By Michael Newman

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Batavia, Ill --- Fans learned that if they went to a meet that the Naperville North Girls team was involved in last fall, they would see a something special performance from Judy Pendergast. It applied Friday evening in the 1600 Meter Run, one of the spotlight events, of the Batavia Distance Madness Meet at the Batavia High School Fieldhouse.

It was the intention of Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson and Pendergast to start her season a week earlier at the NCC Cardinal HS Classic. A flu bug hit her forcing her to miss three days of school. Good things come to those who wait and they did for the 3A State Cross Country Champion. Pendergast had the lead wire to wire on her way to the best time (4:49.30) so far in the United States for the 1600 Meter Run.

It looked like the race would never start as the gun for the starter malfunctioned three straight times delaying that start. While the other competitors milled a little around the starting line, Pendergast kept her place focused on the first turn and what she needed to do. When the race finally started, Pendergast shot to the lead in her usual fashion. Iverson said before the race that workouts that she had run indicated that a fast 1600 was in the offing. He had her paced at 4:45.

She glided through the first 400 meters in 69 seconds. Her pace slowed a little in the next 400 as she passed by in 2:21.8. She was still on pace for her race goal. There was a race going on behind her even though the focus was on Pendergast. Ashley Tutt (Minooka HS) and Anne Zaher (Hinsdale Central HS) were running a fast pace going through the 800 in a sub-5 2:26. The pack behind the duo was between 2:30 – 2:32.

The pace slowed down for Pendergast in the next 400 as she passed by the 1200 in 3:35. The last time she race was for the United States Junior National team in Scotland at the beginning of January. She maintained that pace for the final two laps. There are some runners that call their first race of the season a “rust buster” as they are getting used to racing again. For Judy to run the best time in the nation in her first race, good things are ahead for this future Harvard University student / athlete.

“I wanted to run 2:18-2:19 at the 800 and I was a little bit slow at that point. Being that it was my first meet, I did not know what I would run,” Pendergast said. “I just wanted to see how fast I could move my legs today.”

Meet organizers wanted a fast 1600 and they received just that. Zaher crossed the line second (5:03.01) just ahead of Tutt (5:03.45). Batavia’s Dakota Roman finished fourth on her home track (5:04.47) with a personal best. Overall, the first eleven finishers were all under 5:12. Pendergast’s time is also believed to be the fastest indoor time ever for an Illinois High School Girls’ athlete. And we are only in March.

The Boys 1600 Meter Race had a little more drama than the race that preceded it. Danny Kilrea (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) forced the pace issue early blowing by the first 400 in 62 seconds. Huntley’s Keagan Smith and Seth Conroy were right on Kilrea’s shoulder at that point. Another second behind was Blake Evertsen (Hinsdale Central HS) and Jack Aho (Grayslake Central HS). If Kilrea wanted to stretch the pack out, he was achieving that.

Kilrea went through the 600 in a blazing 1:35 with no change in the order behind him. It slowed down the next 200 meters to a 36 lap as he passed by the 800 in 2:11. Aho started to move towards the front sensing it was time for him to take the lead. He made two moves on the Lyons Township sophomore in the next two laps but Kilrea would not yield the lead. As they came off the curve coming to the start/finish line with two laps to go, Aho made one definitive move breaking the race wide open.

Aho passed by in 3:17 with Kilrea, Evertsen, Smith, and Conroy trying to stay close but with no avail. Aho closed in 31 and 30 seconds on the final two laps crossing the line in a state seasonal best of 4:18.11. Conroy caught Evertsen at the line by nineteen hundredths of a second (4:20.53 – 4:20.72). Kilrea finished fourth (4:22.86) achieving a personal best.

“I was able to tuck in the first 800. I just settled in behind and let the other guys do the work.  It felt comfortable for me,” Aho said after his race. “The plan coming into this meet was to get a fast time.  When we went by the 800 in 2:10, I felt the pace slowing and decided to take the lead. I was feeling really good then.”

The pace of the meet early on caused some problems for the runners in the championship 800 Meter Run races as at one point the meet was ahead of the proposed schedule by close to 15 minutes as they were rolling race by race. It did not seem to bother Michaela Hackbarth (Downers Grove South HS) as she stepped on the starting line. She said afterwards that she did not have time to get any pre-race strides in but that did not seem to affect her in her race.

This 800 race was a rematch of eight days prior where Hackbarth and Vanessa Flaherty (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) were only separated by half a second at North Central College. It looked like the scenario would be the same Friday night as the two runners went by the 400 in 67 seconds. Flaherty edged closer to Hackbarth in the next lap and tried to pass her right before the bell lap. The two went through the 600 in 1:41 but Hackbarth would not yield the lead. She found one more gear that Flaherty did not have and slowly pulled away on the back stretch. Both runners crossed the line achieving seasonal bests. Hackbarth set a new indoor school record (2:14.57) to finish by more than a second ahead of Flaherty (2:16.14). Emily Noone (Glenbrook South HS, Glenview) moved up to take third (2:20.14). Hackbarth was also in the championship race of the 1600 to run a 5:09.86. That is a great double for her especially this early in the season.

The schedule speeding up did affect Vince Zona (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) a little more. He scrambled to get his spikes on with his teammates and hurried to the line not being able to get any stretching or strides in. When the gun went off, the hectic pre-race thoughts of getting to the line disappeared and he looked towards the lead. Zona and teammate Andrew Best were in control the entire race. Zona was hoping for a faster pace but the two Lyons teammates went through the 400 in a comfortable 58 seconds and a two second lead.

Zona did the rest. He was not threatened in the final two laps. He crossed the line disappointed running 1:58.16. It was a seasonal best for him but he was looking for something faster to break his school record. Brian Kuehl (Geneva HS) ran a strong final 200 meters to catch Best just before the finish line to place second.

Both of the 3200 Meter Championship Races came down to the final 400 meters before a winner was evident. McKenzie Altmayer (Geneva HS) did most of the lead work in the Girls 3200 going through the first 1600 in 5:29. She made a concerted effort to break the six runners behind her as she surged in lap nine. Only Minooka’s Emily Shelton and MacKenzie Callahan dared to stay with her. Altmayer made another surge with four laps to go but could not drop Shelton. The Minooka sophomore bided her time as she stayed on Altmayer’s shoulder. One more move by Altmayer could still not shake Shelton at the start of the final two laps. 100 meters later, Shelton took off as Altmayer tried to stay close. Shelton ran negative splits (5:30 / 5:17) crossing the line in a personal best (10:47.13). A smile lit up Altmayer’s face as she crossed the line just under 10:50 (10:49.80).

The Boys 3200 Championship race was not decided until the final ten meters of the race but there was an idea within the stands of what school it could be from. New Trier’s Josh Derrick and Warren Blood dared the competitors in the race to follow their lead as they whipped by the first 800 in 4:40. There were no takers.

The duo slowed down as they passed through the 1600 in 4:45. A pack led by East Aurora’s Ricardo Del Toro was six seconds back. Jeremy Adams (Jones College Prep, Chicago) made a concerted effort to get close to the New Trier runners and achieved in the next two laps. In the final 800 meters of the race, Both Blood and Adams tried to pass Derrick numerous times. The New Trier senior refused to let them by. In the final lap, it looked like there would be a change in the lead on the backstretch. Derrick held his ground.

As the trio came off the final curve towards the finish, momentum off of the curve pulled Derrick to the outside of Lane 1. That was all his teammate Blood needed to take the lead. He got it in the final five meters crossing the line only nine hundredths of a second ahead of Derrick (9:35.81 – 9:35.90). Adams was close for third (9:37.82).