Kara Glenn had been feeling ill since Monday. She had been working hard to overcome a rough start to the indoor season, and signs weren’t necessarily pointing toward a peak performance.
So all the St. Charles North sophomore did was win the 800 meters at the Kane County girls track and field meet Friday at Kaneland. Her time of 2:10.30 is the top time in Illinois this year and the 44th best nationally.
She won wire-to-wire, pulling away at the end from St. Charles East’s Nicole Mayer.
That race was a microcosm of the entire meet, with the North Stars taking the championship with 124.5 points. The Saints’ 110 points was good for second place, and Geneva finished third with 95.
“It feels really good, especially since I feel like I had a bit of a rough end to cross country and then a rocky start to track in indoor,” Glenn said. “But it feels good because I know I’ve worked for it, and it feels really good to see everything I’m doing paying off.
“I really wanted to leave it all on the track. I’m here, might as well get it done.”
St. Charles East’s Madeline Piekarz won the 100 meters with a time of 12.47. She narrowly defeated North’s Alexzandria Richardson, who came back to win the 200 in 26.38 seconds.
“I’m off to a great start because I PR’d, so I’m happy about that, and also I did better than my seed time,” said Piekarz, who also ran the 400 and 800 meter relays for the Saints.
Numerous close finishes kept things interesting. Gina Dutkanych of Aurora Central Catholic leaned at the finish to best the Saints’ Maeve Bolsoni in the 400. In the next race, the 300 hurdles, St. Charles North’s Katie Shook edged Geneva’s Alyssa Flote by .02 seconds.
In the field, Burlington Central won twice, with Cailen O’Brien capturing the high jump and LaRaiya Cunningham Duncan taking the triple jump. She also finished second in the long jump behind St. Charles East’s Siri Forsell.
St. Charles North’s Madison Brolsma (11.17 meters) captured the shot put, while Clara Meier of Dundee-Crown (33.38) won the discus. ACC’s Molly Russelburg won the pole vault.
Back on the track, Hampshire started strong on an evening better suited for Friday night football, winning the 400 relay in 49.70. The Whip-Purs’ Reese Long then won the 3,200 with a time of 11:29.15.
St. Charles East won both the 800 and 1,600 meter relays, with Luca Ketter, Forsell and Piekarz competing in both events.
Geneva started the evening by taking the 3,200 relay. The Vikings’ Sofia Borter won the 1,600 meters in 5:08.95.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260501/girls-track-and-field/girls-track-and-field-glenns-blistering-800-helps-st-charles-north-claim-kane-county-crown/