CL Central sends 2 relay teams to state

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GRAYSLAKE – The meet was over, and Crystal Lake Central’s Heather Niziolek still was trying to comprehend what she and her teammates had accomplished.

“I can’t even grasp it yet,” Niziolek said. “We haven’t had a relay go down in what? Ever?”

The Tigers’ girls track team certainly had not qualified a relay team for the IHSA state championships in coach Jonathan Byham’s nine-year tenure at the school.

That changed Friday night, when Crystal Lake Central won both the 4x200 and 4x800-meter relays at the Class 2A Grayslake North Sectional.

“The two relays are just awesome,” Byham said.

The Tigers were the most successful area team at the sectional, finishing third with 67 points. Richmond-Burton was close behind with 65.

The Rockets had a star of the meet in senior Sarah Finley, who won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the long jump.

Finley takes plenty of momentum and confidence into next weekend, when she will compete in her first state meet.

“I didn’t think I would do as well as I actually did,” Finley said. “I ran with a lot of energy today. I wanted to qualify so bad.”

Finley’s teammate, distance runner Lindsey Wilkins, was another standout in the meet. Wilkins won the 1,600 after finishing second in the 800.

Marengo freshman Allison Rogutich defied her inexperience, staying focused to win the triple jump while also competing in the hurdles.

“She’s very excited,” coach Brian Tveter said. “I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet.”

As far as staying busy Friday night, Rogutich had nothing on Central senior Taylor Cordes.

Competing in four events, Cordes made state in all of them: the 4x800 and 4x200, along with second-place finishes in both hurdle races.

Cordes’ final event was the 300 hurdles, the event in which she qualified last year.

By that time, she said, “I was dead. I was like, ‘I really hope I finish,’ because that’s typically my race. That’s what I qualified previously in.

“I was like, ‘This is going to be an intense state [meet] next weekend because I’m hoping to run everything. I feel like, ‘Why not?’ It’s my senior year.”

Cordes joined Molly Flood, Stephanie Piesker and Taylor Miller in winning the 4x800. The Tigers had high expectations for the relay going into the season, but lost two runners to injuries and had to regroup.

“I’m so incredibly proud of the 4x8, how they’ve been able to overcome that and go down [to state] anyway,” Byham said. “That’s a real testament to those girls. They’ve worked very hard.”

The 4x200 had even less time to come together. Cordes was added to the group – Kendra Waggoner, Marlena Milkowska and Niziolek – only two meets before.

“As the season progressed, Niziolek was taking time down left and right off her [200],” Byham said. “We knew that Taylor Cordes was pretty quick. We said, well, if Nizolek’s running those times, let’s put it together and see what it does.”

Niziolek also qualified for state in the 200 dash, finishing 0.06 seconds behind Richmond-Burton’s Finley.