The Downers Grove North girls track and field team team’s only blemish so far in 2026 is losing one open meet. Otherwise, it’s been all wins.
That includes Saturday’s Sue Pariseau Invitational at Glenbard West, which it dominated from the start with a score of 123 despite not putting out its primary lineup.
“You start to mess around with things here and see what you got in different places,” said Downers Grove North coach Matt Maletich. “So it wasn’t the lineup you would put together if you were trying to win the biggest meet of the year or something.”
Anna Grapenthian and Blake Weltler immediately set the Trojans up nicely in the long jump — the day’s first event — by placing first and second, respectively, with distances of 5.30 and 5.23 meters.
Perhaps the most exciting moment for the Trojans came when their 4x100-meter relay team of Aniya Hubbard, Charlotte Stanton, Ava Flynn and Averi Johnson won with a time of 49.56 seconds, just ahead of Lake Zurich’s 49.59. Johnson, a freshman, was neck and neck with the Bears’ London Chester for the final few meters before pulling off the victory.
“As we were approaching the last 50 meters, I could see that she was starting to tire a little bit,” Johnson said. “And I was able to kind of put on the last bit of what I call my jets, and I was just able to push through really hard.”
Johnson also was at the end of the Trojans’ 4x200 relay victory alongside Stanton, Weltler and Adriana Mariscano in 1:45.98.
Geneva (86) finished second largely because of Alyssa Flotte, who won both the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles with respective times of 15.88 and 45.55. Also helping its cause were Sofia Borter winning the 3,200 in 10:59.39 and Taylor Peahl taking the 800 in 2:19.82.
“We compete against the best schools in the state,” said the Wingate-bound Peahl. “We deserve to be here. We’ve been racing these times. We put in the effort, the work, the training, and we just have the same amount of chances as any other school has.”
Naperville North (64) placed fourth after wins by Leah Davis in the 100 (12.65) and the 4x800 relay team of Eve Rowe, Sophia Schulz, Chloe Piot and Rianna Tandon (9:40.26).
Arisa Bisofa largely was responsible for Lake Zurich’s fifth-place showing (61.5). After winning the discus with a 43.40, she claimed the shot put after scoring an 11.66. And yet, she wasn’t about to gloss over the mistakes that she made.
“I was expecting a better day,” Bisofa said. “I scratched a couple of my good throws, (which) fell out of the ring. Could have been better, but I’m very happy with what I got today.”
Elianna Moody of Wheaton North (57) helped her team place sixth with a win in the triple jump (10.91).
Host Glenbard West (55) tied for seventh by winning the 4x400 relay — the meet’s final event — in 4:12.99 behind Alexa Novak, Viki Hrdlicka, Nora Cullerton and Shayne Dietzen.
Willowbrook was ninth (39) after Rachel Simek finished third in the 800 in 2:25.45.
Gabrielle Falls got Wheaton Academy (16th place) on the board with a fifth-place finish in the long jump (4.93).
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260425/girls-track-and-field/girls-track-and-field-downers-grove-north-dominates-pariseau-invite-to-continue-impressive-spring/