good job competing against some solid competition in host DGN, Glenbard West, and Crete-Monee.  We would hang close, but get edged in both levels, placing 3rd as a Frosh-Soph group with 63 pts, behind DGN's 76 and GW's 70, and would finish runner-up in the Varsity with 63.5 to DGN's 68.5.

Meet Highlights included...

Sprint Crew
Katelyn Nix would win the F-S 55m dash in a PR 8.0 and would help leadoff the runner-up FS 4x160m lap relay.  Megan Cunningham would pick up a win in the 55m Hurdles in a time of 10.4, her second win of the day along with the pole vault. 

Caitlin Riedy ran 65.8 in the 400m for 2nd, while also adding a 2nd place with a leg (67.6) on the 4x400m Relay, and a 3rd in the 55m Hurdles in a SB time of 9.4.  Her 400m time was just off her best at the end of last year, and her 55mH time was a big all-time PR.

Other high placers in the sprints were Ashley Proksa (7.8) in the 55m dash finishing in 2nd.  Ashley also helped the 4x160m Relay team of Basirat, Taylor, and Kearia to a 3rd place. 

Distance Crew
Distance girls picked up wins in the F-S level in the 3200m relay (Morgan, Amy, Kelly Oc., & Megan) with a come from behind rally, Sabina in her 3200m debut (ranking her
#12 on the freshman debut list), and Amy in the 1600m run (5:39.2).  The Varsity level picked up wins in the 1600m run with Liz running a fine race, negative splitting a 5:25.9.

The Varsity 3200m Relay became only the 2nd or 3rd team this winter to break 10:00 with a 9:56.9 clocking.  Liz (2:27.0), Cassidy (2:27.1), Kara (2:29.4), and Jessica (2:33.3) battled to the end but would get topped by last springs 4x8 state runner-ups GW.  The FS 3200m saw us fall behind early, but solid legs by Amy (2:36.0) and Megan (2:36.3) would bring us back for the win. 

The 3200m run had our girls lined up against state XC champion Madeline Perez of GW, who would easily decimate the field in 10:39, however our girls all had solid races. Sabina ran a fine debut and not far back from her was Noemi in her first every deuce and Allison who would run solid in 12:35 and 12:36 respectively.  Cynthia would just break 14:00 (13:59) after running 14:22 here last year. 

The 800m had Tess returning from her school record 1000m from Friday night, but she wouldn't be alone today as she had a battle with GW's 4x8 anchor and 2:12 girls Emma Riefel.  Tess was a little passive in comparison to her solo 1000m effort and would get gunned down around the last turn.  Her time of 2:20.8 was a solid effort and a good opener for the open 800m.  She would rebound nicely to run 61.9 for a 400m split in the 1600m relay.   The F-S race was similar to the varsity with Kelly O'Brien getting edged down the homestretch.  Kelly ran a great race for only her 2nd career race, but you could see the indecisiveness as she rounded the finish with one lap to go as to how hard to push it, unfortunately she didn't go hard enough and would be passed.  However, her time of 2:40.9 was a very solid start after only four days of practice.  Behind her Bridget (2:48) and Marissa (2:54) would both run PR's.

We witnessed some solid depth in both 1600m races and some wins (Amy & Liz).  Amy's F-S win was followed close behind with some strong pack running by Ana, Kelly Oc., & Megan Beach going 3-4-5 in 5:48.2, 5:48.3, and 5:48.7 respectively.  The varsity race saw a rather slow and tactical early race broken open midway by Liz and Jess.  After going trough the 800m mark in 2:47, the girls got the race going.  Liz would pull away for the win in with Jess in 2nd (5:29), while Cassidy would struggle in this one at 5:41.  Behind them, Madi (5:56), Jacqui (6:00), Lei Ann (6:04), and Silvia (6:06) would run solid season openers.

Field Events
Megan O'Brien won the shot in a solid follow up throw to Friday night in 36'8".  Megan Thabuteau won the high jump in a season best 4'10" and was third in the triple jump in 31'10".

Ashley was second in the long jump at 15'2", one foot past her 2012 indoor best, while Basirat was 4th in the long jump reaching 14'9", well over a foot past her best indoor mark from last year.   Lorena went 14'5.5", her best from 2012 indoor was 12'3".    Sofia and Janie both had solid marks for freshman at 13'5" and 13'0" to place 3rd and 4th in the F-S level.

Abbie was 3rd in the F-S level shot put at 24'6".

Downers Grove North Quad - Pirate Performances & Splits
 
February 8, 2013 - Lady Pirates kick off season with team win at Proviso West

The 2013 track season is officially underway after completing our first meet of the season in a quad meet at Proviso West.  This was our first competition of the season and the first really hard effort for most since track started a few couple weeks back.  With no indoor facility of our own this first meet is a great chance to see what sort of shape the returning girls are in and what our new Pirates T&F additions bring in terms of talent and competitiveness.   

The meet featured us, the home team Proviso West, and neighboring schools Proviso East and Nazareth.  While the competition was scheduled to kickoff at 4:30pm our first competition of the day would not be in the fieldhouse...it would be on the roads, as a major snowstorm picked up steam causing some major travel difficulties.  While the 3200m relay girls and a few jumpers were dismissed early to get to the meet in time to warm-up the remaining squad was stuck on the bus.  The meet directors decided to start the meet on time, so we ran the 3200m relay at about 4:45pm, but would have to delay the remaining races until about 5:30pm. 

The next event would be the 300m dash, as we decided to have the 3200m event start later in the meet with the 1600m run.  When the bus arrived the girls in the 300m dash had literally 10-15 minutes to warm-up.  The girls did a great job dealing with the adversity and gave solid efforts under the circumstances.  The rest of the meet went smoothly, as we would go on to win both the frosh-soph and varsity levels handedly.

It was a great start and we got in much better work than we would have had we been stuck at Palatine in the snowstorm.  Many girls got their first taste of high school competition, many in their first ever indoor meet, and others busted off some rust and now have a solid starting point to work from.  We've got a long road ahead, lots of work to do, and we all will get much better over the next couple months.

Meet Highlights

Distance Crew
Tess rolled to what was definitely an all-time Pirate 1600m season opener for Proviso as she cruised to a 5:10.6 victory, after taking the 300m dash to open the meet.  With little-to-no warm-up Tess ran 45.3 which ranks her tied 10th on the All-Time Pirate 300m List with Michelle Brunk.  KB (5:34), Sabina (5:48), and Amy (5:38) had fine season debuts as well.  Sabina's (5:48.3) ranks her #13 the All-Time Freshman 1600m Debut List amongst some of Palatine's greats.

 

Jess Lincoln had a great season opener in the 3200m run running 11:35 for the win, looking fast and smooth throughout.  Megan Beach topped her all-time PR running 12:38 for 2nd overall, while Ana Maria just missed her 2012 outdoor PR of 12:34 in running 12:40 for 3rd place.

 

Kirsten would get nipped at the wire in the 800m run, but did manage a indoor all-time PR of 2:39.6, while Morgan would storm to a FS win in her first HS track race running 2:40.3.

 

Both 3200m relays would captured wins with Naomi leading the varsity squad in 2:41, just one second off her all-time PR, and Liz would have the fastest split of the evening with her 2:33.7.

 

KB and Liz would have the fastest 4x4 splits of the day in 66.5 & 67.6.

 

Sprint Crew

The sprint crew started off well with a good hurdles performance with little-to-no practice this early part of the season.  Kearia, Caitlin, and newcomer Savannah would go 1-2-3 in 10.0, 10.1, and 10.8 respectively.  Freshman Megan would run 10.8 as well to win the FS level. 

 

The 55m dash would see Ashley and Basirat run 7.7 and 7.8, both faster than they ran all of last year.  Katelyn (8.0) and Gabi (8.3) would both run very well for freshman in their first race (without spikes I should add).

 

Kearia would lead the 200m group with her 29.9.

 

The Varsity and FS 4 x 200m relays each ran solid races.  Ashley, Basirat, Taylor, and Caitlin ran 29-point splits to cruise to a 1:57.7 win.  The freshman quartet of Janie, Gabi, Megan, and Katelyn would run well just getting edged for the win.

 

Field Event Crew 

Ashley and Basirat would start the meet off with PR's in the long jump at 15' 7" and 14" 7', showing the strength and fitness added during cross country is already paying dividends.

 

Megan T. would go nearly 4-feet past her best TJ from last year to hit 32' 5" and would go 4-6 in the HJ, just 2 inches off her best indoor mark in 2012.  Kearia would TJ 31' 3.5" for an all-time PR.

 

Megan O. would win the shot put with a toss of 33' 9", while freshman Abbie Powers started out with a win in 25' 4". 

 

 

Proviso West Quad - Pirates Performances & Splits

 
January 24, 2013 - Tess commits to the University of Minnesota
Palatine Girls XC and T&F are very proud to announce that senior Tess Wasowicz has committed to continue her stellar running career next fall at the University of Minnesota.  Next month Tess will sign scholarship papers to be a member of the Golden Gophers cross country and track & field squads. 
 

 
In doing so Tess follows former Pirate star and NCAA 10k All-American Amy Laskowske who ran for and graduated from Minnesota.  With one final track season to go Tess has been a major part of our success over the past three and half years.  In Tess' time at PHS she has helped lead the cross country program to a IHSA state title and state runner-ups finishes, two Nike Cross National trips to Oregon, four Regional team titles, three Sectional team titles, and this fall helped lead us to an MSL team title.  She is a 4x All-MSL finisher in XC, 2x Regional Champion, 3x Sectional Medalist (top-10), and a 2x All-Stater in XC.

On the track she hold numerous school records and class records.  She has run 4:59.5 in the 1600m run and has split 2:11.9 in the 800m.  As well Tess has helped lead our 3200m relay team to three top-4 finishes at the State Meet and has also qualified as an individual in both the 800m and 1600m runs, and the 1600m relay. Last track season Tess was the MSL indoor and outdoor 800m and 1600m champion, as well as helping lead both 1600m relays to victory.

Congrats Tess for your achievement and we will look forward to watching you tear it up in the maroon and gold over the next few years.  Until then...let's get to work!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   YouTube PHS XC & TF
 
 
2013 Performance Lists

Indoor Performance List
Outdoor Performance List
"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure."
Peter Marshall
Quote of the Week

4x8 State Runner-ups
KB, Tess, Cass, & Liz


Alums Supporting the Pirates
2011 State 1600m Champ Sarah McIntosh & '12 grad Ellen Smith


Cailtin with some very proud parents after her first state meet


Freshies Sabina & Kelly + AmyK soaking up the State experience


Sabina, Madi, Amy, Kelly, & Coach Parks following 4x8 win at Geneva


Sprint Crew looking sharp day
before MSL Indoor Invite


Sophomore Basirat Iginla
 rolling at "The Brook"



Freshman Sabina Yosif runs to a new 1600m PB of 5:36 at Bolingbrook


Sophomore Ashley Proksa in the
4x400m relay at Bolingbrook thinking..."not so sure about this
400 stuff Coach C!"


Here's hoping someday Liz realizes batons are not for eating!  Yikes!





   
   

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