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Northwest Herald

Layla Olson strikes out 10, leads Huntley to 11th straight regional title: Friday’s Northwest Herald roundup

Johnsburg girls soccer beats Marengo in penalty kicks to win 4th regional title in a row; Dundee-Crown boys track and field advances 7 events to state

Softball

Huntley 3, Harlem 0: In a Class 4A DeKalb Regional final, Layla Olson struck out 10 batters and held the Huskies to three hits in a shutout effort as the Red Raiders (25-8) clinched their 11th straight regional title. Aubrina Adamik went 2 for 2 with two singles and a run scored, while Katelyn Bayness smacked two singles and posted an RBI in the win.

Huntley advances to face Lake Zurich in a Barrington Sectional semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Barrington 3, McHenry 1: In a Class 4A McHenry Regional final, Danica McCarthy went 4 for 4 with four singles, and Brooke Snyder held the Fillies to one earned run on three hits as the Warriors (15-14) saw their season end with a close loss to undefeated Barrington. Elyse Fullington had two singles and Morgan Frederick scored a run.

Hononegah 9, Hampshire 0: In a Class 4A Hononegah Regional final at Rockton, Mia Robinson went 2 for 3 with one double, Addi Edlen hit one single and the Whip-Purs (21-7) suffered a season-ending loss to the Indians. Julissa Akins pitched five innings and posted five strikeouts in the circle. Becca Coffey added a strikeout in relief.

North Boone 11, Richmond-Burton 1 (6 inn.): In a Class 2A North Boone Regional final at Poplar Grove, Ruby Gregurich had R-B’s lone hit and scored the team’s lone run in a season-ending loss against the Vikings. Chase Cooper struck out two for the Rockets (15-15).

Girls soccer

Johnsburg 0, Marengo 0: In a Class 1A Marengo Regional final, the Skyhawks (15-0) claimed its fourth straight regional championship after outlasting the Indians (10-7) in penalty kicks 5-3. Charlie Eastland, Lauren McQuiston, Liz Smith, Elaina Moss and Brooke Butler converted the PKs for Johnsburg. Lila Konrad had two saves in the victory.

The Skyhawks moves on to face Cristo Rey St. Martin in a Cristo Rey St. Martin Sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Lakes 6, Cary-Grove 0: In a Class 2A Lakes Regional final at Lake Villa, the Trojans (6-8-2) took a season-ending loss from the Eagles.

Warren 7, Jacobs 0: At Gurnee, the Golden Eagles (5-14-2) saw their season end with a loss in the Class 3A Warren Regional final.

Belvidere North 5, Woodstock North 0: At Belvidere, the Thunder (7-12-2) fell in the Class 2A Belvidere Regional final to end their season.

Boys track and field

Class 3A Grayslake Central Sectional: At Grayslake, Dundee-Crown’s Kyle Brents captured the high jump title at 1.98 meters, placed second in the triple jump (13.44) and took fourth in the long jump (6.85) to qualify for state in all three events.

Oreoluwa Sobodu finished first in the 100 meters with a time of 10.63 seconds, just beating Lake Zurich’s Nicholas Gast (10.64) to earn his trip to state. He also captured the 200 title with a time of 21.37 seconds.

Rylan Schmidt placed runner-up in the pole vault at 4.35 meters to move on.

The Chargers’ 4x100 team of Anthony Spain, Ethan Nkandu, Gavin Fernstrom and Sobodu took third with a time of 42.07 seconds to qualify for state.

Class 1A Oregon Sectional: At Oregon, Alden-Hebron’s Caleb Linneman set a personal best in the 100 meters with a time of 11.44 seconds but did not advance to state, placing third in the event. Linneman also had a personal best of 23.78 in the 200.

Trinity Oaks’ Brayden Bicknese took third in the 400 with a personal-best time of 54.47, taking third, but did not advance.

Boys tennis

Class 1A Prairie Ridge Sectional: At Crystal Lake, Prairie Ridge’s Tim Jones, Crystal Lake South’s Bayel Muktar and Nazar Muktar and Crystal Lake Central’s Ryan Spencer made it to the sectional semifinals in singles and qualified for the state tournament, which runs May 28 to 30 at Palatine High School and surrounding area sites.

Jones won his two matches 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-2; Bayel Muktar won 6-1, 6-0 and 4-6, 6-1, 7-5; Nazar Muktar won 6-0, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-0; and Spencer won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) and 6-1, 6-2.

At doubles, South’s Zeke Boldman and Eryk Bucior (wins of 6-0, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-0), Prairie Ridge’s Rory Senese and Matt Jones (6-0, 6-0 and 6-4, 6-2), Marian Central’s Marc Cheng and Alek Jasovic (6-0, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-0) and Prairie Ridge’s Evan Seegert and Eli Loeding (6-2, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-3) made it to semifinals and earned their spots at next week’s state tournament.

Class 1A Lakes Sectional: At Lake Villa, Johnsburg’s Tyler Batt advanced to Saturday’s semifinals to claim his spot at the state tournament. Batt won his first two matches at sectionals 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-2.

Cary-Grove’s doubles team of Finnegan Karlovsky and Halen Young also will compete in the semifinals Saturday and earned their spot at state. The Trojans’ duo won its first two sectional matches 6-1, 6-1, and 6-2, 6-3.

Class 2A Barrington Sectional: At Barrington, Jacobs’ Samuel Santa Ines and Dundee-Crown’s Aarav Shah both advanced to Saturday’s semifinals and secured their spot at the state meet.

Santa Ines won his two matches 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-0; and Shah won his two matches 6-0, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-1. The FVC rivals will meet in a sectional semifinal on Saturday.

Jacobs also advanced its doubles team of Jack Soto and Soham Kalra to state. The Golden Eagles’ duo won its first two sectional matches 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-0.

Boys lacrosse

Crystal Lake South 13, Crystal Lake Central 5: In a Marian Central Sectional match at Woodstock, the Gators (19-2) advanced to the semifinal round with a victory over the Tigers (10-5). Drake Lenckus led South with three goals and four assists, while Owen Hess had five assists and Braedon Muraski totaled one goal and three assists.

Renner Stavropoulos (one goal, three assists), Logan Driscol (three goals) and Gavin Hastings (16-of-20 face-offs) aided the Gators in their victory. Danny Hayes recorded seven saves in the victory.

Huntley 15, Hampshire 2: In a Marian Central Sectional match at Woodstock, the Red Raiders (14-3) took out the Whip-Purs (3-16) and advanced to the semifinal round.

Barrington 18, McHenry 4: In a Marian Central Sectional match held at Cary-Grove High School in Cary, the Warriors (10-12) had their season end with a quarterfinal-round loss against the second-seeded Broncos.

Girls lacrosse

Crystal Lake Central co-op 19, Hampshire co-op 1: In a Crystal Lake Central Sectional match at Crystal Lake, the Tigers (20-1) rolled to the semifinals with a decisive victory over the Whip-Purs (9-11).

Huntley 25, Rosary 1: In a Huntley Sectional match, the Red Raiders (15-6) dominated the Royals and advanced to the semifinal round.

Metea Valley co-op 15, Burlington Central 8: In a Huntley Sectional match at Streamwood, the Rockets (7-14) had their season end with a quarterfinal-round loss against the third-seeded Mustangs.

Baseball

Burlington Central 5, Jacobs 3: At Burlington, Sam Maglares belted a home run, Liam Schultz doubled and had two RBIs as the Rockets (15-17-2) defeated the Golden Eagles (19-12). Wagner Viebrock singled and earned two RBIs to aid the Central offense in the win.

Brock Vincent went 2 for 4 with two singles, while Andrew Deegan doubled and earned one RBI for Jacobs. Deegan, Luke Flaskamp and Ryan Tucker each finished with one RBI for the Jacobs offense.

Crystal Lake South 10, Woodstock North 0 (5 inn.): At Crystal Lake, Michael Silvius and Ryan Morgan each singled and posted two RBIs, Jackson Lee doubled and scored two runs and the Gators (23-9) took down the Thunder (12-16) in nonconference play. Carson Trivellini, Evan Rezendes, John Morgan and Lee each had one RBI for South.

McHenry 7, South Elgin 1: At McHenry: Carver Cohn and Garet Lobbins each had one hit and two RBIs, Kaden Wasniewski and Carter Thornton both singled and notched one RBI and the Warriors (27-6-1) took their nonconference matchup against the Storm. Scotty Cole struck out four and held South Elgin to one run over six innings.

Dundee-Crown 10, Wheeling 4: At Carpentersville, Jacob Gillette hit a home run and went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, Ryan Pierce and Brady Benton each had one hit and two RBIs and the Chargers (13-20) won their nonconference matchup against the Wildcats. Nathan Bushy and Kyle Pierce combined for nine strikeouts over seven innings pitched.

Hampshire 2, Palatine 1: At Trout Park in Elgin, Michael Casey went 2 for 2 with two singles, Shane Pfeiffer and Cameron Ortega each had one hit and one RBI and the Whip-Purs (19-13-1) took down the Pirates in a nonconference matchup. Seven different pitchers threw for Hampshire, which totaled nine strikeouts on the mound.

Johnsburg 8, Grant 5: At Johnsburg, Jacob Smith and Josh Speer each recorded two hits and combined for five RBIs, Brady Fisher went 2 for 2 and scored three runs and the Skyhawks (20-10) won over the Bulldogs in nonconference play. Aiden Majercik, Lukas Thompson and Ashton Stern each contributed one RBI for the Johnsburg side.

Sycamore 17, Woodstock 2 (5 inn.): At Woodstock, Chace Waterson doubled and recorded two RBIs, Noah Henning went 2 for 3 with a run scored and the Blue Streaks (9-15-1) fell short in a nonconference game against the Spartans. Woodstock totaled six hits in the loss.

Normal 7, Huntley 6: At Normal, home runs from Drew Borkowski and Aiden Eickelmann weren’t enough for the Red Raiders (27-7) who lost their nonconference game against the Ironmen. Leo Bianchin went 2 for 3 with two singles and Borkowski had three RBIs for Huntley.

Hampshire 2, Palatine 1: At Trout Park in Elgin, Cameron Ortega and Shane Pfeiffer each had RBIs for the Whip-Purs (19-13-1) in a nonconference win. Michael Casey added two hits and Logan Nawrocki struck out three batters for a one-inning save. Hampshire used seven pitchers in the win.

Johnsburg 8, Grant 5: At Johnsburg, Josh Speer was 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs and Jacob Smith was 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs in the Skyhawks’ (20-10) nonconference win. Joey Frano tossed three scoreless innings of relief, earning a save.

Russ Hodges

Russ started working with Shaw Media in August 2025 after over nine years as sports editor of the Rochelle News-Leader. Russ covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald and high school football for Friday Night Drive.

Alex Kantecki

Alex Kantecki

Sports editor for the Northwest Herald. Local prep sports coverage of McHenry County.