Neither the rain nor the cold could stop New Trier. 

The Trevians hosted the 18th Annual Trevian Invite Saturday, April 30, on their Winnetka campus and won the 16-team meet with ease, piling up 119.33 points to second-place finisher Whitney Young’s 64.

New Trier cruised to a win in a meet that had some perennial state powers, including Homewood-Flossmoor and Rock Island.

“We want the best competition in the state at our meet.’’ New Trier coach Robert Spagnoli said. “We certainly don’t shy away from any competition. For our teams to be one of the best in the state, they’ve got to compete against the best in the state.’’

New Trier won eight of the 18 varsity events, including all of the relay races. The New Trier 3,200-meter relay, run by Savannah Noethlich, Kelli Schmidt, Grace Fagan and Caroline Trukenbrod, set a Trevian Invite record by finishing with a time of 9 minutes, 32.67 seconds. That was more than a full second over Maine South, who finished second and an impressive 14 seconds over third place Lake Forest. Loyola finished fourth in that relay with a time of 9:51.39.

“Whenever you host a 16 team invite it’s always a big challenge, you’re juggling a lot of balls in the air,’’ Spagnoli said.

But the relay team wasn’t the only one setting records. Multiple teams and athletes set personal records in the race as well. New Trier senior Alex Cook set a personal record in the long jump, finishing with a jump of 17 feet, 10.25 inches, besting her previous high of 17-9.

“I’ve been working on it for a while and it’s nice to be able to do it on a cold day and still be able to jump well,’’ Cook said. “It’s harder on a cold day because you have to warm up more and it’s hard to be as explosive. Thankfully it wasn’t raining when we were jumping’’

“At first it’s intimidating with this field, but it pushes you,’’ Cook said. “The Homewood-Flossmoor girl is ranked somewhere in the top five in the state and that pushed me to see the best I can do.’’

Loyola senior discus thrower Francesca LaTorraca set a personal record of her own of Saturday as well. Her throw of 120-09.5 was a lot further than her previous best 116-9.

“I knew once it came out of my hands it was a lot further than what I had been throwing and it’s just that feeling of perfection almost, it’s the greatest thing ever,’’ LaTorraca said. ”I took a week off last week to get my technique down for both the shot and the discus, so I guess the whole week of training, lifting and working at it paid off in the end.

“I thought the weather would change something, but once I was in the ring I just focused on everything I needed to do. I fell but it was fine.’’

Along with the aforementioned relay and long jump winners, other New Trier winners included the 400 relay, 800 relay, 1,600 relay, senior Tara Smart, who won the 400 meter dash in 1:00.42, senior Oona Jung-Beeman, who won the 300 meter hurdles in 48.46 and junior Kate Holly, who won the 200 meter dash in 25.92.

New Trier’s Natalie Karabas finished second in the high jump with a jump of 4-10  and junior Caroline Fix finished second in the 3,200 with a time of 11:17.05.

Despite winning only two events, Loyola had an impressive showing as well, compiling 59 points to finish third. Senior Kathryn House won both of Loyola’s titles, winning the long distance races, the 1,600 and 3,200 runs. In the 3,200 run, House finished in 10:58.18, well ahead of the second place finisher Fix. In the 1,600, House ran a 5:12.85 to beat Maine South’s Maddie Dingle, who finished with a 5:13.46.

The Ramblers also got a pair of second place finishes from LaTorraca in both the discus and shot put. Along with her personal record in the discus, LaTorraca also had a throw of 37-11.5.

“The biggest takeaway is trying to figure out where we stand in our sectional so we can make some good decisions there,’’ Loyola coach ChrisJon Simon said. “We have a little bit of work to do, but some of our girls are right on. Our discus thrower, our distance runners are right on right now.’’

– See more at: http://www.wilmettebeacon.com/high-school/girls-track-and-field-trevs-easily-win-despite-weather-challenges#sthash.4BuUqCiW.dpuf