Season Preview
The 2016 DGS girls track team is made up of nearly 90 girls this year. There are a lot of new faces to go along with a strong returning group. Team success and individual improvement is the main focus for the Mustangs each track season and this year will be no different.
DGS will look to extend two impressive streaks. The first is an 11-year conference win streak (both indoors and outdoors). Last year, the girls won both the Frosh/Soph level as well as the Varsity level at both meets, so the expectations to continue the streak are high. The indoor conference championship meet will be held on Friday, March 18th at Addison Trail HS. The outdoor conference championship will be held on Friday, May 6th at Leyden HS. The week after outdoor conference, DGS will look to defend their IHSA Sectional title and win for the 3rd straight season. The sectional meet will be held at Lockport HS on Friday, May 13th.
Individually, several DGS athletes are returning with State meet experience and high aspirations in 2016. Maybe none higher than Michaela Hackbarth (Sr) who will be defending her IHSA State title in the 800m run. Hackbarth had the fastest 800m time in the state of Illinois last year (2:11.24), but will be pushed by cross town rival (Emma Moravec-DGN) who placed 2nd behind her at State. Hackbarth also anchored the 5th place 4x400m relay team. Katie Stapleton (Jr) was a State qualifier in the 1600m (5:16.65) and will look to return to the big blue track at EIU in either the 1600m or 3200m race. This year’s distance squad is deep and talented. Several other distance athletes will likely step up to fill out key roles in our varsity line-up as the season progresses.
The Mustang sprint and hurdle crew returns several key runners from State meet action last year, including Shaliyah Dixon-Tucker, Soren Umali (Jr), Lauren Wong (Sr), Ariana Finley (Sr), Nicole Muccianti (Jr), and Sonja Renowden (Jr). Dixon-Tucker was State qualifier in the 100m hurdles (15.18) and Umali was a double State qualifier in both the 100m hurdles (15.26) and the 300m hurdles (46.09) last season. Wong was part of the DGS All-State 4x400m relay team and she also is a top hurdler. Finley, Muccianti and Renowden add great depth to our sprint group and will likely lead the way in several sprint relays as well as individual events.
All of these athletes, plus several promising newcomers should provide the opportunity for great success this season. The Mustangs will hold a team trial night on Thursday, February 4th in the DGS field house. The girls will compete in their first official indoor meet on Saturday, February 13th at Hinsdale Central HS.
Good Luck Mustangs!!
