Girls track and field: Grayslake Central takes FVC crown

Eight points.

That is all that separated Grayslake Central, Cary-Grove and Huntley from first place at Thursday night's Fox Valley Conference girls track and field meet held at Huntley High School.

Grayslake Central grabbed top honors with 150 points, followed closely by Cary-Grove with 147 and host and defending champion Huntley place third with 142 points.

The champion Rams received a first place effort from Katie Schroeder (pole vault, 11 feet, 9 inches).

Second-place Cary-Grove was led by standout Nikki Freeman who won the discus with a throw of 139-03 and the shot put (39-6.5).

"My throws were decent today," said Freeman. "It was very slippery in the discus ring and I had trouble getting my footing. I have a lot of work to do before the sectionals next week."

Huntley's lone first place individual finisher was McKenzie Krich in the high jump (5-3). It was her personal best.

"It was a great day for me," said Krich, "I have really been working hard to jump 5-3 and have been close in practice and in some meets. I visualized that I was going to make it today and it feels great."

The Red Raiders added points by winning the 400 relay (50.37) and 800 relay (1:47.99),

Grayslake North posted a sixth-place finish with 93 points. The lone first place effort for the Knights came from Iowa-bound hurdler Allie O'Connell (100, 15.58), O' Connell placed second in the event the last 3 seasons.

"I knew the competition would be really strong but I wanted to win so bad after all the second place finishes," said O' Connell. "I got off to a great start and finished strong. I had plenty of energy at the end of the race and didn't feel like I was going to die."

Hampshire, propelled by first place finishes in the 3,200 relay (9:39.21) and 1,600 relay (4:06.51) posted a seventh place finish with 72 points.

Crystal Lake South was 1 point behind Hampshire in eighth place with 71 points. The Gators got an impressive first place finish from Caitlin Bruzzini in the 3,200.

The South junior covered the course in a time of 11:22.42.

"I didn't want to go out too fast in the race," said Bruzzini. "I wanted to stay within striking distance and make my move in the sixth lap. I stuck with the plan."

Cailey Ciezadlo added a first for the Gators in the 200 in a time of 26.54.