Girls track & field: Scouting Fox Valley area sectionals
Here's some bad news for Class 3A girls' track 800 and 1,600-meter runners.
Jacobs senior Lauren Van Vlierbergen is running better than ever heading into today's Hononegah sectional in Rockton where she will begin defense of her Class 3A 800 state title.
"Lauren is already running well below state times," said Jacobs coach Ryan Lemanski. "She is looking the strongest right now that she has all season. At a (recent) workout she ran incredible times that looked like she exerted zero effort in them. It's going to be exciting to watch her at the sectional meet."
Van Vlierbergen, the Wendy's Heisman Award winner, won the 800 state title by nearly 3 seconds last year and finished fifth in the state in the 1,600. At the FVC meet she ran 2:14.24 in the 800 and 5:03.77 in the 1,600, well below the 2:19.74 and 5:14.24 state-qualifying standards for this year. She ran 2:10.14 and 5:01.72 at the state meet a year ago.
Lemanski also has high hopes for high jumper Rachel Holstein, who won the Fox Valley Conference title last week with a leap of 5 feet, 3 inches (the state-qualifying standard), as well as long jumper Caleigh Walsh (another FVC champion).
"Caleigh has been consistently at 17-6, 17-8 (at and above the state standard of 17-6) all year," said Lemanski. "She's kept her approach short throughout the season and this week we are looking to change that to add a few more inches to her jump."
Huntley is fresh off winning the Fox Valley Conference team title behind first-place finishes from Macy Tramblay in the 100 hurdles (14.82) and triple jump (35-4¾), Cassidy Lackovic in the 100 (13.09), Tess Miller in the 400 (59.87) and the 1,600 relay team (4:11.56).
Tramblay is already under the state time in the hurdles and her conference mark in the triple is 3 ¼ inches short of the state standard, while Miller needs to get down to 59.44 in the 400.
Cary-Grove coach Mark Anderson likes Nikki Freeman and Eva Burk's chances at the sectional. Freeman won the FVC title by more than 10 feet at 131-09 (117-6 is state qualifying), while Burk's last two 100 hurdles races have been under 15 seconds. She owns the school record at 14.80 (15.34 is the state standard).
Trojans standout and Illinois recruit Morgan Schulz missed the FVC meet with a stress fracture in her ankle. As of press time, Anderson said her status for Hononegah still was not decided. "Not sure yet," he said. "She wants to run but we need doctor's clearance."
One relay team to keep an eye on is Crystal Lake South's 3,200 quartet of Kiley Britten, Natalie Boorom, Caitlin Bruzzini and Kayla Ehrenhaft who already are about 7 seconds under state-qualifying time and set a FVC meet record at 9:29.48. They also set the Waukesha (Wis.) Northstar meet record.
Fellow conference champions Kianna Clark (shot put) and Natalie Boorom (300 hurdles) also will be in prime contention for state berths. Clark has thrown over the qualifying mark in her last six meets, while Boorom has gone under the state standard in her last four invitationals. Clark owns the school shot put record at 39-3.
South coach Matt Dunker also is excited about the prospects of his 800 relay team (Cecilia John, Clark, Cailey Ciezadlo and Brandie Minogue) and 400 relay team (John, Clark, Kat Pencak and Minogue).
"It should be a very good race for both relays," he said. "All the teams in the fast heats have very close times. We have not run our best combinations for either relay yet, so we are hoping the times drop."
The rest of the area Class 3A teams head to St. Charles North for sectional action on Friday.
Streamwood standout distance runner Gabby Juarez will look to qualify for state in the 1,600 and 3,200. She has run as low as 4:54 in the mile this season (indoors).
"Gabby has been dominant in those races at every meet we have competed in and she is consistently under the qualifying times," said Streamwood coach Kellie Stich.
Addie Kelly is about 3 seconds off qualifying time in the 1,600 for the Sabres, while Aaliyah Winters has gone 1:00.47 in the 400 and needs to drop just over 1 second.
Dundee-Crown freshman Tarrah Kamp is showing steady progress in the discus. Her personal record is 113-11 and the state mark is 117-6.
"Her best before the 113-11 was a 108 so that is why she may have a chance," explained Dundee-Crown coach Christine Hopkins-Muehl.
D-C's 800 relay team of Audrey Schmatz, Kimmy Skvarla, Lauren Hogue and Anette Woolf has improved its time at every meet, Hopkins-Muehl noted, while sophomore 400 runner Kaylee Rendl is coming off a personal best at the FVC meet.
South Elgin coach Jorie Bartholomew said pole-vaulter Ann Mikulecky has potential to clear 10 feet (she's cleared 9-6), while Caroline Muller is an inch under qualifying in the high jump. Emalee Smith is a potential point-scorer for the Storm in both the 100 hurdles and the triple jump. Shot-putter Bridgette Williams increased her throw by 2 feet in the last meet. Janese Bibbs, South Elgin's 400 runner, is a second off state time in that event. She is the school record-holder in the 400 at 1:00.7. The Storm's 1,600 relay team also set a school record at 4:18 this season.
"We are really looking forward to the 400 and some of the field events," Bartholomew said. "We feel we have some of our best athletes in those events."
Larkin's Isabella Orozco (300 low hurdles) and Shawniece Douglas (shot or disc) have shown great promise of late. Orozco has run under 50 seconds the last two meets.
"Izzy has the fight in her that is found in state-bound athletes," Larkin coach Brandie Lindo said. "At sectionals she ended up placing from the second-fastest heat, beating out two girls in the faster heat, which is impressive because that pacing visual isn't there. She is the type of athlete who knows to leave it all on the track if she wants to succeed."
Douglas won the Upstate Eight Conference River Division title in the shot. "Shawniece also is consistently setting PRs in both the shot and the disc," said Lindo. "She is trying real hard to throw 35 so she can get that custom shot that was bargained for at the beginning of the year. Regardless of a new shot, she has the desire to win and even more than that she isn't happy with her win unless her performance is worth it. She was upset she didn't PR when she placed at the conference meet because it wasn't her best. That is very impressive. I love an athlete who doesn't rest on her laurels."
Lindo has seen plenty of individual progress this season. "My main focus was celebrating the personal success," she said. "Every meet I track the girls PRs and log them and the following day we hold an awards ceremony where they receive PR ribbons. My girls work so hard for those ribbons. I have awarded 87 ribbons this season for 12 meets. We had two all-conference athletes this year which hasn't happened in a long time."
Elgin's Nicole Zimmer should be in the mix in the 400. She's run 1:01 and would need to drop around 1½ seconds to qualify. Abigail Pierre-Louis has run 13.0 in the 100.
Bartlett is led by the likes of Nicolette Zolecki and Kristen Leever. Zolecki has run 26.68 in the 200, while Leever has gone 1:00.60 in the 400. The state standard in the 200 is 25.94, while the 400 standard is 59.44.
Class 2A
Burlington Central is headed west to the Galena sectional that will be held at River Ridge High School in Hanover Friday. The Rockets are fresh off a second-place finish in the Big Northern Conference.
Conference champions for the Rockets included Chole Bilyk in the 800, Jasmine Castillo in the 300 hurdles, Karli Chmelik in the high jump and Meghan Conn in the pole vault. Castillo went under the state mark in the 300 hurdles (47.51; state standard is 47.84) at conference.
Hampshire will compete in the Vernon Hills sectional Friday. Dallas Krueger finished third in the FVC in the high jump at 5-1 - the state standard is 5-2 in Class 2A. The Whip-Purs' 800 relay team took third in the FVC at 1:49.00 - the state time is 1:48.04.
Class 1A
Elgin Academy, St. Edward and Harvest Christian Academy will compete in the Oregon sectional.
Harvest is loaded with promising talent, headlined by seniors Kylee Knox and Valerie Richter. Knox was a sectional runner-up last year in both hurdles raises. "Kylee is beginning to come into form and is poised for a strong performance," said Lions coach Steve Bland.
Richter will be plenty busy on the individual front in the 800, 1,600 and possibly the 400.
"Valerie has consistently been running in the 2:25 range (800) and we are looking for a breakthrough soon," said Bland.
The coach noted Richter went 5:38.62 in the 1,600, her only mile outdoor race of the season and has registered a 1:02.82 in the 400. "Valerie did the 1:02.82 after running a comfortable 2:33 in the 800. Running an 800, 400 and 1,600 would be quite a feat and may leave her a bit depleted, especially if she is pressed in any of those races. However, she did run that combination a few weeks back."
Freshman Nygia Pollard (3,200, 1,600) and Rachel Higbee (3,200, possible 800) also have been key contributors for Harvest this spring. Bland said Pollardprobably would be the top seed in the 3,200 at Oregon and will be one of the top seeds in the 1,600.
"A double may be in the cards," said Bland. "Her toughest competition probably will be her teammate, Valerie Richter. Nygia is showing great strength as we near the end of the season. In a recent meet she ran a very easy 3,200 followed by a solid 800 and then a 1,600, which she ran comfortably until the last lap."
That brings Bland to Harvest's highly touted 1,600 relay team of Knox, Higbee, Pollard and Richter, that competed at the Illinois Top Times indoor meet in March. Harvest's 1,600 team last year took second at the Byron sectional but was DQ'd because of an early cut before the break line.
"We plan to have them run this event at sectionals, however the question will be how much energy do they have after running so many individual events?" said Bland. "It will be a challenge to run a qualifying time so they will have to be one of the top two teams in order to make state."
Elgin Academy senior standout Kaitlyn Pearson is looking for return trips to state in both the 100 and 200. She finished third in Class 1A last year in the 100 (12.50). Pearson has run 12.25 already in the 100 (1A state time is 13.04) and 25.87 in the 200 (27.04 is the state mark).