Girls track: Krich, Huntley claim FVC indoor title
A second straight appearance at the Class 3A state finals in late May is prominent on the mind of the Huntley junior high jumper McKenzie Krich.
Krich, in midseason form, claimed top honors with a jump of 5 feet, 2 inches at Tuesday's Fox Valley Conference Girls Indoor Track Invitational at Huntley High School.
The junior helped propel the Red Raiders to the team title with 123.5 points. McHenry placed second with 100.5 points while Cary-Grove was third with 84 points.
“I had a lot of good training in the offseason and really worked on my jump,” said Krich. ‘This was a good meet for me because they were so many good jumpers. My goal is to make it to state again and perform better and place. I want to redeem myself for last season.”
Other first place efforts for the Red Raiders were Tyra Miller (60 meter hurdles, 9.51) and Mary Raclawski (800, 2:26.21).
Chloe Smith followed Raclawski with a second-place finish in the 800 with a clocking of 2:27.31.
Huntley also won the 800 relay (1:49.9) and the 1,600 relay (4:16.85).
“For only our second indoor meet, I am very proud of the girls because we are still looking at a lot of girls in different events,” said Huntley coach Shawn Nordeen. “The girls showed a lot of guts tonight and really put together a great effort. It was great to see us end the night winning the 1,600 relay. The pieces of puzzle seemed to fit tonight.”
Cary-Grove, with a third-place finish, was led by Sophia Galfano, who garnered top accolades in the 400 with a time of 1:03.96.
“My plan was to fast jog until the last 100 and then sprint to the finish line,” said Galfano. “I had plenty left at the end.”
Second place finishes for the Trojans were Tabor Gleason (60 hurdles, triple jump), Jenna Magel (60 dash) and Paige Groves (shot put).
Jacobs, fourth with 73.5 points, placed first in the 3,200 relay with a time of 10:03.96. The Golden Eagles were second behind Huntley in the 800 and 1,600 relays. Individually, the top performance came from Michaela Baraglia who tied for second in the high jump with Hampshire's Riley Seagren with jumps of 4-10.
Hampshire, aided by Seagren's effort, placed seventh with a score of 32 points. Sophia Oury was second in the 3,200 for the Whip-Purs.
Grayslake North, 2 points behind Hampshire with 30 points, finished eighth. Knights freshman Kelli Tosic won the 1,600 in a clocking of 5:28.90.
Dundee-Crown was 10th with 14 points. The Chargers' best effort came from Jenna Berlet, who placed third in the 1,600.