Distance Night In Palatine Girls Preview

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Date/Time: Saturday, April 21/7pm
Location: Palatine High School; Palatine IL
Meet Program: Click Here
MileSplit Illinois Social Media: @milesplitil #DNP18
Race Schedule: Community races- 6:30p; Undercard- 7p; Main event- 9p
Full Race Schedule: 

The Community Races will start at 6:30 pm with the following order of events:

  • 6:30 pm Youth boys/girls 800 (6th grade and below)
  • 6:40 pm Junior high boys/girls 1600 (7th and 8th grade)
  • 6:50 pm Open 1600 men/women (post-high school)

The Undercard will start at 7:00 pm with the following order of events:

  • 7:00 pm Emerging Girls 1600
  • 7:08 pm Freshman boys 1600
  • 7:15 pm Girls 3200 - Section 1
  • 7:29 pm Boys 3200 - Section 1
  • 7:40 pm Girls 800 - Section 1
  • 7:45 pm Girls 800 - Section 2
  • 7:50 pm Boys 800 - Section 1
  • 7:54 pm Boys 800 - Section 2
  • 7:58 pm Girls 1600 - Section 1
  • 8:05 pm Girls 1600 - Section 2
  • 8:12 pm Boys 1600 - Section 1
  • 8:18 pm Boys 1600 - Section 2
  • 8:24 pm Girls Distance Medley Relay
  • 8:40 pm Boys Distance Medley Relay
  • 8:54 pm National Anthem / Special Olympics 800 

The Main Event will start at 9:00 pm with the following order of events:

  • 9:00 pm Girls 800 - Section 3
  • 9:07 pm Boys 800 - Section 3
  • 9:14 pm Girls 3200 - Section 2
  • 9:28 pm Boys 3200 - Section 2
  • 9:41 pm Girls 1600 - Section 3 (Run in "The Gauntlet" with spectators on the track)
  • 9:50 pm Boys 1600 - Section 3 (Run in "The Gauntlet" with spectators on the track)
  • 10:00 pm Costume 4 x 400 relay
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-The Breakdown-
Saturday in general will be a sigh of relief for the "extended winter" that Mother Nature has bestowed upon us. Temps are expected to climb in the upper 50s and maybe just a tab bit drop into the 40s as the day time hours wane won't be so bad. 

The 800 will be a mood starter-

The state leader senior Maddie Marasco of Schaumburg is entered in the meet but not here. Instead the U of Illinois bound Marasco will be racing the 1600. Defending champion Stephanie Kriss is back and she will not be a surprise this team after winning it all from section 2. Kriss has already put some outstanding numbers up on her resume. The Highland Park sophomore earned all-state honors last year and has busted the track for 2:11.83 during the indoor season As good as Kriss has been, she will be facing a monumental challenge from Rachel Hickey. The outstanding senior from Lasalle-Peru actually won the "championship section" but placed second a year ago. Hickey, whose personal best is 2:13.49, has big goals this season and taking home the top prize is one of them. She and Kriss will contest the fast section face to face for the very first time. 

Since this is a particularly good year for two laps we cannot discount the likes of  Gillian Fiene of Illiana ChristianSavannah Noethlich of New Trier, Marne Sullivan of New Trier, and Mikenna Robinson of Neuqua Valley. They all are sub 2:15 girls thus far, and Robinson for one likes a fast start which should lead to sizzling marks.

The 3200 is going to surprise-

From first glance this event does not particularly great because there is no Naperville North girls or no super Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West. But a closer look will reveal the likes of big time emerging talent. Melissa Manetsch (Libertyville), Abby Lopez (Argo), Campbell Petersen (Dunlap), and Jenna Schwartz (Waterloo) are the key names. 

Manetsch is top seed and had the upper hand on the track with her 10:46 personal best from winning the Illinois Top Times. It is time to go under 10:40 and it can happen with 2A state xc champion Schwartz in the field. Schwartz's best is only 10:57 but she has rarely been pushed in her races. Remember she supposed won the harrier title by surprise even though she has been a winner nearly her entire life. The first year high schooler Petersen was state runner up to Schwartz and a good finisher. She will challenge along another surprise of this school year, Lopez. The little bot can inflict some serious damage on a field if she can get a fast start. 

The main event will be second to none-

It will be a challenge to find a field as deep as this in the state. Defending champion Olivia Niziolek (Maine South) is back.  But there is Corinna Pena (Neuqua) who ran a personal best 4:59.84 indoors. She is on a running high for sure and someone who could win this event. Though there are a few other girls with personal best times under 5:00 coming in like Jocelyn Long (Barrington), Isabelle Christiansen (Oswego), and Peyton Sippy (Janesville Craig, WI), we may as well include Madison Marasco into the mix. The 800 star from Schaumburg moves up to make a case for supremacy. Marasco has a personal best 4:40.94 in the 1500m she earned from the USATF JO Nationals last summer. That time translates to sub 5:00 and maybe we could see an actual watershed moment on Saturday night.

Naperville North presents self challenge in Distance Medley Relay-

The Huskies crew decided to merge themselves together and go after a fast national mark. Their seed time of 12:15 is reasonable and doable, but will be a challenge because the quartet is racing at the high powered Glenbard West invite in the morning. Each one of the girls will be contesting individual events. Coach Dan Iverson is looking into the future when the girls will have to race on back to back days at state. This will be the ultimate test for sure. The team will consist of Alex Morris (1200), Claire Hill (400), Hannah Ricci (800) and Sarah Schmitt (1600).