Carmel nets championship at LF
Carmel's girls volleyball team entered Saturday's Lake Forest Invitational barely a .500 team.
But the Corsairs showed they're certainly better than average.
Led by Kaitlyn Howard, Vanessa Toby and Ashley August, Carmel went 4-1 to win the championship.
Carmel (13-9) avenged a three-game loss in pool play to Vernon Hills by outlasting the Cougars 23-25, 25-22, 25-20 the second time around.
Howard had 40 kills, 17 blocks, 9 digs and 9 aces in the five matches, while Toby totaled 36 kills, 29 digs and 7 aces. August lofted 106 assists and also contributed 12 kills, 34 digs and 10 aces. Carmel also received 25 kills from Kelley Jazdzewski and 15 from Megan Paterkiewicz. Kelsey Fredrick chipped in 26 digs.
Vernon Hills (15-9-1, 3-2 invite) was led by Rachael Ramsey's 31 kills and 15 blocks. Brianna Skeens and Caitlin McKenna had 29 and 27 kills, respectively. Kelsey Guglielmi had 106 assists and 10 aces on the day.
Grayslake North (11-13, 3-2) finished third. Megan Falk (37 kills, 84 digs) and Kaitlyn Klausner (93 assists) were named to the all-tournament team for the Knights, who also received 14 blocks from Alex Lowry and 11 aces from Elizabeth Phillips.
"Offensively, we were able to accomplish many goals," Grayslake North coach Nikki Kirchway said. "We really wanted to mix up the setting and help isolate the outsides with only one blocker. We were able to do this, as well as run many of our plays.
"Defensively, I cannot say enough. I have to give credit to Taylor York and Elizabeth Phillips, whom I had play different defensive roles than they were used to. Both of these girls did a great job."
At Harvard: Antioch finished third, winning 3-of-5 matches to hit the 20-win mark.
Antioch (20-5) was led by Megan Toczek's 53 kills, 19 blocks and 7 aces. Katie Lonergan added 34 kills, and Melisa Ori had 94 assists and 7 aces.
Boys soccer
Libertyville 1, BG 0: Ethan Ritcher scored with 13 seconds left, and Jim Palec earned the shutout.
At McHenry: Lakes extended its winning streak to seven games by beating Harlem 5-0, but then lost to McHenry 1-0.
Lakes is 9-7.
Boys cross country
At Wilmot, Wis.: Grayslake North's Nick Laine won the 34th annual Pat Harland Invitational at Fox River Park, covering the 3-mile layout in 16 minutes, 8 seconds.
Lake Forest's Andrew Dewar finished second, 11 seconds behind Laine, to lead the Scouts to the championship with 46 points. Crystal Lake South (71) was second, Jacobs (80) third, Crystal Lake Central (99) fourth and Grayslake North (165) a distant fifth in the 15-team field.
Girls cross country
At Wilmot, Wis.: McKinzie Schulz led Benet to first place in the 34th annual Pat Harland Invitational at Fox River Park.
Schulz, a sophomore who placed 13th in the state last year, covered the 3 miles in 19 minutes, 6 seconds.
Antioch's Erin Poss (19:29) finished a distant second, edging Lakes' Rachael Dean (19:30, third).
Grayslake North's Kimmy Denikas (20:00) edged Grant's Kendra Kennedy (20:00) for seventh, while Grant's Alexis Capps (20:01) finished ninth.
Benet (51 points) was followed by Prairie Ridge (73), Marengo (113), Antioch (137) and Grayslake North (143) to round out the top five. Grant (154) was sixth.
Boys golf
At White Deer: Kevin Savage shot a 7-over-par 79 to lead Warren to the championship.
The Blue Devils' 326 was five strokes better than runner-up Deerfield. Libertyville (334), Lake Forest (339) and Lake Zurich (340) rounded out the top five in the eight-team field.
Warren also received an 81 from Derrik Lindelof, an 82 from Taylor Furmanski and 84s from Ryan Economos and Zach Kim. Adam Guthrie had an 85.
Libertyville got top-10 rounds from Bobby Weidner (82), Brett Coburn (83) and Marshall Rolston (83).
Dan Downey (83) led Vernon Hills.
Girls swimming
At Conant: Stevenson won 32 of the 36 three-class events to easily defeat runner-up Hersey 303-203.
Stevenson's Tori Alland, Melanie Koto, April McKee and Ashley Wanland won the three A relays -- the 200 medley (1:58.39), 200 free (1:46.36) and 400 free (3:48.17).
Wanland (50 free in 26.36), McKee (200 free in 2:00.07) and Alland (200 IM in 2:16.3) also won A races. Erin Cunningham won the A 100 fly (1:02.84) and 100 breaststroke (1:10.59).
Last week, Hersey came back from 10 points down to beat division rival Prospect to win the Buffalo Grove Invitational.
On Saturday, Hersey got event victories from Rebecca Ruffin, Meredith Wellhausen, Laura Wilcher and Ellen Deering.
"Our relays did well," said Hersey coach Rob Lindgren, whose team hosts the Hersey Jamboree next Saturday. "We swam real, real well. We had a lot of season best times. This morning they did a spring set. A lot of girls had their best times then. We came here, and the girls were able to swim the same way."
Wilcher won the 500 with a 6:04.31. Ruffin placed second in the B-level breaststroke in 1:15.16.
Conant placed third with 160 points as Kelly Hendricks finished second in diving to state champion Kerrin Seymour of Stevenson, who won with a pool and varsity record 414.9 points.