New Trier’s Marne Sullivan (right) races to a first-place finish in the 400 meters. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Things started fast for New Trier at the Class 3A Loyola Academy Sectional on May 11.
Real fast.
Senior Grace Fagan, sophomore Caroline Trukenbrod, senior Molly Schmidt and sophomore Marne Sullivan combined forces and ran away from the competition to win the 4×800 relay in a sparkling time of 9:17.03.
Heading into the state meet in Charleston on May 19-20, that foursome came up with the fastest sectional time in the state.
The Trevians will be looking to improve on last year’s state finish (5th place, 9:19.04).
A few hours later at Loyola, things ended quickly for the Trevians as junior Savannah Noethlich, senior Kate Holly, junior Grace McManus and Sullivan capped the night by winning the 4×400 relay in the swift time of 3:59.91.
And what happened in the in-between? Just more good stuff.
New Trier, who ended up qualifying competitors in 10 events, claimed its third sectional title in row, when the Trevians tallied 114 ½ points to cruise past Glenbrook South (68), Evanston (66) and Lake Forest (51).
Sullivan, dressed to thrill with her neon pink knee socks, was hard to miss on this night.
The sophomore standout not only anchored the two relays, but she also took first place in the 400 meters in a school-record time of 57.80.
“The competition here is very good,” said Sullivan, following her victory in the 400. “And that helps me to push the limit.”
New Trier’s other first-place performers were senior Caroline Fix in the 3200 meters (11:10.88) and sophomore Sydney Kunkler in the triple jump (36-7 ½).
Fix added a runner-up finish in the 1600 meters (5:04.29).
Other Trevians taking second place included Noethlich in the 800 meters (2:16.49), sophomore Leah Ulrich in the 3200 meters (11:19.03) and senior Yeji An in the discus (107-11).
Points also were scored by Fagan in the 1600 (4th, 5:06.06), Holly in the 100 (4th, 12.6) and the 4×200 relay team of Holly, Kunkler, junior Grace McManus and junior Carla McCanna (4th, 1:45.42).
New Trier Boys Track
Highlighted by the first-place efforts of junior Albert Yen, senior Will Shoup and the 4×400 relay, the Trevians earned runner-up honors in the CSL South Meet at Niles West on May 12.
NT finished with 128 ½ points. Evanston won with 164 points.
Yen was NT’s lone double winner. He ran a 14.67 in the 110-meter hurdles. Then, he came back to claim the 300 hurdles in a personal-best time of 38.70.
Shoup took first in the discus with a PR heave of 149-1.
The team’s runner-up finishers included senior Cooper Woolford in the 800 (1:58.40), junior Wei Chen in the 400 (49.89), junior Patrick Norrick in the 3200 (9:37.25) and senior Ilya Arif Ahmad in the long jump (20-6 ½).
NT had two relays take second: 4×100 (44.54) and 4×800 (8:15.12). Meanwhile, NT’s winning time in the 4×400 was 3:25.84.
NT’s third-place finishers included Declan O’Reilly in the 800 (2:00.49) and Warren Blood in the 1600 (4:30.39). The fourth-place finishers were Ahmad in the 100 (11.4) and senior Grant Johnson in the triple jump (41-4 ½). The fifth-place finishers were Ahmad in the 200 (23.58), Johnson in the 400 (52.42), Charlie Forbes in the 1600 (4:31.08), Kevin Day in the 300 hurdles (43.81), Shoup in the shot put (44-2) and senior Josh Wrobel in the pole vault (11-1).
NT’s Caroline Fix caps off her win the 3200 meters at the LA Sectional. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Sydney Kunkler of the Trevians competes in the sectional triple jump. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Rebecca Goldman of the Trevians goes airborne in the triple jump. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER