The Downers Grove South Girls Track team competed on Wed. Feb. 15^th vs. Wheaton North HS and host Argo High School.  Wheaton North won the meet by the score of Wheaton North 91, DGS 37, Argo 36.

DGS won 6 of the 16 events:  Freshman, Nicole Thate, won the 800m run with a time of 2:21.1.  Junior, Egle Staisiunaite, won the 55m Hurdles in 8.1 seconds and the Triple Jump with a 35’9.25” jump.  Senior, Lauren Rajski, won the 55m dash in 7.4 seconds.  Freshman, Christine Bowe, won the High Jump with a 5’3” jump and the 4x400m Relay team of Lauren Rajski, Christine Bowe, Egle Staisiunaite, and Nicole Thate won with a fast 4:14.4 time.

In it’s first two meets, DGS has now qualified 6 events for the Illinois Prep Top Times Meet (unofficial indoor state meet).  From last week at Hinsdale Central:  Nicole Thate (1600m) and Egle Staisiunaite (55m H).  From this week at Argo:  Nicole Thate (800m), Egle Staisiunaite (Triple Jump), Christine Bowe (High Jump), and the 4x400m Relay team.  Getting qualifying efforts in 6 events is not extraordinary, but doing it this early in the season is pretty amazing.

On the Freshman/Sophomore level, Sarah Sielisch won the 55m Hurdles in 10.8 seconds.  Courtney Gosewisch won both the 55m dash (7.7) and the Triple Jump (32’0.5”).  Jen Sapko won the 800m in 2:43.4 and Kristie Moosmann won the 1600m in 6:30.4.  Sade Turner rounded out the F/S first place finishes with a 25’0” throw in the shot put.

DGS competes against Naperville Central on Wed., Feb. 22 and at the Plainfield South Invitational on Sat., Feb. 25^th.

Egle Staisiunaite, a junior, won the 55 meter hurdle race in 8.0 seconds.  Egle is not a surprise.  She placed 6^th in the 100 meter hurdles at the IHSA State Meet last spring as a sophomore and placed 8^th in the nation in the 400 meter hurdles during the National Jr. Olympics competition over the summer.  Egle’s time of 8.0 seconds, broke her own DGS school record of 8.56 seconds.  During the last indoor season, 8.1 seconds was the fastest time reported and 8.21 seconds won the Indoor State Meet in Champaign.  Shalina Clark of Evanston Township HS, who is widely regarded as the BEST high school 100 meter hurdler in the United States, will be the favorite to win the IHSA State Meet this season.  Egle’s performance bodes well to place her as one of the top finishers in the state this season and possibly position her to challenge Shalina.    Prior to Egle, the DGS record was held by Annie Heye ’90, who placed 8^th in the state in the 100 meter hurdles and 3^rd in the state in the 300 meter hurdles in 1990.  

Nicole Thate, a DGS freshman, won a fantastic 1600 meter race in a time of 5:16.5.  She dualed it out Saturday with Bekah Regenfuss of Naperville North.  Bekah finished 8^th in the 1600 meter run at the IHSA State Meet last spring.  Bekah led out the race setting a quick early pace.  After about a quarter mile, Nicole charged to the lead and the two of them separated from the rest of a talented pack.  Bekah surged time after time, but in each instance Nicole responded with her own surge.  With one lap remaining (160 meters), Nicole took off sprinting with Bekah on her heels.  Nicole held her off to win the race by 0.4 seconds.  It is very likely that these two girls have the fastest 1600 meter times in the state early on in this young season.  What makes this even more amazing is that this is Nicole’s first ever high school track meet and the first time running indoors at all.  Her time also set a DGS school record.  The impressive part of setting the record is noting who’s record she broke.  The previous record was 5:26.0 held by Tina Stec ’90.  In 1990, Tina won both the 800 meter run and the 1600 meter run at the IHSA State Meet.  It is much too early in Nicole’s career to begin comparing her to Tina Stec, but she is certainly off to a stellar start. 

Other DGS first place finishers at the meet included Milica Leone (16’0.5” long jump), Lauren Rajski (7.4 55 meter dash) and two relay firsts.  The 4x160 meter relay team of Lauren Rajski, Milica Leone, Ashley Muller and Egle Staisiunaite won in a time of 1:28.5 and the 4x400 meter relay team of Josalyn Molina, Milica Leone, Ashley Muller and Egle Staisiunaite won in a time of 4:20.4.  Both relay times are extremely respectable for the first meet of the season and bode well for a very young team.