April 26th and 28th – Varsity Squad Competes at Lake County Invite and Palatine Relays
The varsity team had hardly been given a break this weekend. Thursday night the Mustangs competed at the competitive Lake County Invitational, Friday night was prom, and early Saturday morning the girls left to compete at yet another varsity meet. Despite all this, the Mustangs arrived at Grayslake Central and Palatine tough and competitive as always.
The running events on Thursday started with the 4x800m relay, consisting of junior Ellie Palacios, sophomore Emily Schlebecker, junior Lauren Anderson, and junior Marisa Perreault, in the fast heat of the event. Emily helped out the team by running a new PR in her split, and the overall relay dropped 7 seconds from this season’s previous best time, and scored points for Mundelein. Next up, the 3200m run, junior Claire Naughton and freshman Kelsey Loar both put in a great effort and ran new season bests here. Claire dropped 5 seconds from her previous time, good enough to score 5th, and is now close to breaking her PR set 2 years ago. Kelsey ran in her first 3200m at an invite, and placed 7th overall out of 25 girls, while topping her PR by 6 seconds.
In the 800m run, Emily Schlebecker ran her previous PR here after coming off her relay, and managed to hold off a charging Lake Forest girl with her kick to ensure 5th place. Freshman Katie Stancykiewicz ran a new PR in the 300m Hurdles, bettering her PR set at Monday’s dual meet by a full second. In the 1600m run, Ellie Palacios and Marisa Perreault returned from their relay to compete and scored 6th and 7th. Ellie Palacios topped her PR set on Monday by 3 seconds, and Marisa Perreault ran a new season best as well. In the 200m dash, Senior Katie Christensen dropped a second and Senior Camille Powell dropped 2 seconds from their previous season bests. In the field events, Senior Alex Boehm tied her PR in the shot put, and freshman Kelsey Toland tied her PR’s as well in the Triple Jump and Pole Vault.
Early Saturday morning after Prom, the varsity Mustangs left to compete at the prestigious Palatine Relays. This is one of the more competitive and difficult meets the Mustangs compete at, with many teams from different parts of the state here. The weather that day was not ideal with temperatures in the mid 40’s throughout the day and gusts of 20mph, but fortunately the rain did let up. Due to the weather conditions, the Mustangs focused more on places rather than bettering times, though PR’s were seen.
At this meet there are individual events where schools are allowed one entry. There are also a number of additional relay events different from the standard meets (8 running relays in total). The field events are scored as relays as well, allowing for 3 entries. Due to the additional spots, some girls had the chance to compete for Mundelein in their first varsity meet, such as senior Valeria Martinez in shot put, and freshman Darlice Bouzi in discus.
The Frosh/Soph 1600m medley, consisting of sophomore Clarissa Montiel, Katie Stancykiewicz, freshman Hannah DuVall, and Emily Schlebecker put in a good effort and earned 6th place. In the frosh/soph 800m medley, freshman Ashley Parola ran a new PR in her leg of the 400. She topped her time by 2 seconds, an impressive improvement on that cold day. The Distance Medley, consisting of Claire Naughton, junior Morgan Lohr, junior Emily Zagula, and Marisa Perreault ran very well. Claire ran a great 1200m leg and put the Mustangs in a good position, Morgan held that place, Emily ran a phenomenal 800m split, a new season best, and moved the team up a place. Marisa ran the 1600m leg and fought off another miler trying to pass her in the beginning. The relay team scored 5th overall, a fun race to watch. Ellie Palacios competed in the 3200m run, with many notable two-milers here. Ellie had a strong finish, as she passed a girl in the final stretch. She ended up taking 4th place while establishing a new PR. Marisa Perreault also competed in a stacked 1600m, and earned 6th place. She ran a better time than her earlier mile that day by nearly 10 seconds.
The highlights in the field events included freshman Alexis Metke jumping a new PR in the triple jump, and the high jump relay consisting of Kelsey Toland, Emily Zagula, and Katie Christensen taking 5th place overall.
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