Glenbard West Girls Win Silver Track Title

All the sacrifices finally paid off for Kelly Hass on Saturday afternoon.

For the first time in her eight-year tenure as girls track and field coach at Glenbard West, Hass was basking after her squad stormed to the West Suburban Silver Conference championship at home in Glen Ellyn with nearly 140 points, 34 more than runner-up Lyons Township.

“On a personal level, (the championship) means a lot,” Hass said. “Between (husband and assistant coach) Paul and me, there’s a lot of guilt being away from the family.”

In ending the five-year reign of defending Class 3A state champion Hinsdale Central, West captured its first league crown since 1984.

For Kathryn Pickett, the Hilltoppers’ returning three-event all-state performer, the final conference meet turned into a coronation.

The Western Michigan-bound Pickett swept the 100- and 300-meter hurdle races, ran the lead leg on the champion 400-meter relay and also captured the long jump with a near 18-foot effort.

Teamed with Caroline Maloney, Bridget Flanagan and anchor leg Kinn Badger, the squad has one of the fastest sprint-relay times in the state at 400 meters.

“I think we’ll be number one (by time the state meet ends),” Pickett said. “We have been working hard (in the event) the whole year.”

West Aurora might be the only school poised to defeat the West quartet--ranked third in Class 3A--this season.

However, the multiple points Pickett, Badger and Flanagan captured did not tell the whole story of the Hilltoppers’ dominance.

Sarah Dau was another two-event champion for West; the senior improved her career-best in the shot put by two-plus feet to win going away at nearly 40 feet.

“I want to be right where I am right now (distance-wise for the Glenbard North sectional on Thursday),” Dau said. “I want to keep it at this level.”

Dau followed her shot-put triumph with another win in the discus.

“Sarah Dau was incredible,” Hass said.

Nor was Dau the only unsung hero for West.

Sophomore Emma Reifel was a workhorse for the Hilltoppers in the middle distances and long sprints.

Reifel was runner-up at 800 meters with a state-qualifying time of 2:17.81.
In the loaded 3,200 run, Madeline Perez finished with a flourish to place, which Maddie Nagel Nagle later duplicated at 1,600 meters with her third-place result.
Senior Claire Lupo summarized the feelings of many in the program in the aftermath of victory.

“The last four years we have worked very hard,” Lupo said. “It feels great.”