By Michael Newman

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Photo courtesy of Paul Nickloey, Glenbard West HS

 

The first week of conference meets features Girls teams along with the co-ed Chicago Public League Championships. It is a chance for bragging rights for rival schools. It is also a final chance for some athletes to prove that they will be on the team’s starting line-up for next week’s Sectional Meets.

That was not the case for the athletes from the five schools in the DuPage Valley Conference. Their meet was scheduled to be held Thursday afternoon at Naperville Central High School. Just before 2:30 PM, it was still raining in the western suburb forcing the meet to be cancelled. There was no rescheduling of the meet. The meet organizers could not secure a timing company to replace the one that was scheduled to time the meet on Thursday. They were scheduled to time another meet on Friday.

Ten meet workers. A box of stop watches. That is all that was needed. That is how it was done in the past.

I think that all of us are hung up on performances that need to be put in a database. In this case, a chance for an athlete to earn an All-Conference dignification was stolen from them. No chance for a senior to leave their high school career with an all-conference honor, a conference medal. It was just a memory that was stolen from these young athletes.

There were so many meets to take a look at this week. Here are some of the highlights from those meets.

 

West Suburban Conference-Silver Division @ Proviso West

Glenbard West won their second conference title in the last three years dominating the field scoring 137 points for the win. Lyons Township and Oak Park-River Forest both scored 91 points tying for second.

The Lady Hilltoppers were paced by four individual wins and a relay win. Two of the individual wins came from Katelynne Hart. The junior wowed the crowd at Proviso West with two meet records in the process. Hart ran 2:12.71 to win the 800 Meter Run ahead of teammate Audrey Allman. The freshman ran a three second personal best of 2:14.20 to finish second. Hart came back to beat her own meet record running 4:47.40 for the win ahead of Hinsdale Central’s Emma Watcke (5:06.43). Their relay , with Hart anchoring in 2:15, won the 3200 Meter Relay as they ran a state leading 9:18.70 ahead of Lyons Township (9:23.61, IL #2).

Glenbard’s other two wins came as Aaliyah Collier ran 59.20 to win the 400 Meter Dash ahead of Lyons Township’s Renata Wingert (59.45). Glenbard’s Susan Welton was one of five athletes to clear 4-11 in the High Jump. The junior won the event on fewer misses.

Downers Grove North’s Kimberly Brent was a double individual winner running 12.32 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 25.26 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Brent also anchored Downers Grove North to wins in the 400 Meter Relay (49.15) ahead of Lyons Township (49.45), and 1:44.78 (IL #10) to win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of Glenbard West (1:45.87).

Hinsdale Central’s Dior Nicholson was a double winner in the weight events. The junior threw 125-10 to win the Discus and then had a 39-3.75 mark to win the Shot Put.

 

Mid Suburban League @ Fremd

Barrington scored 138 points to capture the league title with Prospect (112 points) and Wheeling (108 points) finishing second and third.

Palatine’s Erin Oleksak won three individual events in this meet. She swept the hurdle events running a personal best 14.84 (IL #10) to win the 100 Meter Hurdles and 45.79 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles. Oleksak also cleared a personal best 5-6 (IL #9) to win the High Jump.

Nicole Nguyen of Wheeling swept the sprint events. The senior started by running 12.55 to win the 100 Meter Dash and then 25.91 to win the 200 Meter Dash just ahead of Barrington’s Gabby Cossio (26.04) and Kathleen Baker (26.05). Nguyen also jumped 17-9.50 to win the Long Jump.

Baker earlier in the meet ran 58.88 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Barrington ran 9:26.85 (IL #4) to win the 3200 Meter Relay with Hoffman Estates running 9:33.47 (IL #10) finishing second. Barrington received a double win from Alyssa Norris in the distance events. Norris ran 11:02.92 to win the 3200 Meter Run and then came back to run 5:06.21 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of teammate Molly FitzPatrick (5:06.59).

Prospect finished in the top two spots in the 800 Meter Run as freshman Audrey Ginsberg ran 2:16.19 for the win ahead of teammate Lia Skoufos (2:17.39).

 

DuKane Girls Conference @ Geneva

Batavia made it a sweep of the team track & field titles. The Lady Bulldogs scored 131 points to win the team title to couple of that with their indoor championship. Lake Park (116.5 points) and Wheaton-Warrenville South (109 points) finished second and third.

Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker won both the 3200 Meter Run and 1600 Meter Run. The freshman pulled away to run 10:41.59 (IL #8) to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Geneva’s Sophia McDonnell (10:44.17, IL #9) and Alice Abbott of St. Charles East (10:49.21). Schlenker came back to run 5:07.32 to win the 1600 Meter Run with Wheaton-Warrenville South’s Samantha Poglitsch (5:09.09) finishing second and McDonnell (5:10.59) finishing third. Poglitsch earlier in the meet ran 2:21.09 to win the 800 Meter Run edging Batavia’s Mia Gianfrancesco (2:21.26) and Wheaton North freshman Tavinya Taylor (2:21.62).

Wheaton North’s Leeya Zander was a double winner running 12.64 to win the 100 Meter Dash in a photo finish with St. Charles East’s Emily Nichols who also had the same time. Zander came back to run 25.86 to win the 200 Meter Dash. The Wheaton North junior was part of her team’s winning 800 Meter Relay (1:46.36) and second-place team that finished second behind Wheaton-Warrenville South (49.65) in the 400 Meter Relay.

Lake Park’s Andelyn Granskog picked up two wins running 15.35 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles and jumped 17-3 to win the Long Jump.

 

Southwestern Suburban Blue Division @ Lockport

In the seeds that preceded this meet, it looked like state power Homewood-Flossmoor should have rolled to a win in this meet. Heading into the final event of the meet, it was Lincoln-Way East that had a narrow two-point lead. The Vikings won the 1600 Meter Relay (3:59.36) ahead of Lincoln-Way East (4:08.43). Both teams ended up scoring 167 points to share the conference title.

Homewood-Flossmoor showed that they are ready for the state series with some good individual performances. Kaylah McCall ran 14.32 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles just ahead of Bolingbrook’s Kayla Walters (14.53, IL #3). McCall came right back to run 12.04 (IL #4) to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of teammate Trelyn Newkirk (12.28).

The Lady Vikings picked up four more individual wins and two other relay titles. Ashanti Denton ran 59.26 to win the 400 Meter Dash (59.26) edging Lincoln-Way East’s Taylor Wright (59.66). Akela White and Newkirk finished 1-2 in the 200 Meter Dash with White winning (25.87). Madison Myrick cleared 5-2 to win the High Jump. Trinity Daniels jumped 38-3 (IL #7) to win the Triple Jump.

Homewood-Flossmoor’s relay wins came when they ran 48.67 to win the 400 Meter Relay and 1:45.57 to win the 800 Meter Relay.

Lincoln-Way East were led by wins from Ashley Mills in the 800 Meter Run (2:25.23), Jenna Couwenhoven in the 1600 Meter Run (5:28.98), Katie Sciarini in the 300 Hurdles (45.89), Mackenzie O’Brien in the Discus (108-1), and Mariam Azeez in the Long Jump (18-2.25).

 

Southwest Conference @ Belleville West

It took a state leading time from East St. Louis-Senior in the 1600 Meter Relay to capture the conference title with 161 points just ahead of Belleville West (156 points). The Flyerettes ran a 3:50.54 to win the relay ahead of Belleville East (4:03.61).

East St. Louis-Senior looks to be ready to challenge for the Class 2A state championships in two weeks with some impressive performances in this meet. Eastside ran 1:41.76 (IL #2) to just win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of Belleville East (1:42.14, IL #3). Belleville West ran 47.46 (IL #2) to win the 400 Meter Relay ahead of East St. Louis-Senior (48.38, IL #6) and Belleville East (48.46, IL #7).

East St. Louis’ Veronica Sherrod ran 43.88 (IL #2) to win the 300 Hurdles ahead of teammate Maysha Vickers (44.63, IL #3) and Belleville West’s LaQwasia Stepney (44.84, IL #5). Stepney earlier in the meet ran 14.30 (IL #2) to win the 100 Meter Hurdles with teammate Macee Rivers running 14.85 to finish second. Stepney also jumped 18-5.5 to win the Long Jump.

Less than a tenth of a second separated the top two runners in the 400 Meter Dash. East St. Louis’ Jariah Turner ran 57.04 (IL #5) to edge Belleville West’s Jessica Coughlin (57.13, IL #6) for the win.

 

West Suburban Conference – Gold Division @ Morton West

Downers Grove South dominated the team competition as always as they scored 173.5 points to win the conference title. Host Morton scored 97 points to finish second.

The Lady Mustangs started out strong as Brenna Cohoon broke a 38-year old meet record in the 3200 Meter Run. Cohoon’s time of 11:01.14 broke the meet record by 10 seconds. Her teammate Melissa Weidner was right by her side running 11:01.21.

Erin Reidy of Downers Grove South was a double winner 2:16.55 to win the 800 Meter Run ahead of Willowbrook’s Victoria Palma (2:22.11). Reidy came back to run 1:00.84 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Palma came back to run 5:16.94 to win the 1600 Meter Run.

Downers South’s Ayshina Johnson was a triple winner jumping 16-11 to win the Long Jump, jumping 35-4 to win the Triple Jump, and clearing 5-0 to win the High Jump.

 

Central Illinois Girls Conference @ Macon Meridian

Clinton won the team title (170 points) ahead of St. Teresa (151 points).

Chloe Meyer of Macon Meridian ran 14.83 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles just ahead of St. Teresa’s DaeLin Switzer (14.85). Moyer came back to run 12.99 to win the 100 Meter Dash. Switzer came back to run 26.02 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

Clinton’s Payne Turney was a double winner running 2:22.33 to win the 800 Meter Run and 1:01.39 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Turney finished second in the 1600 Meter Run (5:33.42) behind Shelbyville’s Ailey Mitchell and her 5:21.64 winning time. Mitchell also ran 11:30.13 to win the 3200 Meter Run by almost two-minutes.

 

Southwest Prairie Girls Conference @ Plainfield North

Oswego won the team title for the second year in a row scoring 131 points. Plainfield North (95 points) and Minooka (93 points) finished second and third.

Jennelle Rogers led the Panthers with a double win. Rogers cleared 5-7 to win the High Jump ahead of teammate Olivia Solis (5-3). Rogers came back to run 1:00.81 to win the 400 Meter Dash ahead of Plainfield East’s Arianna Burkes (1:00.89).

Isabelle Christiansen ended her Oswego conference career with a win in the 3200 Meter Run. Christiansen ran a personal best of 10:52.10 to win the race with Minooka’s Vivian Van Eck (10:58.43) and Julianna Stogsdill of Plainfield North (11:10.29) finishing second and third. The three runners faced off again in the 1600 Meter Run. It was Van Eck that captured the title (10:58.43) ahead of Stogsdill (5:10.23) and Christiansen (5:13.88).

Oswego also picked up wins with Ella Hale running 2:21.48 to win the 800 Meter Run and Claire Barenie clearing 11-0 to win the Pole Vault.

Miranda Cadwell of Plainfield South was a double winner in the weight events with a 43-6.5 put to win the Shot Put and a 119-8 throw to win the Discus. Plainfield East’s Rose Ogbuli was also a double winner running 12.58 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 26.05 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

 

Central State Eight Girls Conference @ Memorial Stadium, Lanphier HS

Springfield Southeast, behind Serena Bolden’s four individual wins, won the conference title with 154 points. Normal University also looked strong as they finished second with 148.5 points.

Bolden started her meet sweeping the horizontal jumps. Her 18-2 mark won the Long Jump by over two feet. Bolden came back to jump 40-1.25 (IL #2) to win the Triple Jump. Bolden was just as hot on the track. She ran a seasonal best of 12.02 (IL #3) to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of teammate Raven Moore (12.39). Bolden and Moore finished 1-2 in the Long Jump with Bolden running a 24.98 (IL #8) for the win. Jessica McDowell of Normal University ran 56.30 (IL #3) to win the 400 Meter Dash with Moore running 56.41 (IL #4) to finish second.

Southeast’s N’dia Jackson was a double winner running 15.92 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles and 46.46 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles.

 

Mid-Illini Girls Conference @ Pekin

Dunlap won the conference title for the sixth year in a row with 141.5 points. Morton was close as they scored 136 points to finish second.

Kiara Pauli had a great night leading Dunlap in her final conference meet with two individual wins. Pauli ran 12.36 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 25.18 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Pauli also anchored Dunlap to wins in the 400 Meter Relay (50.09) and the 800 Meter Relay (1:46.78). Brittany Rainey, who led off the 4x2, also ran a season’s best of 15.33 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles.

Aspen Gordon of Morton had a great night sweeping the three distance races. Gordon ran 12:03.97 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of teammate Meagan Moreno (12:04.20). Gordon then ran 2:21.36 to win the 800 Meter Run. She completed the triple by running 5:12.78 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Pekin’s Paige Arseneau (5:15.72).

 

NIB-12 Girls Conference @ Geneseo

Host Geneseo won the last conference title with 95 points. DeKalb (89 points) and Yorkville (88 points) finished second and third. Geneseo will join the Western Big-Six this fall. DeKalb will join the DuPage Valley Conference while Yorkville joins the Southwest Prairie Conference.

The distance races in this meet were great. Katherine Olsen of DeKalb won two of the three races. The senior ran 2:17.41 to win the 800 Meter Run by four seconds. Olsen came back to run 5:03.17 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of Yorkville’s Kailey Fox (5:04.62) and Emily Eberhart (5:05.25). Fox earlier in the meet ran 10:58.75 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of teammate Anna Hunter (11:08.87). Olsen was also a part of DeKalb’s winning 1600 Meter Relay squad (4:07.75) that finished six seconds ahead of Geneseo (4:13.85).

Geneseo’s Alison Bowers ran 12.79 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 26.67 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Maddy Smith of Ottawa ran 1:01.43 to edge Bowers (1:01.64) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Smith also cleared 11-0 to win the Pole Vault.

Ottawa’s Sam Satterfield was also a double winner throw 114-2 to win the Discus and also had a 37-4 put to win the Shot Put.

 

Northern Lake County Conference Girls @ Antioch

Grant Community scored 157.5 points to win the team title ahead of Grayslake Central (119 points).

Antioch’s Ayanna Tommy was a double winner running 12.32 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 26.00 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Olivia Schmitt of Lakes Community dropped down a distance and ran 59.20 to win the 400 Meter Dash.

Lakes Community’s Brooke Stromsland won the 800 Meter Run (2:19.63) ahead of Round Lake’s Fatima Giron (2:20.28) and Aly Negovetich of Grant Community (2:21.42). Negovetich came back to run 5:11.20 to win the 160 Meter Run by 20-seconds.

 

NIC-10 Conference Girls @ Rockford Auburn

Machesney Park Harlem won their first conference title since 2010 with 167 points. Belvidere North (145 points) and Hononegah (109.5 points) followed.

Harlem was led by a double win by freshman Hannah Bilodeau who ran 12.67 in the 100 Meter Dash and 26.13 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

Hononegah’s Taylor Frommer also won two events. The senior started with a 2:21.45 time to win the 800 Meter Run. Frommer came back to run 5:16.22 to edge Belvidere North’s Madison Diercks (5:16.25) to win the 1600 Meter Run.

 

Upstate Eight Conference Girls @ Streamwood

West Aurora, in their final year in the conference, took home the title with 171 points ahead of Glenbard East (109 points). The Blackhawks were led by a double win from Dajour Miles. The two-time state champion ran 59.17 to win the 400 Meter Dash. The senior came back to run a season’s best of 24.73 (IL #4) to win the 200 Meter Dash. West Aurora’s Victoria Spagnola was a double winner with a 15-9.50 mark to win the Long Jump and 46.98 to win the 300 Meter Hurdles.

Bartlett’s Jenna Buchanan ran 5:21.09 to win the 1600 Meter Run ahead of her sister Camille (5:21.28). Jenna came back to finish second in the 3200 Meter Run (11:23.84) ahead of South Elgin’s Naomi Ruff (11:18.86).

 

Southland Athletic Conference @ Bloom Township

Host Bloom Township won the team title with 172 points ahead of Crete-Monee (112 points). Crete-Monee’s Lyn’Nikka Vance had a great meet winning four individual events. Vance jumped 18-8.50 to win the Long Jump and 37-7 to win the Triple Jump. On the track, Vance ran 12.04 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Rich Central’s Jayla Campbell (12.27). The two athletes faced off in the 200 Meter Dash with Vance again with the win (24.84) ahead of Campbell’s 25.31 personal best. Campbell did run the second fastest time in the state (56.09) in winning the 400 Meter Dash.

The sprint relays were hot as Bloom Township ran 48.28 (IL #4) to win the 400 Meter Relay. Kankakee ran 1:44.51 (IL #9) to win the 800 Meter Relay.

 

Big 12 Conference Girls @ Bloomington HS

Peoria Notre Dame captured the team title with 96 points ahead of Normal West (85 points) and Urbana (84 points). It was the Ameia Wilson show at this meet as the Danville senior won three individual events and was on a winning relay team in her final conference meet.

Wilson started her meet by jumping 19-6.75 (IL #3) to win the Long Jump. Her final 100-meters in this meet was a good one as she ran 11.99 to win the event ahead of Richwoods’ Seven Hicks (12.32). The order was the same in the 200 Meter Dash as Wilson won running 24.85 ahead of Hick’s 25.59 time. Wilson was also a part of Danville’s winning 800 Meter Relay (1:45.80).

 

Central Suburban League - South @ New Trier

New Trier scored 147 points to win the divisional title ahead of Glenbrook South (118 points). Raelyn Robinson of Glenbrook South had the big performance in this meet as she had a state leading 19-10.50 to win the Long Jump. Robinson also helped her team win the 800 Meter Relay (1:46.50) and also won the 100 Meter Dash (12.74).

Marne Sullivan led a New Trier first and second-place finish in the 800 Meter Run. Sullivan ran 2:18.44 for the win ahead of teammate Emma Braband (2:19.64).

 

Fox Valley Conference Girls @ Cary Grove

Huntley dominated this meet in winning with 188 points. McHenry was the closest team in second with 89 points. Huntley’s Daryn Davis won three individual events. Davis ran 15.31 to win the 100 Meter Hurdles, jumped 17-3.50 to win the Long Jump, and a 38-1 mark to win the Triple Jump.

McHenry’s Jenna Pauly won two events clearing 5-4 to win the High Jump and cleared 10-9 to win the Pole Vault.

 

Chicago Public League Co-Ed Championships @ Eckersall Stadium

Whitney Young and Lane Tech dominated the team competitions in this Co-Ed city championship. Whitney Young scored 173 points to win the Girls City Championship followed by Kenwood Academy (106.5 points) followed by Lane Tech (81 points).

Lane Tech dominated the Boys Meet scoring 160.5 points outdistancing Whitney Young (60 points) and Taft (45 points).

Ella Behrens led Whitney Young with a double win in the distance events. Behrens was in control of the 3200 Meter Run with a 10:49.18 winning time by almost a minute ahead of Northside Prep’s Ella Ton-That (11:47.34). Behrens came back to run 5:08.70 to win the 1600 Meter Run with Taft’s Sydney Partyka running 5:17.15 to finish second. Partyka earlier in the meet ran 2:23.63 to win the 800 Meter Run.

The sprints were fast in the Girls meet with Lindblom’s Treasure Keyes running 12.15 to win the 100 Meter Dash ahead of Whitney Young’s Sydney Robinson (12.26). It was closer in the 200 Meter Dash as Robinson ran 24.95 for the win just edging Kenwood’s Zakiya Johnson at the line by one hundredths of a second (24.96).

Kenwood Academy ran 48.72 to win the 400 Meter Relay ahead of Whitney Young and Lindblom who were both timed at 48.91. Whitney Young was in charge of the 800 Meter Relay (1:45.10) ahead of Kenwood (1:45.82).

Samuel Rivera of Whitney Young had the top performance in the Boys Meet with an impressive distance double wins. Rivera pulled away to win the 800 Meter Run running 1:54.86 for the win. Three runners were under two-minutes in this race that included Jack Burns of Lane Tech (1:56.39) and Kembre Daniel of Lincoln Park (1:57.67) who finished second and third.

Rivera came back to run 4:27.56 to win the 1600 Meter Run finishing ahead of Lane Tech’s Frank Burke Olson (4:29.26) and Jones Prep’s Anthony Maida (4:30.55). Maida earlier in the meet ran 9:34.77 to win the 3200 Meter Run. Lane Tech’s Julian Higueros finished second (9:36.09). Jones Prep also experienced success as they ran 8:19.66 to win the 3200 Meter Relay.

Perspectives IIT Math and Sciences ran 43.14 and edged Lane Tech for the win in the 400 Meter Relay by just three hundredths of a second. Perspectives came back to capture the 800 Meter Relay (1:30.46) ahead of Lane Tech (1:30.77) and Morgan Park (1:30.98).