Deep Plainfield North wins Southwest Prairie Conference Meet

MINOOKA – Depth is a luxury every coach desires, and Plainfield North girls track and field coach Andy Derks is blessed with it this year.

The Tigers are so deep in sprints, for instance, that Lauren Dellangelo and Aniya Poindexter ran the 100 in Wednesday’s Southwest Prairie Conference Championship, rather than state-ranked Taylor McClain.

Dellangelo and Pointexter, usually relay specialists, finished 1-2, with Dellangelo hitting the line in a meet record-tying 12.05 seconds to Poindexter’s 12.12.

“It’s good not to run the same thing all the time,” said Dellangelo, who also won the 400 in 56.10.

“Mix it up,” Poindexter said in agreement.

And McClain? She romped in the 200 on a day the Tigers outdistanced Oswego East for the conference title, running the curve in 24.6 seconds, the sixth-best time in Illinois this season. She beat Minooka’s Elizabeth Egwunwoke by 0.46 seconds. Egwunwoke’s 25.06 is the state’s 22nd-best time.

McClain also anchored the Tigers’ 4x200 relay team to a conference record 1:40.82.

“I had the wind to my back,” McClain said of the 200, held after the cold front rolled in from the northeast. “I was able to relax. I’m so blessed. I was a little tired after the 4x200 [about 80 minutes earlier].

“And a [season] PR. I wasn’t feeling good earlier today, but here I am.”

At next week’s Class 3A sectional, McClain will be in the blocks for the 100 and 200, and running in the associated relays, and could qualify for the state meet in the maximum four events.

The Tigers are equally adept in distances, exemplified by sophomore Marlie Czarniewski’s conference record-smashing 10:33.71 in the 3,200. She and Minooka senior Maya Ledesma (10:37.59) wiped out the old mark of 10:44.66, set by Minooka’s Emily Shelton in 2017.

“I could feel her on my shoulder,” Czarniewski said of Ledesma. “You’ve just got to keep pushing. My thought was, ‘I’m four laps in and I want to win. I’m not going to be racing these laps for nothing.’”

Ledesma felt the same way, and proved it by winning the 1,600 by nearly six seconds and pulling away from senior Elsie Czarniewski, of Plainfield North, in the final lap. Ledesma trailed in each of the first three laps but put on a push in the last 300 meters to win going away.

Plainfield North, polishing off its victory with a conference record of 3:54.93 in the 4x400 relay, finished with 147 points to Oswego East’s 119.5, with host Minooka third at 116. Yorkville (72 points) was fourth.

Oswego East’s Layla Brisbon breezed in the 100 hurdles, winning in a personal-best 15 seconds flat for a 0.54-second victory over Shyi Harris of Plainfield North. Brisbon went on to finish fifth in the 300 hurdles, captured by Gianna Caldwell of Minooka.

“I had to get myself in the right mind space,” Brisbon said after winning the 100. “And I was warmed up.”

Joliet Central’s Madison King upset top-seeded Natalia Nahs of Minooka to win the 800 in 2:18.37, beating Nahs by 1.21 seconds.

Oswego East also won the pole vault (Ava Karg, 3.43 meters) and discus (Lia Paribello, 39.3m). Paribello also took 10th in the shot put, won by Yorkville’s Courtney Clabough (12.35m). Yorkville’s Hailey Kovaka won the high jump at 1.59 meters.

Plainfield Central’s Aaliyah Rodriguez set personal bests in winning the triple jump (11.14m) and long jump (5.5m), accounting for 20 of Plainfield Central’s 29 points.