WEGO hosted the annual West Chicago Spring Open on a brisk Thursday evening, April 25: out of seven teams, the girls’ team took first place, and the boys took second.
The annual invitational also marked the team’s senior night.
“We will miss our seniors and everything they have contributed to our programs,” Coach Tyler Belding said.
In the girls’ 1600 meter, Jessica Balmer placed first, timed at 5:44:94 – which beat out second place by a whopping 8 seconds.
Kali Waller (’24) placed first in the girls’ 100m, 200m, and long jump. She bested the competition in all of her events, and gained a season best in the 100 meter, with a time of 12:49, and the long jump, which she came in at 5.79 meters. Waller, who has had a great season this year, recently committed to Michigan State University to continue her track career.
“I am going to miss all of my teammates and all of the memories we have made. This season so far has been great from the singing on the bus to the meets, and even the harder workouts. I love the positive energy that everyone brings to motivate everyone around them. We truly are a family and it’s one I am going to miss a lot,” Waller said.
Senior Adeline Draper also achieved a new personal record (PR) time of 14:78 on the 100-meter hurdles. Not only is it a personal record for her, but Draper also broke the school record in that event. Draped finished first in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 46:79.
The success at hurdling did not stop there for the Wildcats, however, as senior Mathew Dewees put up another competitive time in the 300 meter hurdles with 45:70, his season best, and landed in third place. He also competed in the 110 meter hurdles, finishing in 18:19, another season best, and was awarded second.
Junior Judah McLean placed first in the 1600 meter (1 mile) with a time of 4:34:83 , a season best, which beat out second place by two seconds.
WEGO also found success in the 800 meter race: senior Diego Macias demonstrated a strong showing in the event at 2:12:46, which was a personal best for Macias. He ultimately placed second.
Senior Maizy Jury followed Macias’ lead for the girls, placing second in her 800 meter with a time of 2:34:63.
“The people make me wanna come to practice and run my races, so I will definitely miss the people,” Jury said.
The Wildcats had a stellar performance in the relay races, particularly the girls’ 4×100 and 4×800, which resulted in season best times for the teams.
Senior Cooper Pensinger was a runner in the boys’ 4×400, which placed first.
“I love how close the team is, I have been in track all 4 years and it has been the nicest group of people I have ever met,” Pensinger said.
With the invitational wrapped up, the team is now looking toward the Upstate Eight championship meet.
“The season is going great. We still have our conference championships coming up and we plan on running our best times of the season,” Belding said.