Girls track and field: Huntley sets four records on way to big FVC Meet victory

Huntley junior sprinter K'Leigh Saenz took off in the 4x200-meter relay with a definite goal in mind, but perhaps not imagining what was about to transpire less than 2 minutes later.

Saenz, Alex Johnson, Dominique Johnson and Emily Byers not only broke the Fox Valley Conference Girls Track and Field Meet record in that race, they obliterated it.

The quartet blazed around the two laps at Red Raider Stadium in 1:42.29, knocking more than 3 seconds off Cary-Grove's record (1:45.70) from 2011.

It was that kind of night Friday for the Red Raiders, as they ran away with the team title with 149 points and four meet records. Prairie Ridge (82) was second, Burlington Central (80) was third and McHenry (72) was fourth.

"[The 4x200] was amazing," said Saenz, who also ran on the record-setting 4x100 relay. "We work hard at practice and behind the scenes, but it was really coming out here and knowing what we wanted and having that strong mindset of 'This is what we want to do and this is how we're going to do it.'"

It was the first time Alex Johnson, Huntley's fastest runner who also excels in long and triple jumps, ran in the 4x200 relay this season.

"And we did that without Vicky (Evtimov), our second-strongest 200 runner," Raiders coach Jason Monson said. "That's the beauty of these girls, we have a lot of parts where we can make changes. We're so deep we can put relays out there with any one of seven or eight sprinters."

Lily Sarnwick, Addison Busam, Saenz and Evtimov also broke the 4x100 record in 49.38. Alex Johnson broke the triple jump record with a 12.34 meters (40 feet, 6 inches) and Ally Panzloff set the discus record with a 44.15 (144-10).

Johnson also won the long jump, and Panzloff also won the shot put. Evtimov won the 200, and twins Breanna and Brittney Burak finished 1-2 in the 1,600 for the Raiders.

"I feel really good about triple," Johnson said. "That was my season-best, I still have bigger goals, but I feel good about that. That was a good precursor for sectionals.

"I haven't been doing that bad, but I just haven't been hitting the marks I want to. I have ambitious goals. If I don't get those, I don't feel as good. My team's been really good."

Panzloff will play volleyball at Brown University next year, and is thriving in her second high school track and field season. COVID-19 wiped out spring sports when she was a freshman and caused a crammed-together schedule for sports her sophomore season.

"I did not see that one coming," Panzloff said of her record throw. "I wanted to get 140 twice, to be more consistent with it. I'm really happy about it.

"This season I was able to have an indoor season. I went outside in the summer with Sienna [Robertson] and a couple times in the fall, so I feel like I had more of a preseason to get ready and I felt a lot more confident. I feel like I know what I'm doing, I'm ready for this, rather than catching up and relearning stuff from middle school."

Panzloff broke Nikki Freeman's mark of 139-3 set in 2016.

Prairie Ridge's Rylee Lydon won the high jump and 100 high hurdles, then set the meet record in the 400 with a 55.50. She also took third in long jump.

Lydon beat the 400 record set by Dundee-Crown's Julia Alrich, 56.32, in 2006. She also edged out Huntley's Sophie Amin and Cary-Grove's Lindsey Kownick in the 100 high hurdles, a new event for Lydon this year as she prepares for her heptathlon career next year at Texas A&M.

"That was exciting because, going in, I knew it was going to be a super close race. We were all within a really close time," Lydon said. "I was excited to have people next to me for once, I've been trying to get my time lower and lower.

"I tried not to focus too much on my form, I just wanted to be fast over it. That's when I do my best. I almost had a bad tumble at the end because I clipped the last hurdle. I just tried to stay on my feet at the end. That was a really fun and exciting race."

McHenry's Alyssa Moore won the 800 and anchored the Warriors' winning 4x400 relay with Mackenzie Sloan, Peyton Stinger and Emma Blanken. McHenry's Kelly Huerta won the 100 and was second to Evtimov in the 200.

Burlington Central's Paige Greenhagel was second to Lydon in the high jump and 400, and second to Alex Johnson the long jump.

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

Fox Valley Conference Meet

Team scores: 1. Huntley 149, 2. Prairie Ridge 82, 3. Burlington Central 80, 4. McHenry 72, 5. Cary-Grove 57, 6. Hampshire 35, 7. Crystal Lake South 28, 8 (tie). Dundee-Crown, Jacobs 22, 10. Crystal Lake Central 11.

4x800 relay: 1. Prairie Ridge (Faith Wilder, Olivia McPherson, Lila Stewart, Brenna Benjamin) 9:55.90, 2. Huntley 10:02.00, 3. Hampshire 10:07.00, 4. CL South 10:08.00, 5. Jacobs 10:14.00, 6. Burlington Central 10:22.00.

4x100 relay: 1. Huntley (Lily Sarnwick, Addison Busam, K'Leigh Saenz, Vicky Evtimov) 49.38 (meet record), 2. Prairie Ridge 49.58, 3. McHenry 49.73, 4. Hampshire 50.98, 5. Cary-Grove 51.32, 6. Jacobs 51.98.

3,200 meters: 1. Rachel Soukup (PR) 10:37.70, 2. Bella Gonzalez (CLS) 11:09.02, 3. Danielle Jensen (McH) 11:17.84, 4. Skyler Balzer (McH) 12:05.98, 5. Hudson Szymonik (Hamp) 12:10.83, 6. Brynn Matthei (CLC) 12:12.65.

100 high hurdles: 1. Rylee Lydon (PR) 14.88, 2. Sophie Amin (Hunt) 14.94, 3. Lindsey Kownick (C-G) 16.72, 4. Samantha Schemmel (McH) 16.74, 5. Alyssa Bognetti (BC) 16.90, 6. Emma Blanken (McH) 17.25.

100 meters: 1. Kelly Huerta (McH) 12.58, 2. Sophie Amin (Hunt) 12.59, 3. Paulina Tinajero (D-C) 4. Kaitlyn Harmke (PR) 12.82, 5. Lindsey Kownick (C-G) 12.90, 6. Anna Borg (PR) 13.15.

800 meters: 1. Alyssa Moore (McH) 2:16.59, 2. Jocelyn Onstot (C-G) 2:22.54, 3. Abby Machesky (CLS) 2:25.59, 4. Hannah Jones (Hamp) 2:28.61, 5. Stewart (PR) 2:30.15, 6. Annie Ferrero (CLC) 2:30.63.

4x200 relay: 1. Huntley (Saenz, A. Johnson, D. Johnson, Emily Byers) 1:42.29 (meet record), 2. McHenry 1:46.21, 3. Cary-Grove 1:49.22, 4. Burlington Central 1:49.29, 5. Hampshire 1:50.55, 6. Jacobs 1:51.05.

400 meters: 1. Lydon (PR) 55.50 (meet record), 2. Greenhagel (BC) 58.65, 3. Evtimov (Hunt) 59.24, 4. Ella Perrone (Hamp) 1:01.35, 5. Gorman (Jac) 1:02.70, 6. Hailey Caraway (Hamp) 1:04.41.

300 low hurdles: 1. Kate Aniolkowski (C-G) 47.05, 2. Olivia Parker (C-G) 48.80, 3. Bognetti (BC) 50.07, 4. Abbie Williams (Hunt) 50.28, 5. Delaney Gale (PR) 50.44, 6. Skylar Herrmann (Jac) 50.61.

1,600 meters: 1. Breanna Burak (Hunt) 4:59.36, 2. Brittney Burak (Hunt) 5:07.41, 3. Gonzalez (CLS) 5:14.14, 4. Lynda Rotundo (McH) 5:19.22, 5. Natalia Maciorowski (Jac) 5:21.12, 6. Ferrero (CLC) 5:25.09.

200 meters: 1. Evtimov (Hunt) 25.94, 2. Huerta (McH) 26.39, 3. Tinajero (D-C) 26.78, 4. Jewell (PR) 26.91, 5. Willis (PR) 27.38, 6. Baylee Fee (Jac) 27.54.

4x400 relay: 1. McHenry (Mackenzie Sloan, Peyton Stinger, Blanken, Moore) 4:04.22, 2. Huntley 4:07.45, 3. Burlington Central 4:10.98, 4. Hampshire 4:12.36, 5. Cary-Grov 4:13.47, 6. Jacobs 4:21.86.

Shot put: 1. Ally Panzloff (Hunt) 11.67 (38-3.5), 2. Tiana Foreman (BC) 11.57 (37-11.5), 3. Annika Nordin (C-G) 10.95 (35-11.25), 4. Ava Freund (CLS) 10.75 (35-3.25), 5. Camryn Cook (Jac) 10.40 (34-1.5), 6. Beata Helland (PR) 10.00 (32.9-.75).

Discus: 1. Panzloff (Hunt) 44.15 (144-10, meet record), 2. Tiana Foreman (BC) 39.89 (130-10), 3. Sienna Robertson (Hunt) 35.14 (115-3), 4. Maggie Groos (C-G) 34.75 (114-0), 5. Alexi Kagel (Hamp) 31.19 (102-4), 6. Lorelei Galvicius (McH) 28-41 (93-2).

High jump: 1. Lydon (PR) 1.59 (5-2.5), 2. Paige Greenhagel (BC) 1.59 (5-2.5), 3. Hailey Caraway, Hamp) 1.54 (5-0.5), 4. Kathryn Perkins (C-G) 1.54 (5-0.5), 5. Tia Brennan (BC) 1.54 (5-0.5), 6. Marisa Klaas (D-C) 1.49 (4-10.5).

Long jump: 1. A. Johnson (Hunt) 6.01 (19-8.75), 2. Greenhagel (BC) 5.76 (18-10.75, 3. Lydon (PR) 5.70 (18-8.5), 4. D. Johnson (Hunt) 5.55 (18-2.5), 5. Tinajero (D-C) 5.31 (17-5.25), 6. Madelyn Mucci (BC) 5.03 (16-6).

Triple jump: 1. A. Johnson (Hunt) 12.34 (40-6, meet record), 2. D. Johnson (Hunt) 12.06 (39-6.75), 3. Tinajero (D-C) 11.29 (37-0.5), 4. Mucci (BC) 10.73 (35-2.5), 5. Katie Jewell (PR) 10.64 (34-11), 6. Klaas (D-C) 10.21 (33-6).

Pole vault: 1. Tia Brennan (BC) 3.12 (10-2.75), 2. Abbey Zaletel (CLC) 2.80 (9-2.25), 3. Adeline Gorman (Jac) 2.65 (8-8.25), 4 (tie). Jasmine Escobedo (BC), Sohini Lawrence (Jac) 2.50 (8-2.5), 6. Emma Garofalo (Hunt) 2.50 (8-2.5).