Princeton’s Cade Odell, Camryn Driscoll glad to be back for Ferris Invite

PRINCETON – It was good to be back.

Cade Odell has been resting a sore shoulder injured during wrestling season, and Camryn Driscoll has been sick the past two weeks.

Both were ready to answer the bell for the home team in Monday’s Princeton Ferris Family Invitational at Bryant Field.

Driscoll won the 100 meters (13.07), 200 (27.58) and 400 (1:02.45) to lead the host Tigresses to a narrow second-place finish, while Odell won the shot put in his first outdoor meet of the season and final Ferris Invite.

“I was very happy and thanked the Lord a lot. I was really excited,” Odell said.

Driscoll, who had to scratch from the 400 at the Rollie Morris Invite at Hall on Saturday because she got sick, also was excited to compete.

“I’ve been sick and missed two track meets over break, but I’m feeling better now,” she said. “It stresses me out. Because when I was sick, I didn’t get to run for five days straight. I feel like I’ve got to be doing something all the time. I have to get back to my training that I missed when I was sick.

Rock Falls won the 4x400 relay in both meets, edging Princeton for the girls title 230-226, and finished in a tie for first place with Kewanee for the boys, both with 263 points. The Rockets also claimed the combined championship.

Driscoll and Rock Falls’ Anthony Valdiva, who won the 400, high jump and ran on two winning relays, were named as Outstanding Athletes of the meet.

Odell won the shot put on his first throw at 15.26 meters (50 feet, 0¾ inches). He scratched on his second attempt and opted out of his third.

“Those three weeks off were really important. It helped me heal. Helped me get strong again,” Odell said. “We’re not fully there. I’m only throwing one warmup throw, and my best throw is going to be my first one. It feels good to be back.”

“It’s good to see him throwing far like that, especially with his injury,” PHS teammate Ian Morris said of Odell. “That little break helped him. He’s got to get that mental back, but it’s good. Good to throw with him.”

Morris had a big day in the throws, as well, winning the discus (47.3 meters) and following up Odell in the shot for second. For good measure, Morris also won the throwers 100 meters with a time of 13.37 with the “William Tell Overture” from the “The Lone Ranger” program playing on the PA.

“I just came back from vacation and had a week off of practice. I was feeling pretty good,” Morris said. “I’m usually a late bloomer in the season, so hopefully I get some big throws late in the season.”

Morris’ second-place throw of 14.39 meters in the shot was his best since early last season.

“That’s my best throw by quite an amount,” Morris said. “I always struggle in the shot put for some reason. It’s good when I can get technique down. Shows we’re getting there. Coach [Curtis] Odell has been helping a lot in practice. He tells us what to do and everything. It’s helped a lot.”

Other winners for the Tigers were Tyler VandeVenter in the 800 (2:05.68) and Casey Etheridge in the 300 hurdles (41.63). The Tigers also claimed second in the 4x200 relay (1:36.94) while falling to Rock Falls by just 0.01 second in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:36.68.

Other area runners-up were Hall’s Jeremy Smith in the triple jump (12.12) and Mendota’s Komen Denault in the pole vault (3.27) and Anthony Kelson in the 1,600 (4:48.81).

Ashlyn Weber, Princeton’s lone senior girl, kept up her winning ways in the jumps with a first-place effort of 4.67 in the long jump and 9.86 in the triple jump. This was Weber’s first meet in 11 days since leaving on vacation over spring break and she said she had different goals.

“I just wanted to focus on my technique and distance,” she said. “Place wasn’t a big worry of mine today, although it’s always key to get first place to contribute points to my overall team. I got a good warmup and stretch in and was confident in myself to win my events.

“I was able to pull off first for the triple jump, even though it wasn’t my best performance I’ve done. Long jump has been my strong suit lately, and I had a really good jump on my very first jump, which felt really good. I jumped a little bit further each time, which brought me a first-place finish. Contributing points to my team is always a good feeling.”

Also for Princeton, Jocelyn Strouss was second in the 400 (1:07.54) and 800 (2:36.87), and Payton Frueh was second in the 3,200 (12:47.02) and 1,600. The Tigresses finished second in the 4x400 (4:36.86) and 4x800 (12:14.53) relays.

Mendota picked up two wins from Mariyah Elam in the high jump (1.60m) and 100 hurdles (16.29) and seconds by Aby Buettner in the 100 (13.75) and Klaire Knaff in the long jump (4.66m)

The Hall girls claimed second in the 4x100 relay (56.75) with Natalia Zamora, Sophie Simpson, Amanda Manzanares and Bella Templeton. Zamora took third in the triple jump.