State Finals Recap

On Saturday, DGS competed in 3 finals events at the IHSA State Championship meet. The top 9 finishers in each event earn All-State honors.

Senior, Abby Kargol, started the day off in the fast heat of the 3200m run. Unfortunately, Abby did not have her best race and ended up in a disappointing 21st place with a time of 11:16.58. Abby finishes her DGS career as one of the most accomplished distance runners in school history. She set both the indoor and outdoor school records in the 3200m run this season to go along with her All-State 5th place finish in last year’s state meet. Abby will continue her running at the University of Minnesota next year!

Junior, Michaela Hackbarth, toed the line for the 800m run trying to improve on last year’s 2nd place finish. The defending state champion among others stood in her way, but Michaela was able to run a fantastic race and finish the season as State Champion! She becomes the 6th state champion in DGS girls track history. Michaela was able to overcome an early season injury to prevail with a time of 2:11.24 that was both a PR and the fastest time in Illinois this season. She will look to defend her state title next year and make a run at the state record in the 800m (2:07.05).

The 4x400m relay team stepped on to the track in lane 9 as the 8th seed out of 9 finalists. The quartet of Lauren Wong (Jr), Rachel Petro (Sr), Mary Beine (Sr), and Michaela Hackbarth was able to improve on their position despite running slightly slower than they did in prelims. The time of 3:59.64 allowed the Mustangs to finish in 5th place and earn All-State honors.

As a result of these races, Downers Grove South scored 15 points and finished in 18th place overall.