Girls track and field: Team effort lifts Lake Zurich to Bison invite title
One of the first big girls track and field meets of the new season was held Saturday afternoon as Buffalo Grove hosted the 10-team Bison Invitational.
Lake Zurich rolled to the title with 126 points to surpass runner-up Evanston (100 points). Lake Park (64 points) took third place followed closely by Stevenson (63.5 points) in fourth, Jacobs (62.5) in fifth, and Schaumburg (60) in sixth.
Lake Zurich started off quickly as its 4x800 team of University of Colorado-bound Polina Krupsky, Chloe Wettstein, Abigail Kocher, and Celia Blaylock rolled to first place in 9:42.48. Krupsky also won the 800-meter run in 2:16.14. Defending state discus champion sophomore Arisa Bisofa took first in discus for the Bears with a throw of 44.46 meters.
Lake Zurich junior Avery Muhr won the 3,200-meter run in 11:34.79 while teammate Patricia Johnson placed second. Kocher (5:18.24) also placed first for the Bears in the 1,600.
"She (Krupsky) works really hard, she enjoys competing, and she continues to challenge herself in the middle distance runs," said Lake Zurich coach Suzie Santiago, who replaced former coach Jeremy Kauffman this season. "We have a whole bunch of kids who love track and competition, and they have a lot of drive to get PRs."
Bisofa took seventh in the state in the shot put last year and she recently broke a school record in the shot put dating back to 1979.
"My goal this year is to throw 170 feet in the discus and most of the time to just stay over 40 meters for most meets," said Bisofa, who took third in the shot put. "Shot put is not really my main event, but honestly I want to just throw 12 meters (in shot put) I guess."
Schaumburg's 4x100 team of Destiny Bickhem, Saqqara Gibson, Nadia Foster, and Serena Green (49.26 seconds) edged the Bears by .36 seconds for first place. Green also won the long jump (5.19 meters), and she placed second in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
"She (Green) put in a lot of work in the offseason, she is competitive, and she just finds freedom and solace in running," said Schaumburg coach Robin Bingham. "We have two incredible freshmen that just joined our squad this year in Chiovonae Lewis and Saqqara Gibson. We expect to qualify for state in the 4x100, and we just broke our school record in that event today."
Lake Park's Olivia Stranz (1.65 meters) took first in the high jump while teammate Gianna Goldsmith and Stevenson's Vera Jagasia (1.52 meters) tied for second. The Lancers also got a first-place finish from Maya Stradowski (2.90 meters) in the pole vault, a third from Klara Volkova in the discus, and a third from Goldsmith in the 100-meter hurdles.
"Overall it was a pretty good day, we've got some work to do obviously, but I'm pleased with the effort," said Lake Park coach Jay Ivory. "She (Stranz) is a returning state qualifier (in high jump), and Goldsmith qualified for state as a sophomore. So it's fun to watch them, and they really work hard together."
Jacobs sophomore Brylan Lemon won the 300-meter hurdles in 46.63 seconds. Jacobs senior Carly Uehlein was the runner-up in the shot put (11.85 meters), and discus (41.65 meters). Junior Aaliyah Guichon placed third for the Golden Eagles in the 200-meter run.
"She (Uehlein) finished second in the state in the discus last year and she qualified for state in the shot put," said Jacobs coach Jason Wright. "She (Uehlein) told me her goal for this year is to medal in both discus and shot put, and if she continues what she's doing she has a good chance at it."
Stevenson freshman Josephine Bernard took second in the 400 followed by Wheeling freshman Kaia Mate in third. The Patriots also got a second place from Camila Pak in the 800 followed by Fremd's Adeline Dietrich in third. Stevenson's Cece Novak placed second in the 1,600.
Wheeling sophomore Sierra Kuhlman won the triple jump (10.59 meters) and she placed second in the 100-meter hurdles. Kuhlman also placed third in the 300 hurdles.
Stevenson placed second in the 4x400, Lake Zurich placed second in the 4x200, and Jacobs placed second in the 4x800. Lake Zurich sophomores Anne Hoxmeier and Anna Main went 2-3 in the pole vault while Schaumburg's Nadia Foster placed second in the triple jump and third in the long jump.
Buffalo Grove freshman Tiffany Jansen placed fourth in the 300 hurdles while teammate Gabriela Tybor placed fourth in the long jump. Wheeling's Lindsay Kane placed fourth in the high jump. Jacobs' Lauren Grenlie placed fourth in the pole vault while Lake Zurich's Katherine Mollohan placed fourth in the triple jump.