OTHS girls track wins Collinsville Invitational
By Steve Oliver
Progress Staff Writer
After a fourth place finish in the St. Clair County Meet, the OTHS girls' track team kicked into overdrive last Friday to capture the team title at the Collinsville Invitational. The recipe for success for Coach Neil James' squad included the same ingredients that have translated into success for the local girls throughout their spring campaign - a liberal dose of high jumper Elaine Patten's ability and a strong effort by the entire long distance contingent.
The first application of this game plan came at the St. Clair meet when Patten broke the school high jump record to take first place in the event. The Panther junior soared over the bar at 5'9" to set the mark and give her team valuable points in the process. Patten's winning effort was augmented by Erica Cain's fourth place finish in the event. Other top performers for the OTHS girls' team included Sara Ubbens, who joined several other teammates who have out-distanced the field in the 3200 during the spring, securing her own individual gold medal in the 3200. O'Fallon's 4x800 relay team composed of Kelsey VanHousen, Elena Yoch, Sarah Rautio and Chelsea Hendrix picked up O'Fallon's third - and final - blue ribbon for the day.
Adding to the Panthers' point total, Rachel Roustio followed Ubbens across the finish line in the 3200 for a second place medal. Chelsea Hendrix took third in the 800 and the Panthers' 4x400 quartet of Isom, Johnson, Crook and Conrad finished third in their race.
On Friday, more good individual efforts helped O'Fallon secure the team championship. Patten was still in top form. Although not equaling her county meet effort, she still had more than enough to win the high jump competition, this time with a winning leap of 5'8". The major push that allowed the Panther girls to out-point the competition came in the distance races. Kelsey VanHousen completed an excellent week of racing by winning the 1600. The junior distance runner also helped her teammates Rachel Roustio, Sara Ubbens and Elena Yoch win the 4x800 relay race. Chelsea Hendrix completed O'Fallon's domination of the distance runs with a win in the 3200. Mirroring VanHousen's effort, Roustio doubled up on her 4x800 relay success with a second place in the 1600. Other second place finishers included Conrad (400), Cain (high jump) and Perkins (long jump).
Our entire squad stepped up in the Collinsville meet," said OTHS coach Neil James. "We are getting more consistent efforts up and down our line-up in recent weeks. Patten has gained some consistency in clearing the bar at 5'8" which is a good thing. VanHousen and Roustio ran very well in the 1600, and our relay teams have shown an ability to rise to the occasion when faced with tougher competition. It was a good week for us."
The Panthers needed all of their points to turn back Triad. At the end of the competition, O'Fallon accumulated 125 points - 9 1/2 points more than the Knights and thirty points ahead of third place Belleville West. A total of eight teams competed in the meet.
