Weather can't stop Ogunleye, Hoffman

Last season Hoffman Estates Precious Ogunleye finished 12th in the discus and seventh in the shot put at the Class 3A state meet.

The junior has had no letdown this season.

On Friday, Ogunleye swept both the shot put (43-9.5) and discus (126-4) in helping Hoffman Estates capture a weather-shortened Cougar Twilight title with 155 points at Conant.

Lightning forced the meet to be cancelled at the start of the Class A 400-meter run, with five running events and one field event remaining.

Host Conant took second with 148.5 points, followed by Prospect (123.5), Hersey (119.5) and Lake Park (94 points) in the 13-team field.

Ogunleye overcame windy conditions in setting a meet record in the shot put and setting the tone for a confident Hoffman team.

"It was almost pushing you out of the ring," said Ogunleye of the wind gusts, "but I was able to adjust and make a good throw."

The junior hit a school record 45-4 in the shot put at the Mid-Suburban West meet Monday.

"My form is getting better and I'm improving as a competitor," said Ogunleye, who has positioned herself for a big finish.

Ogunleye had plenty of help, as Haley Worman, Jessi Flach, Melissa Schmidt and Haley Goers combined to cruise to first in the 3,200 relay (9:34.8).

Emily D'Amico and Sharron Jones showed their speed in setting meet records in winning the 100. D'Amico (12.0) took first in Class A and Jones (12.3) added a first in Class B.

Erica Ogunleye added a first in the shot put (36-2.5) in Class B.

Host Conant also flashed its speed in sweeping the 100 high hurdles. Junior star Sarah Gorden (14.6) set a school record in taking Class A, followed by senior Josie Hutch (15.2) in Class B and Jessica Giannini (16.3) in Class B.

The Cougars sprint relays showed once again they will be a force. Taylor Graham, Tina Tortorici and Angela Herrmann combined with Gorden to take first in the 400 relay (49.4).

Angela Romozzi joined Graham, Herrmann and Tortorici in setting a meet record in winning the 800 relay (1:44.8).

Allison Gallo also gave the Cougars a boost by taking first with a meet record in Class B for the 800 (2:19.7).

Brooke Wolfe took first in the Class A 3,200 (11:21.9), with Annette White (11:33.2) adding a first in Class B to power Prospect.

Samantha Sturm took second in the discus (122-10) to aid the Knights.

Riley Wade came from behind with 200 meters remaining to take first in the Class A 800 (2:21.7) for Hersey.

The junior out-kicked Conant's Becky Sulentic and Prospect's Emily Salzman to nail down the victory.

"I decided to go for it and I felt really good the final 100 meters," said Wade.

Michaela Dwyer took second in the long jump (16-5) with Mahnkar Dahnwien taking third in the discus (122-1) and Haley Scott (5-2) taking third in the long jump to aid the Huskies.

Sarah Drozdowski took second in the shot put (40-4) and Kaylee Flanagan added a second in the 3,200 (11:39.4) for Lake Park.