CORRECTION: On Saturday, Feb. 14, ArmoryTrack.com printed that St. Anthony's had won its first CHSAA girls title. That information was incorrect. St. Anthony's won its first girls championship in 1987 and won in 1997, 1999 and 2000. I sincerely regret this error.
By Christopher Hunt
When St. Anthony’s coach Oliver St. Aude opened his email Saturday morning he did not see the kind of encouraging messages one hopes to get before a championship competition. Instead he saw a bunch of emails from team members who wouldn’t make it to the meet.
Off the top of his head, St. Aude remembered seven girls that would miss the CHSAA championships either because of vacation or illness, including star sophomore Olicia Williams, who sat out sick. But the depleted roster only gave the Friars an opportunity to show off its depth as they won the CHSAA indoor city title with 53 points. Kellenberg finished second with 38 and Bishop Loughlin scored 26 for third.
“That’s really a credit to our kids and our coaching staff,” St. Aude said. “That shows the work that we put in and that we have kids that are ready to step up.”
St. Anthony’s scored in nearly every event led by senior Olivia Abbate’s win in the 55 hurdles. Abbate won in a personal best 8.40 seconds.
“I really wanted to finish my senior year with a bang,” she said. “I wanted to make sure I made it to states but it was also great to grab some points for the team.
Emily Taussig finished third in the 55 in 7.54 and led off the Friars winning 4x200 relay that claimed victory in 1:44.93, with Taussig, Gabrielle Barbour, Chyna-mo Chung and Lauren Kikenny. Karen Henning won the weight throw in 48 feet, 9 inches. Lauren Lavoro finished second in the 1,500 in 4:58.44 and grabbed third in the 3,000.
“We all pulled together today,” Lavoro said.
The coach agreed. “I knew we needed to get every point we could,” he said. “We didn’t need to win everything. We needed to scrap and get some points here and there in every event to win.”
The meet was also highlighted by a number of impressive doubles. Catherine McAuley’s Phyllis Francis won her fourth straight CHSAA title in the 600, winning in 1:31.64. But normally Francis would only run the 600. This year she doubled back to win the 300 in 39.52. She ran 38.77 in the trials.
“I just wanted to try something different,” she said. “There was no pressure. I just wanted to have fun.”
Francis has shown the best sprint speed she’s ever had this season, which bodes well for her 800-meter races as the national championships approach next month.
Colleen Schmidt of Holy Trinity pulled off a commanding 3,000-1,500 double, leading both races throughout. She won the 3,000 in a personal-best 10:05.51 when dominated the 1,500 in 4:44.20.
“I just wanted to run as fast as I could and hopefully get into the first heat of the 3,000 at states,” she said. “I was pretty confident in the 1,500. I thought that I would be still feeling that 3,000 but I wasn’t.”
Schmidt said she didn’t know if she would chose one race or the other for the state meet and is considering racing both.
“My coach might be thinking of doubling at states,” she said. “Right now I feel pretty good about it.”
Amanda Barroca, Juliane Galante, Rebecca Fuboter and Lauren Wheatley won the 4x400 for Kellenberg in 4:06.71 to qualify for the state meet. St. John Villa also secured a spot at states, winning the 4x800 in 9:27.97.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.
CORRECTION: On Saturday, Feb. 14, ArmoryTrack.com printed that St. Anthony's had won its first CHSAA girls title. That information was incorrect. St. Anthony's won its first girls championship in 1987 and won in 1997, 1999 and 2000. I sincerely regret this error.
