Girls track and field: Lake Zurich cruises to Lake County crown
The 2026 girls track and field season continued to heat up as Grayslake Central hosted the 20-team Lake County Invitational Wednesday night under some pretty chilly conditions for late April.
Lake Zurich got out of the blocks quickly and cruised to the team title with 123.5 points behind a strong overall team effort. Lakes took second with 64 points followed by Warren (53 points) in fourth, the host Rams (52.5 points) in fifth, and Stevenson (52 points) in sixth.
Lake Zurich's 4x800 team of Celia Blaylock, Abigail Kocher, Chloe Wettstein, and Polina Krupsky easily won in 9:49.65. Krupsky won the 800 in 2:16.10 while teammate Avery Muhr won the 3,200 in 11:40.73. Kocher won the 1,600-meter run in 5:17.60.
The Bears also got first-place throws of 44.5 meters from defending state champion Arisa Bisofa in the discus, and 12.40 meters from Bisofa in the shot put. Lake Zurich sophomore Katelyn Mikusa won the 300-meter hurdles in 48.62 seconds.
"Overall they made the best of a cold day. I'm happy with how they're doing and fighting off a lot of illness," said Lake Zurich coach Suzie Santiago. "We're working on consistency in the technical aspects of her (Bisofa's) throws, and we're really happy with where she is at right now."
Antioch's 4x100 team of Lilly Anne Miller, Abbigail Fuesting, Kennedi Copeland, and Kainoa Akalaonu took first in 50.15 seconds. Fuesting also won the 100-meter dash in 12.41 seconds.
Lakes sophomore Lily Selvik won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.61 seconds while Libertyville senior Dejahnae Billups (1.52 meters) was the high jump champion. Lakes freshman Bryn Garnier (3.50 meters) and senior teammate Isabella Aya (3.04 meters) went 1-2 in the pole vault.
"She (Selvik) has worked really hard on her rhythm and her steps, and that was a PR for her tonight," said Lakes coach Christine Zucker, who thinks both Garnier and Aya can qualify for state in the pole vault. "She (Garnier) is doing really well, and once she gets her confidence she should be way above 12 feet."
Warren's Signe Scott (5.30) was the long jump champ to outdistance Carmel Catholic's Natalie Ferguson (5.05 meters) in second. Warren's Anna Iwuagwu (10.99 meters) won the triple jump while Stevenson sophomore Camila Pak took second in the 800. Vernon Hills' Ella Nowacki took second in the 100 hurdles.
"We always tell her to go out with Polina and keep up with her, and Camila is learning a lot from her," said Stevenson coach Emma Degen, whose team will host the North Suburban Conference meet next week. "The conference meet (next week) is going to be fun. We finished second to Lake Zurich last year, and we're going to give it our best effort."
Fuesting took second in the 200 while Grayslake Central's Lauryn Francis took second in the 400. Vernon Hills' Estella Ollinger took second in the 1,600, and Lake Zurich's Patricia Johnson was second in the 3,200. Mundelein junior Victoria Osei (12.60 seconds) took third place in the 100-meter dash.