Girls track and field: Huntley wins Fox Valley Conference meet by nearly 100 points

Two-time defending Class 3A triple jump champ Dominique Johnson, who’s focused on achieving a Charleston three-peat in the next two weeks, didn’t compete in her main event.

Which was no cause for alarm.

Her Huntley teammate Sienna Robertson, who owns the longest discus throw in the state this spring at almost 43 meters, missed the sector on a couple of tries and finished third.

And Huntley’s girls track and field team still won Thursday’s Fox Valley Conference meet by almost 100 points.

The Red Raiders piled up 174.5 points to easily better runner-up Hampshire (78.5), while Cary-Grove (59), Burlington Central (52) and Prairie Ridge (50) were further back in the standings.

Imagine if Johnson jumped her usual triple jumps, or if Robertson launched her usual perfectly aimed rockets from the discus circle.

It was the fourth FVC title in a row for Huntley, which also won the JV meet for the seventh straight time.

“It was a great night. I’m super proud of the way they ran,” Raiders coach Jason Monson said with a smiler wider than a discus cage. “It’s like you knew coming in that we were the favorite, but to jump your seed and do better than you were supposed to, that’s a testament to the work these girls are putting in on a daily basis.”

Johnson did win the long jump (5.96 meters), as she and junior teammate Addi Bussam (5.68) went 1-2 in the event. Johnson and Busam also helped Huntley win the 4x100 relay (48.56), which featured Emmy Byers and Ava Acevedo as well on a windy and cool day. The Raiders’ other individual wins came from sophomore Elena Fetzer in the shot put (12.36 meters), sophomore Morgan Sauber in the 800 (2:24.58) and freshman Myla Wade in the 400 (59.20).

Huntley won the 4x200 relay with Busam, freshman Reagan Ellis, Nevaeh Fondjo and Acevedo (1:45.06). The winning 4x400 relay featured Fondjo, sophomore Luci Herrera, Acevedo and Wade (4:04.34).

Fetzer heaved the shot a meet-record 12.36 meters.

“She’s been PR’ing every meet, so it’s not even a surprise to me,” Johnson said. “She’s doing great.”

“There’s a lot of that [on the team],” said Monson, who had his Raiders mocked up at scoring about 140 points. “We typically do one athlete of the meet, and I think we’re doing four tonight just because that’s how many girls really just stepped up and performed really well.”

Huntley’s expected four athletes of the meet? Fetzer, Busam, freshman Rachel Hogan (first in the 100 and 200 JV dashes) and senior Sara Willis (first in the JV shot put and discus).

Johnson’s decision to not compete in the triple jump was strategic, as the state meet in Charleston is two weeks away.

“I just didn’t want to do too much with my legs before sectionals because I want to be at my prime for sectionals,” Johnson said.

With Johnson not competing the triple jump, Burlington Central freshman LaRaiya Cunningham-Duncan seized the opportunity. She won the event by hitting 11.19 meters. The Class 3A state-qualifying mark is 11.09.

“I just wanted to let loose and jump as far as I could,” Cunningham-Duncan said. “I took today as this being my day to qualify [for state], even though it’s not a qualifier.”

She was hoping to compete against Johnson to see how she measured up against the University of Miami commit. Cunningham-Duncan said she has been jumping since the seventh grade when she won the long jump at the Illinois Elementary School Association state meet.

Going into this season, however, she didn’t know how she would fare against “older girls,” she said.

“I was definitely expecting [Johnson to compete in the triple jump] to give me some competition and see if I could jump even farther,” Cunningham-Duncan said.

Cary-Grove junior Olivia Parker won the 100 hurdles (15.38) and 300 hurdles (45.80) and capped her night by running her first sub-60-second split in the 4x400 relay, helping the Trojans take third.

Last year Parker was the FVC runner-up in both hurdles races. Her best friend, former C-G teammate Kate Aniolkowski, won the 300 hurdles and was at Huntley on Thursday to cheer on her alma mater.

“I’d say my performances were pretty decent,” said Parker, a state qualifier in both hurdles races last year. “I really just focus on the things that are going to help me get better instead of focusing on all of the negative things that really get you down.

“Today was just an amazing day overall, especially since because I’ve been running for three years now, I know all of these people. So it’s just like hanging out with friends and having fun.”

Prairie Ridge got two wins each from senior Katie Jewell (100, 12.15; 200, 25.12) and freshman Emmie Foster (3,200, 11:15.53; 1,600, 5:11.03). Jewell broke her own meet record in the 100 meters.

Foster was slightly disappointed with her 1,600 race.

“I really wanted a 5:06,” Foster said. “I could have pushed myself a lot more, but I didn’t. I had a kick left, and I’m not supposed to have a kick left.”

Foster has been a great addition to the Wolves after missing the cross country season with a stress fracture in her right leg. She has been healthy since the indoor track season.

“I was really disappointed [not being able to compete in cross country last fall],” Foster said. “It threw me off a lot, but I’ve gained a lot of confidence [since the injury].”

Jacobs’ Carly Uehlein won the discus (37.77 meters). The junior broke the school record at the Palatine Relays on Saturday, hitting 41 meters, for the second meet in a row.

Crystal Lake Central sophomore Ryleigh Mazzacano cleared a winning 1.62 meters in the high jump and Hampshire senior Kassidy Papa won the pole vault (personal-record 3.48 meters). Huntley junior Emma Garofalo (personal-best 3.4 meters) was second in the pole vault.

Crystal Lake South’s Olivia Pinta, Victoria Pinta, Caroline Lucas and Laynie Ripley captured the 4x800 relay (9:55.68).