Maggie Gamboa and her Naperville North mates flexed their muscles in the distance races (Dan Billish photo)
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Wheaton-Warrenville South HS; Wheaton, IL
Wheaton-Warrenville South and Naperville North HS partnered to host a two-day track spectacle, fostering some healthy local competition. On Saturday evening, the distance races were held.
Naperville North's boys 4x800m relay took the first win of the night. The Huskies' leadoff leg shot in front immediately, and the baton was passed three times into an 8:09.42 finish.
In the girl's race, Minooka took the early lead until a heavy-hitting performance by Sam Poglitsch propelled the Tigers into first. WWS held on for a 10:01.11 win, with Minooka running 10:02.76 for second place.
Luke Schildmeyer of St. Charles East's season debut was a long-distance ode to his cross country state crown this past fall: the 3200m. After Schildmeyer and teammate Zack Loomis cruised through a 4:41 mile, Schildmeyer turned on his rockets. He split a 61-second final lap that led him to a clean 9:14.66.
Naperville North teammates Maggie Gamboa and Lucy Westlake worked with each other to secure sub-11:00 times: 10:52.02 and 10:57.98, respectively.
In the boys 800m, Arthur Graham of Naperville Central edged out Jonah Fallon of Batavia for a 1:58.39 win.
On the girl's side, Katrina Schlenker of Batavia and Campbell Petersen of Naperville North traded leads until Schlenker instituted a deadly kick in the final 150 meters. Schlenker won in 2:15.29, with Petersen 2:16.
Every team's 4x400 relays were fully stocked with distance runners. Naperville Central impressed with the boys' win in 3:32.90. The Naperville North girls overcame Batavia at the finish by under half a second: 4:16.66 to 4:17.05.
On Sunday, the same invite will be held contesting sprint events. Be sure to watch MileSplitIL's full suite of content (interviews, video recap, and more) covering the Naperville-Wheaton Invite.