Girls track and field: After delay, Batavia takes home DuKane Conference championship

ROSELLE – The DuKane Conference meet was a little late getting started because of rainy weather and required two days to complete.

That didn’t seem to bother Batavia in the least.

Once the meet at Lake Park in Roselle got rolling, so did the Bulldogs.

In a meet that started May 2 and was completed the following day, Batavia took home the team title. The Bulldogs scored 155 points, followed by Geneva (116.5), Wheaton North (93.5), St. Charles North (84) and Wheaton Warrenville South (74) in the top five.

Batavia’s Avery Hacker was fastest in the 3,200-meter run at 11:24. Izzy Taylor (12.47 seconds) won the 100 meters and 200 (25.34). Elizabeth Wende triumphed in the 400 (58.19) and was second in the 200. Abby Wirth was first in the triple jump (11.06 meters).

Batavia also came in first in the 4x200 relay.

The Bulldogs were first in the 4x100 relay in the time of 48.30 behind the team of Wende, Taylor, Madison Wilson and Mariah Wilson.

“This means the world to us,” said Madison Wilson, a senior. “I’m glad to be a part of it and glad to help out the team as much as I can.”

With senior Reagan Sipla running anchor, St. Charles North took the opening event, the 4x800 relay, in the time of 9:51.09.

“[Sipla] brings a lot of toughness,” North Stars coach Anthony Enright said.

St. Charles North had a winner in the shot put with junior Tosin Oshin.

St. Charles North’s Reese Thomas, Natalya Niestedt, Zoe Ulaszek and Elise Pimsner ended the meet with a win in the 4x400 relay in 4:02.82.

Geneva’s Alyssa Flotte, a freshman, was victorious in the 100 hurdles (15.78).

Geneva’s Reilly Day won the long jump (5.35 meters).

Marley Andelman of St. Charles East won the 800 and also triumphed in the 1,600 in 2:16.43.

Wheaton Warrenville South senior Haylie Hinckley won the high jump (1.62 meters).

Coach Kasey Alderman said the title couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person.

“Haylie is just incredibly talented,” Alderman said. “She’s pretty fearless and is willing to go for whatever she wants. She’s a great teammate and she’s always willing to go the extra mile.”

Hinckley also is a star gymnast and does the all-around. She’ll continue gymnastics when she enrolls at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the fall.

The senior also said there is a possibility that she can restart her track and field career in college as well.

“This is very exciting,” said Hinckley, who earned her first conference high jump crown. “It’s a very special moment for me.”

She said she didn’t take up track until she was a freshman at Wheaton Warrenville South, when she connected with Alderman.

“I was a gymnast and I guess she saw something in me,” Hinckley said.

Three years later, she’s atop the DuKane Conference as high jump champion.

“This really blows my mind because when I was a freshman, I would watch girls jump like 5-5,” Hinckley said. “I thought I could never do that because of my stature (she stands 5-4). “It was definitely a struggle, but I knew I could do it.”

Sophia Dalrymple of Wheaton North won the 300 hurdles.

Klara Volkova of Lake Park was first in the discus.