Cary-Grove nets FVC three-peat
The Cary-Grove girls track team simply made it look easy.
With five first-place finishes, the Trojans garnered 114 points to claim their third consecutive Fox Valley Conference championship Thursday night at Crystal Lake South High School.
“We did a lot of things well tonight,” said Cary-Grove coach Mark Anderson. “We showed why we are truly a team. We had a lot of contributions from a lot of people.”
Junior sprinter Sarah Ryan paced the Trojans with two individual championships.
Ryan grabbed top honors in the 100-meter dash with a clocking of 12.40 and added a second individual crown in the 200 with a time of 26.60.
“I had a really good night,” said the Cary-Grove junior. “Coach Anderson wanted to me start fast and really focus and I felt I was able to do both things well.”
Anderson gave high praise to Ryan.
“Sarah Ryan was our MVP tonight,” said Anderson. “She gets overlooked at times, but she was outstanding tonight.”
Other individual champs for the Trojans were Kathie Wollney (300 hurdles, 47.37) and Carly Loeffel (high jump, 5 feet, 6 inches).
“I was happy with my effort,” said the Notre Dame-bound senior. “I hate running in the grass so I used a 7-step approach instead of a 9-step approach and it worked.”
The Trojans also won the 800 relay in a time of 1:45.70.
Huntley was a distant second in the team standings with 82 points.
Anthonia Moore led the Red Raiders with a first-place effort in the 400 in a time of 58.88. Huntley also won the 1600 relay in a time of 4:00.74.
Crystal Lake South, with two first-place finishes was fourth with 69 points.
Marianne Collard set a conference record in the 800 in 2:17.2
“I got off to a great start and felt strong the entire race,” said Collard. “It was comfortable weather to run in and I was able to use the wind to my advantage.”
The Gators’ Lexi Dahl vaulted to victory in the pole vault with a jump of 10 feet.
Jacobs was eighth in the team standings with 26 points. Allie Virgillio won the triple jump with a leap of 36-10½ for the Golden Eagles.
“It wasn’t my best jump, but I am excited to win conference,” said Virgillio. “It was a weird night. I though it was going to storm all night. I just kept my focus and things worked out.”
Dundee-Crown, ninth with a score of 18, got a first-place finish from its 3,200 relay team. The foursome of Claire Himmel, Lauren Mosher, Jade Franz and Katie Gross crossed the finish line in a time of 9:39.01.