Whirl a fun outing for runners

Published: July 10, 2009
Kane County Chronicle

BATAVIA - Not many people get to say they ran their first 5K at the age of five.

So, when Caroline Hager of Batavia crossed the finish line of the Windmill City Whirl 5K with her father, Matt, by her side keeping pace, she got plenty of cheers.

“It was pretty much her idea,” Matt said, “She sees her mom and I run everyday, so she just wanted to join in.”

Many minutes earlier, another man from Batavia, Doug Jones, would cross the finish line first to take his third Windmill Whirl race in 17:51.

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “I’ve been running this race since 1980... It’s always nice to win the hometown race.”

The two moments seemed to encompass what the 5K organizers had set out to accomplish; a course that was as equally satisfying for the serious and casual runner.

For the second year in a row, the Batavia Park District decided to hold the race in the evening with the Windmill City Festival going on alongside. Although Jones said he preferred a morning start time, Allison Sohr said it helps attract a whole different breed of runner to the race.

“We found that if we have it on Friday, everyone can come and enjoy the festival after they’ve finished,” said Sohr, the director of marketing and public relations for the Batavia Park District.

Of the 230-plus runners, Sohr says about half of them are serious, with the rest being more casual participants. Putting the race alongside the festival helps, but also, she adds, the course itself along the Fox River is an attraction in and of itself.

“The Fox River bike path is a runner’s paradise,” she said, “and it’s not as intimidating as some of the circuit courses.”

Runner Chris Johnston helped lay out the course along the bike path on the east side of the Fox River.
“Course knowledge is advantageous for any runner,” he said. “I went out earlier today on my bike, just to check it out before the race.”

Also enjoying the course was Anna Hartlaub of Elgin, running with a group of 20 or so others wearing “Meaney’s Training,” shirts. The group, organized by Nancy Meaney of South Elgin, train and sign up for races together, encouraging each other along the way.

“Everyone’s at their own level,” she said. “We always say, ‘the first one back has to go back and get the rest.’”

First, second and third place trophies were awarded based on gender and age group, which meant that almost a third of the participants took home a prize, along with a park district gift bag.

But as Hartlaub took her second-place trophy for her age group, she said the prize is not what makes her come back to the Windmill Whirl.

“It’s a good way to get some exercise,” she said. “We have a lot of fun doing it.”

Hynes breaks school record again

Published: May 7, 2009

Kane County Chronicle

NAPERVILLE – Even if St. Charles East didn't place first in the Upstate Conference Girls Track Meet, there was plenty of reasons for the Saints' camp to celebrate.

The greatest of which arguably came from Lizzy Hynes' second school record-breaking time in the 3,200-meter run in two weeks.

Hynes kept close behind Lake Park's Lindsay Flanagan, for the first 1,200 meters, before breaking ahead.

"I didn't want to be leading early and then die out in the end," she said. 

Hynes ably avoided a flameout, speeding to first in 10:32.2, outpacing Flanagan by nine seconds. East's Mallory Abel followed them both to place third in 11:36.75.

"It's pretty cool taking first," Hynes said. "I really wanted to run against the top runner in the state. I'm pretty excited for sectionals now." 

And she's not the only one according to East coach Denise Hefferin. With Hynes ruling the long-distances on Thursday night, East also flexed its muscles in the 4x200-meter relay, placing second in 1:49.44.

"This is the year we've had a sprints team, instead of just a few really good sprinters," Hefferin said. "It started during [the indoor season] and has solidified outdoors."

East finised second to Waubonsie Valley with 94 points. St. Charles North finished in sixth place.

Hefferin said the Saints just needed to keep their heads going into their post-season.

"We just to need keep doing what we're doing," she said. "As long as they're calm and focused on sectionals, we'll be all right."

St. Charles North hung around fifth place in the team scores for most of the day, with highlights sprinkled throughout. Jenna Loynachan showed off her season-long improvements by taking first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.94. 

North also earned big points in the pole vault, with Meredith Beird and Danielle Goebbert clearing 10-feet to place second and third respectively.

"They're coming out strong," North coach Sarah Manwaring said of her team. "I think we've continually dropped our times all season."

Nonetheless, Manwaring said that missing out on the Kane County Meet because of Batavia's swine flu closure was a hurdle for the North Stars to get over before the conference meet.

"I still think our big break will be at sectionals," she said. "We're testing things out here that we wanted to do at the Kane County Meet." 

The meet was delayed for 30 minutes after a short thunderstorm rolled by Neuqua Valley. But both coaches said the weather is the least of their concerns going into sectionals. 

"We just need to keep off injury, sickness, soreness," Manwaring said. "The delay was no big deal. I'm just glad they got to run."

East finishes 2nd in UEC Girls Indoor Track Meet

Published: March 20, 2009

Kane County Chronicle

Photo by Wendy Kemp

ST. CHARLES – If the Upstate Eight Conference Girls Indoor Track Meet is a stepping stone for the outdoor season, both St. Charles North and East saw promising signs of team unity.

For instance, there was East senior Jess Nier, who sprinted toward a third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles in 9.57 seconds, while her freshman protegé, Annie Martines, followed behind, finishing fifth in 9.8 seconds.

"We both wanted to place," Nier said, "so it's really awesome that we did."

On North's side, the 4x160-meter relay team of seniors Jenna Loynachan, Coral Cass, Vanessa Grano and sophomore Jessica Krantz came in second place in 1:28.45, edging out Neuqua Valley.

"They did a really nice job. They worked a ton on their hand-off," North coach Sarah Manwaring said.

The first steps of cohesion might not have put either school on top of the meet, with Waubonsie Valley holding the lead, East finished  second with 99 points thanks to some strong individual performances, like Mallory Abel, who took first in the 3,200-meter run in 11:25.29. Her teammate, Grace Gordon came in at third in 12:09.44.

East coach Denise Hefferin said the meet was, "a points game," which explained why the Saints ended up not running the 4x800 relay, despite being seeded first.

"We kind of re-arranged our lineup a little bit to get points elsewhere," Hefferin said.

The move paid off in that East avoided one of the more controversial races of the meet. 

Girls from Waubonise Valley, Neuqua Valley and Bartlett ran an extra lap early in the race, causing confusion for one of North's runners, who also ran extra. All four teams were disqualified from the race.

Manwaring said she would not give the DQ much thought, instead focusing on fostering North's continued development and improvements.

"We're learning how to compete, we're putting together a relay, we're coming together and we're working hard," she said.

Hefferin also pointed out areas for East to improve in, but also spoke to an advantage they had in the meet.

"We've had a lot of experience indoors," Hefferin said, "because we have so many meets at our place."

That much was evident in the number of Saints scattered on the leader boards. Maya Rittmanic placed second in the high jump (5-4) and third in the long jump (16-10). Rachel Rawson also placed second in the 400-meter dash in 1:02.84.

"It is a jumping point into the outdoor season," she said. That means that the Saints will be working toward the outdoor conference meet. 

"It won't be that long before we'll see all these people again," Hefferin said.

And next time, she says, they hope to finish in first.

Prepared for outdoor season

Published: March 19, 2009

Kane County Chronicle

Note: The paper has changed its name to simple, The Chronicle. But I will continue to publish it as the Kane County Chronicle so as not to confuse it with the DeKalb Daily Chronicle. Or the San Francisco Chronicle...

Photo of Joe Vitali by Rob Winner

ST. CHARLES – Both St. Charles North and East tried to put a positive spin on the results of the Upstate Eight Conference Boys Indoor Track Meet.

Neuqua Valley nearly doubled its closest competitor – Waubonsie Valley (82) – in the team standings, scoring 162 points.

Still, the North Stars (65) and Saints (24) – who finished  fourth and sixth overall, respectively –  viewed this final indoor meet as a stepping stone toward the outdoor season.

“We have a lot of young kids running today,” East coach Ben Provencher said, “so this is a great education for them.”

Two of those Saints getting an education were juniors Tim Johnson and Andrew Gomez. Johnson placed fifth in the 800-meter run at 2:04.9.

“Tim in the 800, he learned a lot about running a race today,” Provencher said. “He saw a couple of things happen in front of him that he didn’t expect.”

And Gomez placed sixth in the shot put, earning a point for the Saints with a 44-02 throw.

“It’s really nice to see Andrew get in the finals,” Provencher said. “This is his first year throwing in varsity, and this is his first time getting to the finals in a big meet.”

Joe Vitali also did well for the Saints, placing sixth in the 55-meter low-hurdles in 8.13 seconds.

The North Stars fared better in team points thanks to a few big wins. Senior Steven Miller outpaced his competition in the 800-meter run, winning the race in 2:01.98.

But one of the more exciting races resulted in a second place for North. Senior Todd Vankerhoff kept pace with Neuqua Valley junior Aaron Beattie, pulling ahead of him for a few laps of the 3,200-meter run.

But Beattie found another burst of speed in the final turn and won in 9:41.15, nearly 4 seconds faster than Vankerhoff.

“I knew he was very capable of taking it very fast,” Vankerhoff said of his nearest competitor. “Toward the end I saw I had a chance to challenge, and I wanted to go for it because why not? It’s a race. ... Between the two of us, we probably got a faster time that way.”

“Todd ran a really smart race,” North coach Kevin Harrington said, “He had really even splits and he can grind out a lot of distance right now. ... And that’s good because Todd hasn’t done much speed work yet.”

Harrington also expressed pride in junior Kyle Zankowski, who finished right behind Vankerhoff with a time of 9:53.4.

North also showed confidence in the high jump as senior Andrew Carlson and junior Jake Whitehead took first and second place, leaping 6-1 and 6-0, respectively.

But in keeping with the spirit of improvement, the two came out of the event more critical than celebratory. Carlson had hit 6-4 the meet before, but he says a bruised hip held him down.

Whitehead sang a similar tune, happy for the placement, but looking for a higher jump,

“I had a good day, but I want that 6-2,” Whitehead said. “I barely missed it.”

Harrington said that despite some setbacks like his two best sprinters, Eric Battle and Tim Rowley, missing the meet because of injury, he mainly wanted to get a good start on the outdoor season.

“Our goal today coming in was whatever we did, do it well,” he said.