GBS Girls Track: Pair of Titans Advance to State Championships

Danielle DeVito knew she was cutting it close in the 3200 run. Behind the three front runners, DeVito’s only shot at getting to the state championships was getting under the IHSA qualifying time of 11:22.04.

“Coming down the home stretch I was looking at the clock, sprinting and sprinting,” DeVito told Patch. “I crossed and thought it was going to be very close so I was scared.”

DeVito’s final time: 11:22.01 (read: she qualified for state by three one-hundredths of a second at the IHSA Class 3A Wilmette Sectional). DeVito went to state in the 3200 last year when the qualifying time was nine seconds slower.

The junior distance runner was one of two athletes to qualify for the state championships. Danielle Yapor edged out Niles North’s Kiana Foreman to win the 400 by .34 seconds.

Although only a pair of Titans made it past the Sectionals, Glenbrook South coach Fred Kocian was pleased with the team’s effort.

“We came with a smaller team,” Kocian said. “Our pole vaulter [Haley Mooney] did alright; she started bending the pole. Anastasia [Athas] in the long jump got her best jump by about five or six inches, and Danielle Yapor did a great job in the 400, winning that.”

Athas, only a freshman, took third place in the long jump with a mark of 16-02, breaking Glenbrook South’s school record.

“I was really happy,” said Athas, although she failed to qualify in either the long jump or triple jump. “I got PRs in both so I was thrilled.”

Athas came back to place sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 33-01.5. That jump was a personal record and broke Glenbrook South’s freshman record.

“I think she has the biggest potential in her triple jump because a girl that we had a few years ago that placed in triple jump her junior and senior year, she broke her freshman record already,” Kocian said. “She knows she has time and wide open.”

Although Yapor’s time was slower than the IHSA qualifying standard, the top two finishers in each event automatically advance. Yapor, also a freshman, placed fourth in the 200 as well.

Sophomore Nikki Wells placed 10th in the 800 with a time of 2:35 and sophomore Katie Dwyer was also 10th in the 300 hurdles (52.88). Mooney was seventh in the pole vault (7-03).

DeVito finished ninth in the 1600 later on in the meet, but said she used the event to get in some practice in the heat.

Loyola Academy ran away with the meet, accumulating 113 team points. As a team, Glenbrook South finished eighth with 29 points. The state meet will be held in Charleston, Il. next weekend.

“I’m excited to go back down to state again and see how I can do,” DeVito said.