Prairie Ridge, Johnsburg, Genoa-Kingston get top four at sectional meet, send athletes to state

GENOA – Host Genoa Kingston started out strong in Friday’s Class 2A Genoa-Kingston Sectional, leading the 16-school field for the first half of the event.

While the Cogs could not maintain the momentum and slipped to fourth place at the end of the meet, the team will send athletes to next weekend’s state meet at Charleston.

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Johnsburg’s Stori Hurckes competes in the shot put in IHSA Class 2A Girls Sectional Track action at Genoa-Kingston School in Genoa on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local/Patrick Kunzer/for the Daily Herald)

Rockford Boylan finished first with 96 points. Prairie Ridge came in second with 76 points followed by Johnsburg tallying 63, four points ahead of the Cogs.

Woodstock rounded out the top five (57).

Genoa-Kingston sophomore Natasha Bianchi punched her ticket for Charleston by winning the long jump (17 feet, 7 inches) and finishing second in the triple jump (34-9.75). The Cog’s 4x100 relay team finished second and qualified for state with a time of 49.37 seconds.

“My goal downstate is to try to place in the top three,” said Bianchi, who is making her second trip to state in track.

Three Prairie Ridge runners and its 4x200 relay team will compete in the state meet. Katie Jewell won the 200-meter dash (25.38) and finished second in the 100 with a state-qualifying time of 12.45.

Freshman Anneke Dam crossed the finish line with the top time in the 800 (2:28.39). Teammate Emaline Foster qualified in the 1,600 (third, 5:16.96) and 3,200 (second, 11:09.96).

The 4x200 relay of Kailyn Mazella, Ava Merklin, Kelly Anderson and Jewell came in second (1:46.83).

“We’re real happy with the results. We were seeded third and we exceeded our seed and ended up second so that’s a good night. Katie won the 200. The girl she beat (North Chicago’s Rege Cooper Smith), we think hasn’t been beaten by anyone else this year. That was really awesome,” Prairie Ridge coach Kelly MacDonald said. “One of the biggest surprises was Anneke Dam. I knew she could run around 2:30, so we set up times for her to hear around the track and then she ends up winning it in the slow heat. That was exciting.”

Johnsburg made a good showing in three field events. Carly Duck qualified for state by taking top honors in the pole vault (9 feet, 3 inches). Freshman teammate Stori Hurckes took top honors in the shot put (34 feet, 3½ inches) and placed second in the discus (119-6) to make the trip downstate. Juliana Cashmore took third in the shot put (112-4) and also advanced.

They will be joined by junior Hope Klosowicz, who won the 400 (59.1 seconds) and the Skyhawks’ first place 4x400 relay of Klosowicz, Maura Oeffling, Abby Lane and Summer Toussaint (4:10.89).

Woodstock state qualifiers are Amina Idris, who won both the 100 (16.14) and 300 hurdles (47.13), triple jump winner Mia Foss (35-1¾) and Sophia Mendoza, who finished second in the long jump (17- 2¼). Woodstock’s 4x400 relay of Mendoza, Idris, Foss and Keira Bogott finished second with a state-qualifying time of 4:11.23.

Woodstock North‘s Brenna McConnell won the shot put (120-3) and Lauren Bieszczad was second in the high jump (4-10.5) to qualify for state.

Richmond-Burton‘s 4x800 relay of Alexia Spatz, London Oudshoorn, Savannah Wells and Emerson Wold had a state-qualifying time of 10:09.52, placing third. Sophia Komar made it in the long jump (16-10) with a third-place finish.

Marengo‘s Olivia Walter hit the state-qualifying mark of 16.62 to take second in the 100 hurdles.

Harvard‘s Hayden Binz took second and qualified for state in the pole vault (8-9).