Scouting Fox Valley Conference girls track
The old saying goes that the champ is the champ until someone beats the champ.
That's the way it is in the Fox Valley Conference for girls track this season. Cary-Grove is the defending champ and appears to have the talent and depth to make it back-to-back titles.
But talented squads from Crystal Lake South, which won the 2007 and 2008 league titles, and Huntley each hope to knock Cary-Grove from the perch later this spring.
Beyond that, the conference should again have its fair share of state qualifiers.
Cary-Grove: Depth and experience make the Trojans a contender every year and this spring will be no different.
"We've got a huge team with depth in every event," said Cary-Grove coach Mark Anderson. "We should be all right."
The Trojans, who won conference, county and sectional titles last season, will be led by senior Kelly McCoy and junior Carly Loeffel in the sprints, jumps and hurdles. McCoy finished ninth in the high jump at state last spring and eighth in the 100 hurdles.
Anderson is also hoping for big contributions from the likes of seniors Lindsay Young in the middle distances and senior Jess Warnecke in the hurdles, as well as senior Lizzy Dyrek in the throws and sophomore Sarah Ryan in the sprints. Freshman sprinter Joclyn Nicholson has also caught Anderson's eye.
"If our top kids can score in big meets, we'll be fine," Anderson said.
Huntley: There's good depth back again for the Red Raiders, led by senior Amy Fanella, who qualified for state in the triple jump and both hurdles last year. She will compete at Indiana State University next year.
Juniors Haley Loprieno (distance), Marilyn McDougall (mid-distance, sprints) and Sarah Sheehan (pole vault, sprints) and sophomore Abby Shaw (mid-distance, sprints) give Huntley the experience it will need to challenge Cary-Grove.
Newcomers who coach Shawn Nordeen hopes will contribute include juniors Delanie Deneen, Mercedez Kennedy and Bri Roeser in the distance events, junior Ashley Moreano in the hurdles and relays and sophomores Sara Scarbro (distance) and Jen Kearns (triple jump, long jump).
"We have a solid upper class group that will help many of our newcomers that are out for our team," Nordeen said. "These upper class girls have seen and know what it takes to keep the program at the top of the conference, which in turn will do wonders as these younger student-athletes begin their journey through the years in the program.
"The team looks pretty solid this year. We have many members of state qualifying relay teams back this year. This experience has been a huge plus for the team. Many members of the team have really fed off their hard work so far this season. With all the past success we've had as a team or individually at Huntley this year's team seems to be the most well-rounded that we have had."
Crystal Lake South: The Gators have a new coach in Matt Dunker, a 1998 Marengo graduated who was a standout in football, basketball and track for the Indians, takes over for Christy Tenopir and he's got enough talent back to challenge for the FVC title again.
Leading that list are Marianne Collard and Emily Lenzini in the distance events and Heather Newberry in the middle distances. Collard placed eighth in the mile at state last year.
"We are a very young team that should have a lot of underclassmen competing at the varsity level," said Dunker, a math teacher at South who took sixth place at state in the triple jump his senior year at Marengo and then went on to play football at Northern Illinois. "Our main goal is for every girl to improve on her time and distance. All our training programs are individualized. We set times and distances for each girl to meet that will help them to improve. We want to see the girls hitting their best times at the end of the year. Another one of our goals is to qualify as many girls as possible for the state meet.
"Our main strength is our depth. We have around 80 girls out for the team this year. We're hoping to be able to move girls around events to find our best chances to score. But we are a very young team thaty needs both upperclassmen and underclassmen to step up as leaders and fill the needs we have."
Dundee-Crown: The Chargers aren't exceptionally deep but they do have a state qualifier returning in senior Katie Cutinello, who made it to Charleston last year in the triple jump. She also hurdles, long jumps and high jumps.
Also back for the Chargers are senior Lindsay Mosher (sprints, discus) and Dalmina Arias (sprints) as well as juniors Katie Gross (middle distance, distance), Clara Himmel (distance) and Lauren Mosher (middle distance).
Fourth-year coach Matt Michalski is also hoping for good things from newcomers Diamond Williams (hurdles, sprints) and freshmen Jade Franz (distance), Natalie Himmel (distance) and Kelsey Moss (sprints).
"There's a core of middle distance kids who can make up a good 4X8 team so there's an opportunity there," said Michalski. "We've got some hardworking kids and we're just trying to come together as a team. We had a good indoor season."
Jacobs: The Golden Eagles also have a new coach in Matt Campbell.
Jacobs' top returnees are juniors Brittany Hall (sprints), Nicole Millard (sprints), Olivia Mayer (long jump, triple jump), Bethany Muscat (high jump) and sophomores Nyla Walker (sprints) and Lauren Wallace (sprints). Top newcomers are freshmen Kylie Daniels (sprints) and Jocelyn Ojeda (middle distance).