A big first outdoors step for Huntley

Huntley girls track and field coach Shawn Nordeen wasn't sure how his team would deal with being outside Saturday when they hosted the Jennifer Kearns Invitational, the first big outdoor meet of the season.

Due to recent bad weather Huntley, like many teams, hasn't had much opportunity to get outside to fine-tune key aspects like relay handoffs or blocks.

But after the Red Raiders excelled for four-plus hours of A, B and C flight competition on the track and in the field events, they turned their coach's apprehension into appreciation.

Huntley won all three flights - including a 126-99 victory over second-place Crystal Lake South in the "A" flight - to amass 285 team points and a runaway victory. CL South was second overall with 210 points.

"A lot of them, this was their first big meet and we wanted to see how they'd react," Nordeen said. "They did well. I'm very happy with the way they reacted to it."

At the "A" flight level, the Red Raiders set multiple meet records. Senior Macy Tramblay set an invite mark in the triple jump (36 feet, 1½ inches), senior Delaney Lyman set a meet record in the pole vault (11 feet) and the 3,200-meter team of juniors Jerissa Chan and Kiera Daly and freshmen Chloe Smith and Megan Hernandez finished in a meet-record time of 10:47.40.

"I'm more than proud of how our team performed because last year we took third at this meet," said Tramblay, a Colorado State signee who also won the 100-meter high hurdles (15.30) and ran legs of Huntley's victorious 1,600-meter relay (4:07.71) and 400-meter relay (50.36). "For me this is the first time I've done a full set of hurdles since last July. I didn't get my best time in the hurdles, but I'm definitely happy how I performed."

Lyman entered the pole vault competition at 10 feet and failed to make height in her first two attempts. She then cleared the bar on her pressurized third try and made her first attempts at 10-6 and a personal-best tying 11 feet.

"I wanted to get a higher height but the day was a learning experience for me," Lyman said. "I jumped in at 10 feet, so I had to either stay warmed up or not warm up too early. It was exciting, though."

Crystal Lake South enjoyed a strong showing in the relays en route to its second-place overall finish. The Gators were second in the 800-meter relay to Huntley and third in the 400-meter relay, but the team 800-meter relay team prevailed. The foursome of seniors Gaby DeJesus and Kathleen Pencak and juniors Brandie Minogue and Cecilia John won in 1:49.04.

"We don't have one outstanding runner but we work hard during practice, we're all close and we push each other," Pencak said. "After this solid time, I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

Natalie Boorom was an individual standout for CL South. The senior won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 46.70 to edge Huntley's Emily Schmidt (47.64), and Boorom placed second in the 100-hurdles behind Tramblay. CL South's Caitlin Bruzzini was second in the 1,600 (5:26.70) behind Marengo's Allen (5:24.26).

Hampshire finished fourth in the A flight with 65 points. Junior Elizabeth Evans won the 800-meter run in 2:26.40, just ahead of Burlington Central's Chloe Bilyk (2:27.15). Junior Morgan Richert took second for the Whip-Purs in the 3,200 (11:45.81) behind Marengo's Caitlyn Allen (5:24.26) and Richert finished fourth in the 1,600.

"We did a lot of good things, but some of my older girls need to step it up," Hampshire coach Patti Nihells said. "I'm satisfied with our girls working on the track, but we need our throwers to step it up. We need some points out of them."

Burlington Central high jumper Karli Chmelik scored 10 of the Rockets' 46 points in flight A with her victory in the high jump.

"I didn't miss any until I got to 5-2," Chmelik said. "My (personal record) is 5-3, so I was really happy with it."

Bloom Township's Kierra Griggs stood out. She won the 200-meter dash (26.62), the 400 (58.06) and took third in the 100-meter dash in 13.05 behind Wauconda's Alison Beeman (12.89) and Huntley's Cassidy Lackovic (12.99).

"I did a 57 indoor and 58 outdoor, so I should be doing better," Griggs said of her 400 time, "but this is my first outdoor meet so it'll get better."

Wauconda enjoyed success in the throwing events. Two-time 2014 state medalist Christina Meinhardt won the A flight shot put (40-3½) and discus (126-7) competitions. Teammate Corrina Vaughn won the B flight shot put (35-7) to score 8 points for the Bulldogs.

"It was very nice," Meinhardt said. "Corrina and I, the dynamic duo we call ourselves. It was nice to sweep the throws and nice being out here for the first meet in warm weather."

Wauconda's Alison Beeman won the 100-meter dash in 12.89 seconds, took second in the open 400 (1:00.03) and placed fifth in the 200 (27.50).

Larkin finished last in each flight, but points at this juncture are not what matters to first-year coach Brandie Burgess, whose off-season recruitment program swelled the ranks of Larkin girls track and field participants from nine last season to 65 this spring.

"This year the program isn't about the competition as a whole. It's about the competition within each athlete," Burgess said. "We're celebrating personal growth more than overall team success. We're trying it differently. We're making the program fun and, eventually, we'll get the commitment with it."