‘Glad to have it back’: Rollie Morris Invite returns after two-year hiatus

SPRING VALLEY – After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Rollie Morris Invitational returned to Hall High School on Saturday.

“I’m really glad to have it back,” Hall senior Zack Bosi said. “I remember it being a really fun meet my freshman year. Last year, I really missed having it. We had home meets, but none of them were big meets with a lot of competition. I’m glad I was able to compete. I had a hamstring injury earlier in the season. I’m glad I healed up and glad I could compete.”

Bosi and his Red Devil teammates had a solid showing in their own invite, placing sixth with 68.5 points.

Streator won with 92 points, the Amboy co-op (75) placed fifth, Bureau Valley (52.5) was seventh, St. Bede (51.5) was ninth, Fieldcrest (24) was 10th, Putnam County (16) was 11th and Mendota (6.5) was 14th among the 14 teams.

Bosi won the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet, 10 inches and placed second in the long jump at 17-3 ½.

“My first (triple) jump felt pretty good,” Bosi said. “It was a scratch though. The second one felt pretty good then I had to come do the senior night, but I was pretty sure after that one I had it down because it was pretty far ahead of my competition. I was pretty glad with that one.

“I thought I did pretty well in the long jump. I got second, which kind of surprised me. The long jump was pretty early so it was cold and nobody really was able to get their best out. But I thought I did well.”

Teammate Tanner Englehaupt swept the hurdles, winning the 110-meter hurdles in 17 seconds and the 300s in 44.2 seconds, which were both personal records. He also cleared 5-6 ¼ to take second in the high jump.

“I was really just focusing on my trail leg getting over,” Englehaupt said. “I’ve had a real huge issue with clipping it, but every time it was up and over and I slammed it down and kept going.

“I had PRs in both hurdles events so it was an overall good day.”

Brock Loftus led the Clippers as he won the 3,200 in a personal best 10:01.2 and placed third in the 1,600 in 4:50.3.

The Storm had three third-place finishes – Max Horner in the 300 hurdles in 49 seconds, Horner, Jonny Davis, Benjamin Roth and Elijah House in the 4x400 in 3:57.4 and House, Ryan Wasilewski, Cameron Stodghill and Evan Entas to finish third in the 4x800 in 9:49.5.

St. Bede’s Tyreke Fortney decided to run at the Rollie – his first outdoor meet of the season – rather than play for the Bruin baseball team in a doubleheader against Rockridge.

“This meet was really big,” Fortney said. “There’s good competition with 16 teams so I decided to come out here.”

Fortney blazed down the track in 10.8 seconds to win the 100 and flew down the track in a personal best 22.5 seconds to win the 200. He also anchored the Bruins’ 4x100 relay, which also included Tom Makransky, Stephen Shaver and Anton Cain, to second place in 45.6 seconds.

“I feel like I could have done better, but due to the circumstances – I’m trying to save my leg because my hamstring is messing with me – so I just played it safe.”

St. Bede’s Hayden Arkins, Miguel Jones, Grayson Marincic and Logan Pineda placed second in the 4x800 in 9:40.1.

Fieldcrest’s Mason Stoeger cruised to victory in the 1,600 in 4:33.6.

In the girls meet, Morgan Richards won the discus and placed third in the shot put to help Princeton to an area-best second-place finish with 98 points.

Newark won with 122, Bureau Valley (45.5) placed sixth, the Amboy co-op (44) was seventh, St. Bede (34) was eighth, Hall (31) was ninth, Fieldcrest (19) was 12th and Putnam County (5) was 14th.

Richards tossed the discus 94-1 ¼ and the shot put 30-9, while teammate Megan Foes was second in the shot put (31-7 ½) and third in the discus (90-6 ¼).

Also for PHS, Jenna Loftus, Devin Dever, Paige Jesse and Lexi Bohms won the 4x800 in 11:11.1, while Kiana Brokaw took second in the 3,200 in 14:21.2 and Scarlet Fulton, Sophia Oester, Kelsea Klingenberg and Miyah Fox placed second in the 4x200 in 2:00.2.

For the Storm, Ashley Nordstrom won the shot put with a toss of 31-8, placed third in the pole vault by clearing 6-6 ¼ and took sixth in the 100 hurdles in 18.7 seconds.

“It feels good,” Nordstrom said about winning the shot put. “I tried to stay focused and stay warm. It’s probably more mental knowing it’s cold.”

Elly Jones led Amboy as she placed second in the long jump (14-5 ½), triple jump (33-10 ¾) and 100 hurdles (52.3 seconds) and third in the 100 hurdles (16.1 seconds).

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Streator's Aneefy Ford wins the boys 4x100 meter relay as St. Bede's Tyreke Fortney finishes second during the Rollie Morris Invite on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Hall High School in Spring Valley. (Scott Anderson)

Anna Lopez anchored the St. Bede 4x100 to victory in 55.3 seconds while also placing third in the 100 in a personal best 12.8 seconds.

Hall’s Victoria Ullrich, Promise Giacometti, Jennifer Casford and Molly Dalzot placed third in the 4x100 in 55.8 seconds, while Fieldcrest’s Carol Megow took third in the 300 hurdles in 53.3 seconds.