Schager’s distance double at Batavia leads top Girls performances from the weekend

By Michael Newman

One of the top Girls races from the weekend occurred Saturday at Batavia’s Girls Open Meet. Grace Schager of Glenbard North led five runners under 11-minutes in a highly competitive 3200 Meter Run. Schager, the state cross-country champion last fall, led from the gun to run a state leading time of 10:19.23 to win the race. Scout Storms of Barrington ran 10:42.13 (IL #2) to finish second ahead of Audra Soderlind of Oswego who ran 10:56.21 (IL #6) for third and Prospect’s Lily Ginsberg (10:59.33, IL #8) and Veronica Znajda (10:59.73, IL #9) who finished fourth and fifth.

Schager came back with a successful double with a win in the 1600 Meter Run. The University of Notre Dame signee has run 4:56.22 in the 1 Mile Run. Schager came back on the double to run 5:03.07 (IL #4) for the race win with Prospect freshman Meg Peterson (5:10.31) her closest competition.

Elsewhere in the open meet, Batavia ran 4:07.31 (IL #3) to win the 4x400m Relay. Sophia Goluba of Barrington ran 7.39 (IL #6) to win the 55m Dash.

The top Boys meet this weekend was the D117 Clash at the Coliseum.

You can read the recap of the meet as well as watch race videos.

We also have race video from last Friday’s meet at Wheaton-Warrenville South.

Here are highlights of some of the meets received to Athletic.Net as of Saturday.

Girls Meets

Homewood-Flossmoor ABC Invitational – Alexandria Johnson of Huntley jumped 39-1.25 (IL #2) to win the Triple Jump. Ana-Liese Torian of Homewood-Flossmoor was a double winner running 25.84 to win the A Level 200 Meter Dash. The senior also ran 9.28 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles with Sophie Amin of Huntley running 9.34 seconds to finish second. Asia Thomas of Kenwood ran 57.45 to edge Angela Alozie of Homewood-Flossmoor (57.87) to win the 400 Meter Dash. Naomi Bey-Osborne of Kankakee ran 58.55 to finish third. The top two state times came in the 4x400m Relay. Homewood-Flossmoor ran 4:04.87 for the win ahead of Kenwood (4:05.98).

Proviso West Girls Meet #4 – Bria Bennis of York ran 5:08.22 (IL #10) to win the 1600 Meter Run with Colette Kinsella of Nazareth Academy running 5:13.44. York’s Margaret Owens (5:21.01) along with teammate Lily Beerhalter (5:22.74) finished third and fourth. Brooke Berger of York ran 11:09.07 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of teammate Katherine Klimek (11:11.47). Elaine Paul of York was a triple winner running 7.97 to win the 60 Meter Dash, 26.59 to win the 200 Meter Dash, and jumping 16-1 to win the Long Jump. Her freshman teammate Morgan Navarre also was a double winner running 43.19 to win the 300 Meter Dash and 1:01.00 to win the 400 Meter Dash.

Olivet Nazarene Girls HS Invitational (1A-2A Thursday, 3A Saturday) – Naomi Bey-Osborne of Kankakee tuned up for Saturday’s meet at Homewood-Flossmoor by running 25.55 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Brianna Dixon of Rantoul ran 25.68 to finish second. Bey-Osborne also finished second in the 60 Meter Dash (8.00) behind individual race winner Symone Frison of Lindblom (7.89). Dixon had a busy night running 8.95 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles edging Kennedy Ross of Lindblom by four hundredth of a second. Dixon also cleared a season’s best of 5-5 to win the High Jump.

In the 3A Meet on Saturday, Lincoln-Way East ran 10:10.33 (IL #6) to edge Chatham-Glenwood (10:10.63, IL #7) for the win in the 4x800m Relay. Asha Pierre-Antoine of Lincoln-Way East jumped 38-0 (IL #3) in winning the Triple Jump. Jaiden Knoop of Lincoln-Way East cleared 11-3.75 to win the Pole Vault. Katelyn Lehnen of Chatham-Glenwood ran 7.51 (IL #2) in the prelims, then ran 7.52 in the finals to win the 60 Meter Dash. Lehnen anchored the quartet in the 4x200m Relay. Chatham-Glenwood ran 1:50.69 to win ahead of Romeoville (1:51.80).

Plainfield North Girls Invitational – Zawadi Brown improved on her state’s best time in the 55 Meter Dash. The Neuqua Valley junior lowered her time by a tenth of a second to 7.24 to win the 55 Meter Dash with Taylor McClain of Plainfield North running 7.36 (IL #2) to finish second. Brown’s teammate Chioma Anyaegbunam ran 7.38 (IL #4) to finish third. Brown was busy winning three additional events. The junior jumped 17-5 to win the Long Jump. She ran 58.75 (IL #5) to win the 400 Meter Dash with Lauren Dellangelo of Plainfield North running 59.94 (IL #7) to finish second. Brown’s final win came when she ran 26.19 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Maine South ran 10:06.36 (IL #4) to win the 4x800m Relay. Plainfield North ran 10:11.90 (IL #8) to finish second. Maine South’s Olivia DeLuca (5:18.27) and Sofia Arcuri (5:19.22) finished 1-2 in the 1600 Meter Run.

Rockford Auburn Girls Invitational – Abrielle Artley of Evanston Township ran a great race in the 400 Meter Dash running 57.67 (IL #3) to win the race ahead of Bella Domier of Grayslake Central who had a 1:00.35 time (IL #10). Artley also ran 9.56 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles. Evanston’s Stella Davis ran 2:20.58 (IL #10) to win the 800 Meter Run to win by more than a second ahead of Winnebago’s Grace Erb (2:21.97). Ma’Kayala Winters of Rockford Auburn jumped a state leading 39-3.75 to win the Triple Jump. Winters also jumped 17-6.5 to win the Long Jump.

Plainfield South Girls Invitational #1 – Jahnel Bowman was a double winner on her home track. The Plainfield South senior jumped 18-1.25 (IL #4) to win the Long Jump. Bowman ran 7.51 to win the 55 Meter Dash by just two hundredth of a second ahead of Symone Holman of Joliet Catholic Academy.

WWS Girls Invitational #3 – Liv Phillips of Naperville Central followed up a great 1600 race the week before at York with another strong performance Friday night in this meet in the 3200 Meter Run. Phillips pulled away just after the first 1600 running 11:03.66 (IL #10) to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Abigail Jordan of Palatine (11:26.73) and Nicole Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South (11:34.88).

Boys Meets

Proviso West Boys Invitational – Oak Park-River Forest flexed their muscles in this meet scoring 109 points to win the team title winning just two events. 2A power Cahokia finished second (76 points) just ahead of York (74 points) and Lyons Township (71 points). There were a number of double event winners in this meet. Braydon Waller of Marian Catholic ran the state’s fastest time in the 60 Meter Dash in a meet in January at the University of Michigan. Waller was in control of the 60 Meter Dash running 6.92 to capture the win. Sophomore Caleb Schulz of Oak Park-River Forest ran 7.05 to finish second. Waller came back to run 22.73 to win the 200 Meter Dash just ahead of Kevin McGovern of Oak Park-River Forest (22.97). Waller’s teammate Michael VanHootegam was also a two event winner. The senior ran 8.43 to win the 60 Meter Hurdles ahead of Cahokia’s Keshawn Lyons (8.60). VanHootegam came back to run 52.46 to edge Lane Tech’s Demastanis Nikopoulos (52.71) and Jack Rempfer of Lyons Township (52.81) to win the 400 Meter Dash.

Cahokia won four of the contested five field events in this meet. Cahokia’s Jo’viano Howard and Julius Washington of Kenwood both cleared 6-2 and shared the win in the High Jump. Nicholas Deloach was a double winner in the horizontal jumps. Deloach jumped 21-6.25 to win the Long Jump with Howard jumping 21-0.75 to finish second. Deloach came back to jump  44-5.75 (IL #3) to win the Triple Jump with Will Disessa of Lyons Township jumping 44-4.25 (IL #6) to finish second. Chase Crawford had the top performance in the meet with a 63-3.5 state leading mark in the Shot Put. Tyler Michelini of Lake Park had a 59-9.25 (IL #4) to finish second. Jaiden Gary of Proviso East had a 54-11.75 (IL #8) to finish third. Josh Meister of Oak Park-River Forest cleared 15-0 to win the Pole Vault.

Lyons Township ran a state leading 8:13.61 to win the 4x800m Relay ahead of Oak Park-River Forest at 8:14.67 (IL #2) and York at 8:26.59 (IL #9). Lewis O’Connor of Oak Park-River Forest ran 9:35.17 to win the 3200 Meter Run edging Cillian Henning of Lyons Township (9:35.92). Trent Anderson of Sandburg ran 2:01.80 to win the 800 Meter Run with Downers Grove South’s Shane Hosty finishing second (2:03.49). Aidan Hill of York dominated the 600 Meter Run with a 1:24.58 time (IL #3) to win by more than four seconds. Austin Brown of Metea Valley came from fifth-place on the final lap to capture the win in the 1 Mile Run (4:31.13). Grant Giblin of Sandburg finished second (4:31.60).

York won two of the three Varsity relays in the meet. The Dukes, who have the fastest state time in the 4x200m Relay, ran 1:33.15 to win the race ahead of WSC-Silver power Oak Park-River Forest (1:33.40) with Proviso West finishing third (1:33.60). York came back to run 3:33.06 (IL #2) to easily win the 4x400m Relay ahead of second-place Lane Tech (3:34.70) and Downers Grove South (3:34.80) finishing third.

Huntley Boys Invitational – Minooka scored 84 points to win the team title ahead of host Huntley (77 points), Naperville Central (74 points), and Barrington (64 points). Cael Hiser led Minooka as a part of three wins, two of which were individual. Hiser ran 7.00 (IL #7) to win the 60 Meter Dash. Marcus Caselberry of Stevenson ran 7.12 to finish second. Hiser came back to run 22.51 (IL #6) to win the 200 Meter Dash with Caselberry again finishing second (23.11). Hiser was also a part of the Minooka quartet that ran 1:33.25 (IL #7) to win the 4x200m Relay. Zachary Balzer of Minooka ran 2:00.35 to win the 800 Meter Run ahead of Matthew Andreano of Jacobs who finished second (2:01.99). Luke Noren of Naperville Central ran 9:35.09 to win the 3200 Meter Run as Joseph Bregenzer of Barrington ran 9:39.78 to finish second. Tommy Nitz of Huntley ran 4:27.19 (IL #7) to win the 1600 Meter Run. Andrew Undesser of Minooka cleared 14-5.25 to win the Pole Vault.

ICOPS Invitational – St. Ignatius Prep dominated this meet on Sunday scoring 86 points to win the meet title. Loyola Academy (69 points) and St. Laurence (58 points) were also in the top three. After winning the 60 Meter Dash yesterday at Proviso West, Braydon Waller of Marian Catholic won again. The senior ran 6.48 to win the 55 Meter Dash with David Coffey of De La Salle finishing second in 6.58 (IL #4). Coffey came back to run 23.50 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Less than six tenths of a second separated the first three runners in the 800 Meter Run. Thomas Fitzpatrick of St. Ignatius Prep ran 2:00.30 to win the race ahead of teammate Luke Turner (2:00.43) and William Simon of Loyola Academy (2:00.88). AJ Walsh of IC Catholic Prep cleared 6-6 (IL #4) to win the High Jump.

Olivet Nazarene Boys HS Invitational (1A-2A Thursday, 3A Friday) – Jayon Morrow of Kankakee and his teammate Tyrice Bender Jr. finished 1-2 in both sprint races in Thursday’s meet. Morrow ran 7.10 to win the 60 Meter Dash with Bender running 7.15 to finish second. Morrow ran 22.53 in winning the 200 Meter Dash with Bender again finishing second (23.05). Bjorn Carlson of Rockford Christian ran 23.11 to finish third in that race. Earlier in the meet, Carlson ran 51.17 to win the 400 Meter Dash by more than three seconds. Bryson Grant of Iroquois West ran 9:43.76 to win the 3200 Meter Run with Weston Forward of Rockford Christian finishing second (9:53.33).

There were three double winners in the Friday evening meet. Billy Bailey Jr. of Joliet West ran 6.97 (IL #5) to win the 60 Meter Dash. Bailey came back to run 22.85 to win the 200 Meter Dash. Matthew Thomas of Danville was a double winner clearing 13-9.25 to win the Pole Vault and 8.45 (IL #10) to win the 60m Hurdles. Owen Forsberg of Richards left with two individual wins. He started off by running 2:00.49 to win the 800 Meter Run finishing ahead of Chatham-Glenwood’s Drew Verenski (2:02.76) and Van Schneider (2:03.49). Forsberg came back to run 4:33.87 to win the 1600 Meter Run by less than five seconds.

Mt. Zion Mini-Meet (Thursday) – Cale Smith of Decatur Eisenhower ran 4:34.28 to edge Julian Baker of Mt. Zion (4:34.49) for the win in the 1600 Meter Run. Kyle Hensley of Mt. Zion cleared an indoor personal best of 15-3.5 (IL #5) to win the Pole Vault.