Bartlett's Schneider has legitmate shot at state title

While the balance of power may still lie with the southernmost schools in the Upstate Eight Conference, the five Elgin Area District U-46 schools each have individuals that could fare well come time for the postseason.

And with three of the four runners who finished ahead of her at state last year in the 1,600 meters now graduated, as is state 2-mile champion Lizzy Hynes of St. Charles East, Bartlett junior Alyssa Schneider could challenge for the district's first-ever state championship in girls track.

Schneider, who finished fifth in the mile at state last year, ran away with both distance races at the UEC indoor meet recently and is one of very few Bartlett athletes with track experience coming back for second-year coach Beth Emody, who took over the program last year after coaching the Hawks' distance runners the previous five seasons.

"We are still a pretty young and inexperienced team," said Emody. "Most of our team is made up of sophomores and many of our upperclassmen are trying track for the first time. We have a lot to learn and practice before the postseason."

One of those promising sophomores is Taylor Crawford, who was the Hawks' top finisher on their state-qualifying cross country team this past fall.

"Our goals are to qualify as many athletes as possible for the state meet," Emody said. "We'd like to see all the girls continue improving their marks throughout the season and we'd like to place better as a team at the outdoor conference meet and sectionals."

Emody is hoping depth will be an asset for the Hawks. They return experience in seniors Brooke Kashnowski (sprints), Bella Sutchar (distance) and Sam Maiorana (800, mile); juniors Juile Cronin (long jump, 400), whose graduated sister Becca was sixth at state in the long jump last year, Kayla Cox (high jump), Emily Wilson (triple jump, 400) and Mary Grace Hibionada (sprints, hurdles)' and, sophomores Katie Gutzwiller (triple jump) and Katie Lauesen (shot put).

Seniors Emily Stonehill (sprints) and Megan Zmich (jumps, hurdles) as well as promising freshmen Nicole Watkins (2-mile), Alex Etzel (jumps, hurdles) and Megan Seidl (relays) add to Bartlett's depth.

The Hawks will host a sectional meet this season at Millennium Field that will again include all the U-46 schools.

Elgin: Gone to graduation is triple jumper Fatima Diabate, who finished seventh at state last season to earn Elgin's first girls track medal in IHSA state competition. Her freshman sister, Neissa, has already caught coach Dave Borg's eyes, though.

"In a couple years she'll be downstate in a couple of events," predicted Borg.

Borg has one of the biggest squads in U-46 with close to 40 girls out for the team. But the Maroons do lack experience. Borg said he's looking for good things from seniors Abbey Houde (hurdles, relays), Rachel Devine (800, 4 X 4) and Alex Haugen (mile).

"She's got a lot more talent than she knows," said Borg of Haugen.

Freshman Alice Chang has also impressed Borg in the sprints.

"We're a work in progress but it's nice to have a fast freshman," he said. "We're happy about our numbers and we're working them hard."

Streamwood: The Sabres have several girls back with experience yet remain a young team.

Leading the list of returnees is junior Megan McGlone, who qualified for state last year in the triple jump and is also a hurdler. Also back are senior Gina Savatski (mid-distance) and juniors Kristen Stanton (400), Maria Luna (distance), Jordana LeSavage (distance), Stefanie Curtis (sprints, pole vault) and Amber Hornsberger (pole vault).

Sabres' coach Ryan Korn is also high on senior newcomer Lindsey Anderson (shot, discus), junior Nexxus Nelson (sprints) and sophomore Alyssa Patterson (mid-distance).

"We have a very young team this year with the majority of our athletes being freshmen," Korn said."As a team we are looking forward to building on the success we had last year with our returning athletes. Megan McGlone is our only returning state qualifier but we have a strong core of girls that have the potential to qualify in their events this year. Specifically, I'm looking for our 3,200 and 1,600 relay teams to step up for us this year."

South Elgin: The Storm has its biggest squad yet with 45 girls out for the team.

"We have been trying a new practice strategy this year and we're sharing coaches with the boys team to help focus on the specialty events," said South Elgin coach Kari Turcan. "We are ready to have athletes take us downstate this year."

Leading the potential state qualifiers for the Storm this season are seniors Kristell Westbrook (hurdles, sprints, jumps), who is back after being out the last two seasons, Maria Garcia (throws, long jump) and Francessa Remy (mid-distance). Junior returnees Jen Gonia (sprints), Beatriz Kiene (sprints), Katie Goplerud (distance) and Tiara Washington (throws, sprints), as well as sophomores Jordan Tuin (hurdles, high jump, mid-distance) and Amanda Westerlund (mid-distance, relays) add to the Storm's depth.

Turcan is also hoping for contributions from several newcomers, including junior Erin Votava (sprints, relays), sophomore Ashley Bowers (Michigan transfer, mid-distance) and freshman Casey Schoenborn (mid-distance, distance).

Larkin: The Royals have a small squad with just 20 girls out but coach Jeremy Bloomberg is optimistic.

"We had more kids last year but this year the quality is better," Bloomberg said. "We've got a great group of freshmen and if they stick together, by the time they're juniors and seniors we should be very competitive."

The Royals' senior leaders are Megan Gard, who finished sixth in the 800 at the UEC indoor meet, and shot putter Tatiana Holbert, who was third at the UEC indoor meet.

Freshman Diana Castillo won the JV indoor meet in the 400 and Bloomberg said freshmen 400 runners Kellie Weber and Alina Sivilay are also showing promise.