Naperville Central captures DVC Girls title ahead of crosstown rival Naperville North

By Michael Newman

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Naperville, Ill --- It seemed like she had just been at the same spot some 40 minutes before. That is what the fans inside the Res-Rec Center on the campus of North Central thought when Judy Pendergast (North HS, Naperville) steppe to the line just before the start of the 1600 Meter Run at the DuPage Valley Girls Indoor Conference Meet. The Naperville junior had toed the line 40 minutes before when she started the 800 Meter Run.

“My coach (Dan Iverson) told me it was 38 minutes between the two races,” Pendergast said when asked what the gap between the two races was.

Pendergast almost ran a perfect 800. She took the first 400 meters out in 69 seconds with teammate Jenny Gibson close behind. She then pushed the third 200 in 33 seconds pulling away from Gibson. Her 35 second final 200 brought her in at 2:17.05 (IL #4) more than 2 seconds ahead of her teammate.

It is tough to come back in that short distance of a time and perform at top level. The short rest time did not seem to bother Pendergast. She had company in the first 3 laps with Sarah Schmidt (North HS, Naperville), Sara Atkins (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS), and Rachel Hoffman (Central HS, Naperville) lagged close behind. It was a strong fourth 200 that separated her with the rest of the pack as she crossed 800 meters in 2:28 four seconds ahead. From that point, it was Pendergast against the clock. Her lead increased as she passed 1200 meters in 3:45. The 800 that she had run earlier was starting to take effect. She crossed the line in 5:02.4. Schmidt was next seven seconds back.

“We have run only five indoor meets this year. Every meet she has set a school record. In some cases, she is breaking her own record,” Iverson said. Pendergast broke her personal best in the 800 by three seconds Thursday night. She missed her PR in the 1600 by only two seconds.

“I really wanted to do well in the mile. My PR last week was 5 minutes. I wanted to break it but obviously after the 800 I knew it was going to be tough,” Pendergast said after finishing the 1600. “I was just glad with my times. I PR’d in the 800 by three seconds.”

Naperville North dominated the distance races by taking the top two spots in each of the events. In the 3200 Meter Run, Claire Hamilton pulled away from her sister Emily in the last 400 meters to capture the title by three seconds (11:07.02 – 11:10.17). Naperville North also won the 3200 Meter Relay clocking a season’s best 9:36.00.

Even though the Huskies dominated those events, it was still not enough to overtake crosstown rival Naperville Central for the conference championship. The Redhawks had some dominance of their own sweeping the 55 Hurdles, 55 dash, and clinching the meet team title with a 1-2 finish by D‘Jenne Egharevba and Alissa Gorzak in the 200 Meter Dash. The two crossed the finish line one hundredth of a second of each other (26.55 – 26.56). Naperville Central won the team championship with 143 1/3 points. Naperville North was next with 133 points.

Egharevba and Gorzak also placed 1-2 in the 55 Meter Dash. Egharevba’s 7.39 time was her fastest for the distance this season. The two were also a part of the team’s winning 800 Meter Relay (1:47.02). Jada Haynes and Josilyn Dostal finished within three hundredths of a second of each other when they gave Naperville Central another 1-2 finish this time in the 55 Hurdles (7.83-7.86). Dostal was also strong in the field events winning the Triple Jump (36-3 ½). Alissa Gorzak did pick up a win for her team in the Long Jump (17-8).

Elise Chao (North HS, Naperville) captured the 400 Meter Dash championship (1:02.36). She came back at the end of the meet to anchor Naperville North’s 1600 Meter Relay to victory (4:12.99) by more than six seconds ahead of second place Wheaton-Warrenville South.

Alex Enright (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS) achieved a season’s best in the High Jump. She won the event with a 5-4 clearance (IL #9).

Lake Park had a pair of winners in the field events. Danielle Wojciechowski won the Pole Vault clearing 11-6. Michaela Smith captured the Shot Put (37-8 ¾) finishing eight inches ahead of second place Alex Enright.