By Michael Newman

mike@dyestat.com

Lincoln-Way East comes in as the team to beat with 14 qualifiers for next week’s state meet. Prospect, Downers South, New Trier, Oak Park-River Forest, and Oswego East are among the teams that could bring back a trophy from Charleston.

Here is a look at each of the 11 sectionals that took place on Thursday and Friday.

Friday

Buffalo Grove Sectional

Grant won the sectional championship in what was a close team battle. They scored 73 points ahead of Palatine (64 points) and Barrington (63 points). Grant paced by advancing ten to Charleston for next week’s state meet including three relays. They did win the 3200 Meter Relay (9:23.25) ahead of Palatine’s 9:26.72.

The distance races were highly competitive in this meet. Six runners qualified for state in the 3200 Meter Run. Jocelyn Long (Barrington HS) ran a seasonal best 10:42.41 to win by over a second ahead of Libertyville’s Melissa Manetsch (10:43.99). Isabelle Sparreo (Stevenson HS, Lincolnshire), Caitlin Shepard (Lake Zurich HS), and Grant’s Danielle Osmon and Eva Cardy also qualified.

The 800 Meter Run also qualified six to Charleston. Avryl Johnson (Libertyville HS) ran 2:14.67 to win the race ahead of Fremd’s Nora Finegan (2:15.51) and Palatine’s Kelly O’Brien (2:15.84). Johnson came back 30 minutes later to win the 400 Meter Dash (58.28) just ahead of Warren Township freshman Janii Jenkins (58.49).

After finishing third in the 800, O’Brien came back to blow away a good field to win the 1600 Meter Run (4:57.93) by nine seconds. Melissa Manetsch qualified for her second state race finishing second (5:06.92) as only three seconds separated the next four runners. Fix athletes qualified in that event. Noemi Powell (Round Lake HS) was a multiple event winner as she won the 100 Meter Dash (12.30) and the 200 Meter Dash (25.28). Katie Schroeder (Grayslake Central HS) should be one of the favorites in the Pole Vault in Charleston as she cleared 12-3 to win the event.

Hoffman Estates Sectional

Rain delayed this meet twice Friday night but it did not delay Geneva from winning the sectional title. The Vikings scored 94 points for the win qualifying seven individuals for next week’s state meet. Batavia and Cary-Grove tied for second both scoring 74 points. McKenzie Altmayer (Geneva HS) continues to improve as she won two events at this meet. Altmayer ran a personal best 10:40.95 to win the 3200 Meter Run ahead of Batavia’s Dakota Roman (10:44.45), St. Charles North’s Audrey Ernst (10:49.23), and Geneva’s Emma Ehrhardt (10:58.19) who ran under 11 minutes in this event for the first time.

The top four athletes in the 1600 Meter Run were only separated by two seconds. It was Altmayer who took her second win of the night (5:00.59) holding off Hoffman Estates’ Meagan Biddle (5:02.23), Audrey Ernst (5:02.73), and Dakota Roman (5:02.80). Six runners advanced in this race for Charleston. Biddle helped Hoffman Estates qualify for the 3200 Meter Relay. Schaumburg ran 9:20.63 to win the relay followed by Hoffman Estates (9:23.47) and St. Charles East (9:25.34).

Hannah Schilb (St. Charles North HS) had the top performances in this meet. She won booth horizontal jumps starting with an 18-9 ½ leap to win the Long Jump. Then in the Triple Jump, she leaped a personal best 40-6 for the win in the event. Courtney Morgan (Metea Valley HS, Aurora) will be one of the favorites in the Shot Put next week. She had a 44-5 effort to win the sectional title. Nikki Freeman (Cary-Grove HS) threw 142-9 to win the Discus three feet ahead of Morgan (139-3).

Nidi Ukaobasi (Geneva HS) was a multiple event winner as she ran 12.46 to win the 100 Meter Dash and 26.05 to win the 200 Meter Dash by only a hundredth of a second ahead of Hannah Schlaman (Batavia HS).

Lyons Township Sectional

Host Lyons Township cruised to the sectional championship scoring 138 points qualifying ten individuals and three relays. There were two athletes that won multiple events in this sectional. Vanessa Flaherty (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) won the 800 Meter Run (2:16.39). She came back to run 5:08.54 to win the 1600 Meter Run (5:08.84) ahead of Marist’s Maryclare Leonard (5:09.70) and Lyons Township’s Cara Paliakas (5:10.97). Kyla Jimmar (Richards HS, Oak Lawn) also was a double winner running 15.11 to win the 100 Hurdles and 25.81 to win the 200 Meter Dash.

The biggest surprise of the night came in the final event of the night. Proviso West, who has the third fastest time in the state in this event, failed to advance to Charleston in this event. Mother McAuley (4:02.90) and Lyons Township (4:03.41) qualified with Proviso West finishing third (4:08.12). The Lady Panthers did get tow qualifiers in the 400 Meter Dash as they got a 1-2 finish by Cameryn Fisher (59.25) and Talia Robinson (59.85).

Rock Island Sectional

Southwest Conference rivals East St. Louis-Senior and O’Fallon battled for the sectional championship with East St. Louis coming away with the sectional win by three points (90-87). Both teams will battle for team trophies at next week’s state meet. East St. Louis advanced six individuals and three relays to the state meet. O’Fallon qualified seven individuals and three relays to Charleston.

LaJarvia Brown (Alton HS) once again won four events putting Alton as a team that could come away with a trophy at Charleston. Brown controlled both the horizontal jump events and both hurdle events. Brown jumped 38-10 ½ to win the Triple Jump and 19-3 to win the Long Jump. On the track, Brown ran a 14.34 to win the 100 Hurdles and then 45.52 to win the 300 Hurdles.

Ozzy Erewele (Springfield HS) will be one of the runners to watch in next week’s state meet in the 100 Meter Dash. She won the event in this meet in less than ideal conditions (12.16). She also helped Springfield qualify in the 400 Meter Relay as they finished third. O’Fallon ran 48.00 to win the event ahead of Belleville West (48.26) and Springfield (48.35). Seven teams advanced to the state meet from this event. O’Fallon came back to run 1:42.69 to win the 800 Meter Relay. East St. Louis, who has the fastest time in the state in the 1600 Relay, qualified for the event by running 4:00.32 for the win five seconds ahead of O’Fallon (4:05.33).

Lake Park Sectional

Prospect advanced 14 to nest week’s state meet including 12 individuals as they scored 129 points to win the sectional title ahead of Lake Park (73 points) and Glenbard West (68 points). Despite rainy conditions, there were a ton of qualifiers that came from this meet especially in the distance events.

Five runners qualified in the 3200 Meter Run as Glenbard West took the top two spots with Lindsey Payne winning (10:37.14) and freshman Katie Hohe running a personal best 10:43.11 to finish second. Brooke Wilson (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect) finished third (10:45.62). A whopping seven runners qualified in the 800 Meter Runa s they were all within four seconds of each other. York’s Sarah May (2:15.64) edged Elk Grove’s Emily Stegmeier (2:16.09) for the win. The 1600 Meter Run went one better as eight runners advanced to Charleston from this race. Kathryn Kenwood (Glenbard West HS) surprised the pack running a personal best 5:03.51 for the win. York’s Elizabeth Hagstrom (5:04.32) and Lindsey Payne (5:04.66) led the pack. Glenbard West also picked up a win in the 3200 Meter Relay (9:22.63) ahead of York (9:25.98).

Maya Mason led the Prospect charge with a win in the 100 Hurdles (14.81) ahead of teammate Cassidy Selep (14.95). Prospect also went 1-2 in the 300 Hurdles with Brenda Kendziera (46.60) and Mason (46.97). Selep also won the Pole Vault (10-6). Kendziera qualified in two field events including winning the Long Jump (17-7 ½). Michaela Smith (Lake Park HS, Roselle) picked up two sectional titles with a 136-2 throw to win the Discus and a 40-5 effort to win the Shot Put.

Thursday

Ottawa Sectional

Peaks and valleys would describe this sectional as there were too many negative surprises in this meet Thursday night. The first was in the 3200 Meter Run where the nation’s #2 runner in this event Judy Pendergast (Naperville North HS) was the top seed. The was the question of uncertainty with the defending 3A champion in this event as Pendergast missed last week’s DVC Championship due to an injury to her foot. Through the first six laps of the race, it was all Pendergast as she took the lead from the start. By the mile she went through in 5:17 with a pack led by Minooka’s Ashley Tutt and Emily Shelton only five seconds behind.

On the seventh lap, Shelton caught and passed Pendergast as the Naperville North senior began to fade back. Tutt and Pendergast’s teammate Sarah Schmitt passed her on the final lap. Shelton’s winning time of 10:42.07 was nine seconds ahead of Tutt (10:51.48). Schmitt finished third (10:53.97) ahead of Pendergast (10:57.16) who was helped off the track after the race favoring her injured foot.

“Part of the strategy falls on me. We did not think that the wind would be that strong. The combination of that and her foot hurting her during the race did not help,” Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson said later in the meet. “The injury is on the muscle between her heel and her big toe. Rest is what she needs. She may have taken a setback but she had to run this race to qualify her for state. Time is our enemy at this point.”

Pendergast tried to warm up for the 1600 Meter Run but it was decided that she would scratch from that race. Shelton again showed that she is developing into one of the top distance runners in the state as she pulled away from the pack in the final 400 meters to run 5:05.34 for the win ahead of Oswego’s Maddy Kammerer (5:08.10). Nicole Greyer (Yorkville HS) and Isabelle Christiansen (Oswego HS) also qualified.

A strong northerly wind played a huge impact on the races in this meet. The 100 Dash and 100 Hurdles were moved so that they would run the reverse direction on the track. A 15 minute delay occurred so that the timing cameras could be moved. The wind hit the runners in the other races down the home straight making it tough to get to the finish.

There was only a thirty minute gap between the finish of the 800 Meter Run and the 400 Meter Dash. Samara Miller (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville) had experienced the same type of interval the week before at the DVC Championships were she ran 2:16 and then came back to run 56.3. It looked good for Miller in the 800. She took the lead with 250 meters to go and then held off Oswego’s Kayla Wooten for the win by four tenths of a second (2:17.00 – 2:17.40). Miller looked good as he made her way around the far curve in the 400 with her sights on Oswego East’s Morgan Harris. In the last 100 meters, fatigue set in on Miller as Harris pulled away for the win (57.13). Miller struggled as she approached the line finishing fifth and failing to qualify. She collapsed after she crossed the finish line and needed medical attention causing a ten minute delay in the meet.

Harris also won two more events to help Oswego East win the team title with 90 points. Naperville North finished second (67 points) ahead of Neuqua Valley (59 points) and Yorkville (58 points). In a close 100 Meter Dash, Harris came from behind to nip D’Jenne Egharevba (Naperville Central HS) by two hundredths of a second (12.07 – 12.09). Six runners in that event qualified for the state meet. Harris came back at the end of the meet to win the 200 Meter Dash (25.96) again ahead of Egharevba (26.53).

Neuqua Valley also did not qualify in the 1600 Meter Relay. The Wildcats had run 3:56 indoors. On this night, they just missed qualifying placing third behind race winner Oswego East (4:03.21) and Naperville North (4:03.63). Waubonsie Valley qualified two of their relays running 48.76 to win the 400 Meter Relay as four teams qualified for state. Plainfield South edged Waubonsie Valley by one hundredths of a second to win the 800 Meter Relay (1:46.48 – 1:46.49). A strong anchor leg by Maddy Kammerer gave Oswego the win in the 3200 Meter Relay (9:24.53) ahead of Naperville North (9:26.92), Yorkville (9:28.72), and Neuqua Valley (9:32.13). All four teams qualified.

Danville Sectional

Host Danville qualified seven to next week’s state meet in winning the team championship 71-65 ahead of Homewood-Flossmoor. Jaimie Robinson played a big part in the success of Homewood-Flossmoor in this meet as she qualified in two individual events and helped her team win two relays. Robinson jumped 40-3 ¾ to win the Triple Jump by close to three feet. She finished second in the Long Jump (18-8 ¾) behind the 18-11 winning jump of Bloom’s Hannah Morris. Homewood-Flossmoor put up some good times in winning both sprint relays. The Vikings ran 48.51 to win the 400 Meter Relay ahead of Danville (48.77). Homewood-Flossmoor ran their fastest time of the season (1:41.77) to win the 800 Meter Relay ahead of TF North (1:43.42) and Thornton (1:44.79).

Danville picked up two individual wins in this sectional. Sadie Elliott ran 11:33.80 to win the 3200 Meter Run. She also qualified in the 1600 Meter Run finishing second behind Normal University’s Emmy Mussey. The freshman ran 5:25.59 for the win. Danville’s other win came in the 100 Meter Dash as Freshman Amelia Wilson ran 12.21 to win the race by eight hundredths of a second ahead of Lyn’Nikka Vance (Crete-Monee HS).

In one of the closest races of the night, Kierra Griggs (Bloom Township HS, Chicago Heights) ran 55.86 to win the 400 Meter Dash by only nine hundredths of a second ahead of Bloomington’s Kylie Welch (55.95). Welch currently has the fastest time in this event this season.

Huntley Sectional

Savannah Long won three individual events to help DeKalb win the sectional championship 87 to 76 ahead of Rockton Hononegah. De Kalb won four of the final six events on the track to catapult them to the win. Long picked up a pair of wins in the hurdles running 14.89 to win the 100 Hurdles and then 44.66 to win the 300 Hurdles. A final victory came in the 200 Meter Dash when she ran 26.05 for the win ahead of Rockford Guilford’s Crystal Mathis (26.22).

Nicky Althoff (Hononegah HS, Rockton) was the meet’s other multi event winner. She ran 2:21.36 to win the 800 Meter Run just edging Belvidere North’s Jenna Lutzow (2:22.14). Althoff came back a short time later to win the 400 Meter Dash (59.12) by only eight hundredths of a second ahead of Belvidere North’s Sabrina Elder (59.20).

Lockport Sectional

Defending 3A champion Lincoln-Way East proved that they are ready for another team championship qualifying fourteen overall including all four of their relays to win the sectional championship scoring 132 points. Downers Grove South scored 107 points to finish second. The Mustangs showed that they could be in contention for a trophy qualifying seven individuals and one relay.

The closest race of the night was the 100 Meter Dash where they had to go to the photo to determine the winner between Lincoln-Way East’s Kayla Hylton and Downers Grove South’s Shaliyah Dixon Tucker. Both were timed with their season’s best 12.05. The photo could not separate the two so both were given the co-win. Hylton came back to win the 200 Meter Dash (24.72) just ahead of teammate Jasmine Howell (24.77). Dixon-Tucker and Jaclyn Greci (Lockport Township HS) also qualified for state in that event.

Right before the 100 Meter Dash, Dixon-Tucker was in the blocks for the 100 Hurdles. She ran a seasonal best 14.23 to win the event just ahead of Lincoln-Way East’s Alexis Pierre-Antoine who also ran a personal best (14.45)

Lincoln-Way East showed their power in all four relays winning three of them. The Griffins ran 47.53 to win the 400 Meter Relay by almost a second ahead of Downers Grove South (48.75), Romeoville (49.10), and Bolingbrook (49.40). Lincoln-Way East just missed their seasonal best in the 800 Meter Relay, but still ran an impressive 1:40.77 to win by almost three seconds ahead of Lockport (1:43.63), Hinsdale Central (1:43.88), and Romeoville (1:45.27).

Their third relay win came in the 1600 Meter Relay. Lincoln-Way East ran 3:57.41 to win the event by almost six seconds ahead of Hinsdale Central (4:03.19). Three teams qualified for state in the 3200 Meter Relay led by list leader Hinsdale Central. The Red Devilettes ran 9:20.53 for the win almost thirteen seconds ahead of Downers Grove North (9:33.59). Lincoln-Way East ran a seasonal best of 9:35.66 to finish third.

Michaela Hackbarth (Downers Grove South HS) was the only other double winner in this high powered meet. The defending 3A state champion in the 800 proved she was ready for Charleston running 2:12.19 to win the event by almost four seconds ahead of Emma Moravec (Downers Grove North HS). Moravec (2:16.04) just edged Lincoln-Way Central’s Jenna Diers (2:16.37). Hackbarth came back 30 minutes later to run 57.90 to win the 400 Meter Dash. Lincoln-Way East’s Asia Brown (59.15) was the other qualifier in the event.

Hinsdale Central’s Reilly Revord and Annie Zaher were the only qualifiers in the 1600 Meter Run. Revord ran 5:01.39 for the win four seconds ahead of her teammate (5:05.85).

Lauren LeDere (Lincoln-Way East, Frankfort) had a seasonal best 42-0 to win the Shot Put. Maddie Manganiello (Downers Grove South HS) continued to impress in the Long Jump. She jumped 18-8 ¼ to win the event by more than a foot.

Niles West Sectional

New Trier stamped themselves as a trophy contender as they won the sectional championship with 128 points winning all four relays along with qualifying 11 individuals. Loyola Academy was a distance second with 77 ½ points.

The Lady Trevians made noise right at the start of the meet running the second fastest time in the state (9:14.30) to win the 3200 Meter Relay. Maine South was second (9:22.32) as five teams out of this sectional qualified for the state meet. New Trier also won the 400 Meter Relay (49.12) just ahead of Highland Park (49.45), the 800 Meter Relay (1:44.10), and the 1600 Meter Relay with a seasonal best 3:58.69.

The distance races shined in this meet with multiple qualifiers in the three events. They were led by the double win from Kathryn House (Loyola Academy, Wilmette) who won both the 3200 and 1600. Four runners qualified for state in the 3200 as House won the race (10:50.42) by just four hundredths of a second ahead of Lake Forest’s Brett Chody (10:50.46). House came back to run 5:02.59 to win the 1600 Meter Run three seconds ahead of Highland Park’s Charlotte Nawor (5:05.74). Five runners qualified for state from that race.

The monster distance race was the 800 Meter Run. The top seven runners were all state qualifiers and only separated by four seconds. Savannah Noethlich (New Trier HS, Winnetka) ran 2:16.32 for the win a second ahead of Glenbrook South’s Emily Noone (2:17.46).

Hannah Wilson (Glenbrook North HS, Northbrook) picked up a double win in this meet. The freshman ran a seasonal best of 12.19 to win the 100 Meter Dash. She also recorded a seasonal best in the winning the 200 Meter Dash (25.19). Tauja Foreman (Evanston Township HS) also won two events winning the 100 Hurdles (15.32) and the 300 Hurdles (46.59). Her win in the longer hurdle race win was by only two hundredths of a second ahead of Lake Forest’s Haley Click.

Whitney Young Sectional

Oak Park-River Forest won all four relays and advanced nine individuals to next week’s State Meet as they scored 151 points to win the sectional title Thursday afternoon at Concordia College. Whitney was not too far behind as they scored 132 ½ points to finish second.

There were some good performances at this meet led by the double win by Imani Davis (Lane Tech HS, Chicago). The senior started out by running a season’s best 2:14.45 to win the 800 Meter Run. Mary Blankemeier ((Oak Park-River Forest HS) has missed more than a year with an injury. She finished second (2:18.53) punching her ticket to Charleston. Zyana Cabrera (Whitney Young HS) also qualified in this event. Davis came back to run 58.05 to win the 400 Meter Dash finishing just a tenth of a second ahead of St. Ignatius’ Hannah Cohn (58.15).

Amira Young (Whitney Young HS) ran 12.31 to win the 100 Meter Dash. In the 200 Meter Dash, Norma Abdur-Rafia (Oak Park-River Forest HS) ran a season’s best 24.62 for the win ahead of Young (24.97).

Oak Park-River Forest positioned themselves well for the state meet in their four relay wins. The Huskies ran 9:38.32 to win the 3200 Meter Relay, 48.74 to win the 400 Meter Dash by six hundredths of a second ahead of Whitney Young (48.80), 1:43.17 to win the 800 Meter Relay, and 4:00.23 to win the 1600 Meter Relay.