Sue Pariseau Invite Recap: Emma Reifel Fuels Glenbard West Charge

Glenbard West Sue Pariseau Girls Invite
Tony Jones



On-Site Coverage

It seemed fitting that a horrible week ended in good fortune for the Glen Ellyn Glenbard West girls track and field team. Last week started with the now usual unseasonably cold temperatures. However, the rains came… but it didn’t stop.  By the time Thursday morning arrived, the entire beautiful Glenbard West sports complex was underwater. In 99 out of 100 cases, this would have meant no meet.  Despite some personal misfortune that the Hilltoppers family endured the meet went on at a new location.

Illinois Benedictine University stepped forward Friday morning and offered their gracious stadium for the competition.  In turn, the weather cooperated with climes in the low to mid 50s most of the afternoon.  As well, the athletes provided the faithful with some wonderful meet performances.

Reifel stepped her game up-

Emma Reifel (Sr.) is a brand name among the Illinois girls high school track and field world.  But somehow she always seems to get overlooked by great team performances or by her teammate Maddie Perez (Jr.).  However, on this occasion it was more than just the blond locks that caught the casual fans attention.  The University of Wisconsin-Madison bound Reifel put on a show that could not be overlooked.  She was entered in three races and responded with three captivating victories.

Emma’s day actually started in the morning with the 4x800m relay.  For the first time this season, the Hilltoppers put together a formable unit.  It would include the solid but unseasoned Caitlyn Reick (Fr.), Perez, Kate Majewski (Sr.), and of course Reifel.  As Reifel moved anxiously on the sideline waiting her turn, the team would incur a big deficit on the first leg.  Thanks to Whitney Young senior Shianne Baggett’s 2:19.7 lead off, Glenbard West was in a nine-second hole.

Perez would go second and immediately took flight after Whitney Young.  Perez methodically sized up Young’s Allison Pillar (Sr.); she stalked her if you will.  By the end of the second lap,

Perez chopped the ocean-sized lead to something more like arms reach.  Majewski set up her teammate Reifel well- providing her with a bit of breathing room for the anchor leg.  Reifel did not rest on her laurels though.  She ran hard and went after a solid time- opening up her own ocean type lead and well clear of challengers.  The result was US#15/IL#1 9:28.62 mark.  Reifel rocked a sweet 2:16.1 split enroute.

Reifel returned a bit later in her specialty the 800m to duel Baggett.  Instead it was a tactical jumble of girls including Baggett and Reifel at the first 400.  That was more than fine with Reifel since she was the favorite and she could conserve some energy.  At the 500 mark, it was still too close to call.  But soon after Baggett sensed something and made her charge.  She went for it but Reifel didn’t seem deterred.  Reifel finally put her motor into overdrive with less than 200 to go and coasted home to victory over Baggett 2:17.78-2:19.62.  Reifel led off the winning 4x400m relay (4:03.17) to complete a fabulous day.

Emma Fisher gets into the act-

York’s senior distance ace Emma Fisher walks with confidence whenever she steps on the track. Once again she laced up her racing spikes and prepared to battle a solid 3200m field that featured the likes of Carly Krull (Jr., Orland Park Sandburg), Kimber Meyer (Sr., Naperville North), and Lisa Luczak (So., Glenbard West) were the featured runners. 

Fisher didn’t even allow the fans to get settled into their seats because she led coast to coast winning in meet record time 10:30.80.  Maybe it was the fact that she had to run the open 400m and she needed as much rest as possible.  The theories are endless as to why Fisher suffocated her competition.  But the truth of the matter is Fisher is becoming one of the state’s best distance runner and she used 74.2, 2:33.9, 3:53.0, 5:12.6 first half splits very efficiently.  The lead grew from four seconds in the early going and ballooned each lap thereafter.  “I would have liked to run a little faster in the second half [of the race],” she would say as if it was some blemish on her run.  No instead Fisher produced one of the fastest times in the nation in ideal conditions.

Other top action-

Maddie Perez has been producing dazzling performances since the beginning of the school athletic season calendar.  She continued to add to her fine list of classic performances.  It was predicted by more than a few observers that she would go after the one year old 1600m record.  Jill Hardies (Sr., Hinsdale Central) owns the mark at the expense of Perez set last year on the Glenbard West campus. 

Hardies scratched from the race due to ongoing shin and foot issues that have plagued her for the last several years. It was a bit fortunate from a fans perspective to not see one of the best showcases in the state. 

But the show must go on.

Perez got out extremely well in the first 400 at 71.5.  She continued to push herself since the pack that included Krull, Luczak, and several others decided they could not keep up with lightening pace.  Ms. Perez hit the halfway point in 2:22.6, and it was a matter of how fast could go.  The excitable meet announcer Bill Treece got the crowd into the act at bell lap.  Perez continued to strut home hard as the stadium clock read 4:40s late on the homestretch.  Finally, it was 4:54.40 and a second meet record in back to back weekends for Perez.  Of course, Perez tried to be humble when asked about her racing exploits- #1 time in the state.  “It is an honor to have the meet record at this meet.  I wanted to do it for fans, friends, school… I wanted to do it for them all,” she methodically elaborated.

Distance is always the showcase of the Sue Pariseau Invite but there were other solid performances.  Amari Wilkerson (Jr., Oak Park-River Forest) won both hurdle events.  She got through the 100H prelims in fair condition despite a hanging leg trail leg.  The final was much better for Wilkerson who ran a balmy 16.08.  The longer version was much better when she led off Glenbard West’s Emma Gambol 46.19-46.29.

The emerging Sydney Keith (Sr., Wheeling) swept the sprints, taking the 100m (12.83) and 200m (26.03).  It appeared that both events ran into a solid headwind otherwise the times would have been significantly faster.

Glenbard West used a late charge to overtake Whitney Young for team honors 86-71.  Naperville North was third with 69.5 points.

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