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Henry-Midland senior Nakeita Kessling won three events with three personal bests and set an all-time Illinois Valley record at the Class 1 El Paso-Gridley Sectional on Thursday.
Kessling leapt 5.96 meters (19 feet, 6 ¾ inches) to break the area record of 19-5 set by Bureau Valley’s Kamryn Kolb in 2019.
She also ran the 100-meter dash in 12.83 seconds and the 400 in 5834 seconds.
Kessling will compete in the IHSA State Meet on May 19-21 in Charleston where she’ll be joined by teammate Laney Lester.
Lester qualified for state with second-place finishes in the discus and shot put.
She tossed the discus 37.01 meters and the shot put 10.34 meters.
Fieldcrest did not have any qualifiers. Carolyn Megow led the Knights as she placed fourth in the 300 hurdles in 52.44 seconds and finished fifth in the shot put (9.8m) and the discus (14.76m).
BOYS TRACK & FIELD
At Orion
St. Bede’s Tyrke Fortney and Princeton’s Keegan Fogarty battled in the sprints Thursday at the Three Rivers Conference Meet with each winning one.
Fortney won the 100-meter dash in 10.88 seconds ahead of Fogarty’s 10.96, while Fogarty won the 200 in 22.22 seconds, narrowly beating Fortney’s 22.24.
Fogarty also ran with Teegan Davis, Ethan Thompson and Drew Harp to win the 4x100 relay in 43.77 seconds as the Tigers placed second as a team with 102 points behind Riverdale (114).
St. Bede (45.5) was ninth, Bureau Valley (21.5) was 11th, Hall (20) was 12th and Mendota (7) was 13th.
Also for Princeton, Davis won the high jump (2.03 meters), long jump (6.49m) and triple jump (13.04m), while Bennett Williams swept the throws with tosses of 15.07m in the shot put and 47.71m in the discus.
St. Bede’s Duncan Lawler placed second in the high jump (1.93m) and third in the 300 hurdles (43.84 seconds).
Elijah House led the Storm with a third-place finish in the 800 in 2:05.11 and Hall got third-place finishes from Caleb Savitch in the pole vault (3.2m) and Zack Bosi in the triple jump (11.96m).
At Lena
Brock Loftus won both distance races Thursday at the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference Meet to help the Amboy co-op place sixth among the 10 teams.
Loftus won the 1,600 meters in 4:45.82 and the 3,200 in 10:31.88.
Teammate Kyler McNinch placed second in the 3,200 (11:02.56) and third in the 1,600 (5:01.11).
BASEBALL
Princeton 7, St. Bede 2
Augie Christiansen went 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run Thursday to help the Tigers to a Three Rivers Conference East Division victory in Princeton.
Ace Christiansen was 2 for 2 with an RBI for PHS (8-6, 7-4 TRC East), while Wyatt Baker went 2 for 3 and scored a run.
Ean Compton earned the win, allowing two unearned runs on three hits while striking out 10 batters and walking none in three innings.
Jayce Ladzinski was 1 for 3 with an RBI for the Bruins (6-17, 4-10), while Brendan Pillion took the loss on the mound.
Bureau Valley 2, Hall 1
The Storm scored twice in the sixth inning to lift them to a Three Rivers Conference East Division victory in Manlius.
Carter Salisbury and Sam Wright were each 1 for 3 with a run, while Logan Johnson was 1 for 3 with an RBI.
Sam Rouse threw a complete game for BV (13-9, 6-6 TRC East), allowing one earned run on two hits with 12 strikeouts and no walks.
Riley Coble went 1 for 3 and scored the lone run for Hall (17-7, 9-3), while Payton Dye was the losing pitcher, giving up two earned runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks.
Putnam County 16, Newark 9
Andrew Pyszka and Jackson McDonald each smacked home runs Thursday to power the Panthers to a nonconference victory in Newark.
Pyszka went 4 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs, while McDonald was 1 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs.
Austin Mattingly earned the win in relief for PC (21-8).
Mendota 8, Kewanee 7
Izaiah Nanez went 3 for 5 with a double and three RBIs on Thursday to lead the Trojans to a Three Rivers Conference East Division victory in Kewanee.
Nanez was the winning pitcher for MHS (3-15, 2-9 TRC East), while Ted Landgraf and Krew Bond were each 2 for 4 and scored twice.
Henry-Senachwine 5, Midwest Central 4
Troy Westerdahl hit a walkoff RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday to lift the Mallards to a nonconference victory in Henry.
Preston Rowe was 2 for 3 with two RBIs for Henry (19-8), while Colton Williams doubled, drove in two runs and scored a run.
Holdyn Carr earned the win in relief, allowing one unearned run on one hit with a strikeout and a walk in 1 1/3 innings.
SOFTBALL
La Salle-Peru 6, Serena 4
Maddy Pangrcic went 3 for 4 with a double and two runs Thursday as the Cavaliers rallied to earn a nonconference victory in Serena.
Ava Lannen tripled, scored a run and drove in a run for L-P (18-4), while Ava Lambert was 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
The Cavs scored five runs in the final two innings to overcome a 4-1 deficit.
Evin Becker earned the win, allowing four runs (one earned) on six hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks in a complete game.
Bureau Valley 3, Hall 1
Darla Kepner hit a triple and a double and scored a run Thursday to help the Storm to a Three Rivers Conference East Division victory in Manlius.
Lesleigh Maynard and Tyra Sayler each went 1 for 3 with a run for BV (11-11, 4-7 TRC East), while Sayler also earned the win in the circle, allowing one unearned run on one hit with seven strikeouts and one walk in six innings.
Kaeden Keegan doubled and scored the only run for Hall (1-17, 0-11), while Maggie Filippini was the losing pitcher.
Dwight 9, Putnam County 1
Gabby Doyle went 2 for 4 with a double and scored the Panthers’ lone run in a Tri-County Conference game Thursday in Dwight.
Maggie Richetta was 2 for 4 with an RBI for PC (9-7, 5-4 TCC), while Kara Staley took the loss in the circle.
Kewanee 9, Mendota 2
Zoe Finley went 2 for 4 with a home run, an RBI and a run Thursday as the Trojans lost in a Three Rivers Conference East Division game in Kewanee.
Katie Jenner doubled and scored a run for MHS (9-11, 5-7 TRC East), while Paige Manning took the loss in the circle.
GIRLS SOCCER
IMSA 7, La Salle-Peru 4
The Cavaliers lost their regular season finale Thursday in Aurora.
BOYS TENNIS
Streator 5, St. Bede 0
The Bruins were swept Thursday in Streator.
WEDNESDAY RESULT
BASEBALL
La Salle-Peru 18, Plano 6
Nolan Van Duzer went 2 for 5 with a home run, a double, three RBIs and two runs as the Cavaliers rolled to an Interstate Eight Conference victory in Plano.
Billy Mini was 2 was 4 with a double, three RBIs and a run for L-P, while Brendan Boudreau went 3 for 5 with a triple, three runs and a pair of RBIs.
Julius Sanchez earned the win, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in five innings.