Northwest Herald sports roundup for Friday, May 26

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

Class 3A State Meet: At Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Cary-Grove’s Reece Ihenacho and Crystal Lake Central’s Jonathan Tegel each put up the best in an event during the IHSA Boys Track and Field State Meet on Friday.

Ihenacho threw the discus 53.59 meters (175-10) and sits in first place going into Saturday’s Class 3A finals, where throws carry over from the preliminaries. He also advanced to the shot put finals, where he is in 11th place.

Tegel ran his career-best 14.26 in the 110-meter high hurdles, the fastest qualifying time by .22. Tegel also made the 300 intermediate hurdles finals.

Tegel was the only local athlete to make running finals, but several fared well in field events. Huntley’s McKale Hood (high jump) cleared 1.90 meters (6 feet, 2 3/4 inches) to qualify. In pole vault, McHenry’s Zeke Galvicius made 4.30 (14-1 1/4) to reach the finals.

Hampshire’s Vince Scott triple jumped 13.68 (44-10 3/4) and sits in fourth place heading to the finals.

Dundee-Crown’s 4x100 relay was 11th, missing the finals by two spots. And Prairie Ridge’s Will Gelon was 13th, missing the 1,600 finals by one spot.

Huntley’s Tommy Nitz and Jacobs’ Aidan DeMuth run in the 3,200 finals, only run on Saturdays at state.

“I was just going for a mark today,” Ihenacho said. “There are a couple of things I knew were wrong with it that I want to fix for tomorrow, so I can really put one out there.

“Nothing’s final. We have another day competing, and the guy right behind me is up there as well. It’s going to be a competition tomorrow, that’s for sure.”

Naperville Central’s Maverick Ohle threw 52.44 (172-0) and is close behind Ihenacho.

“I got out decently fast and focused on my own race and not what others were doing and felt my rhythm,” Tegel said of his 110 hurdles race. “It gives me a lot of confidence. I know I’m going to run my own race and not worry about the other fast kids.”

Class 2A State Meet: At Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Richmond-Burton sent its 4x200 and 4x400 relays to the finals, both with heat victories. Joe Miller also qualified in the 400 finals.

Burlington Central’s Nolan Milas made it through in the 100 and 200, and Woodstock’s Ishan and Aryan Patel, and Ellery and Cohen Shutt were sixth-fastest in the 4x800 relay. Woodstock North’s Landan Creighton and Burlington Central’s Grayson Burton both cleared 4.05 (13-3 1/2) to make the pole vault finals.

Miller did not run in the Kishwaukee River Conference Meet on May 9 as he was nursing a hamstring injury he has battled since the Top Times Indoor Classic in late March. He made it in the 400 and with the 4x400 relay.

Miller recovered in time to qualify last week at the Belvidere Sectional.

“I haven’t been fully active on it, every day I work with our trainer, Beth Janovsky. I give her a lot of credit,” Miller said. “We kind of rehab it on the [stationary] bike. Any sort of way to keep my cardio up and stay active without jeopardizing it and putting it in stressful situations.”

Miller, Sean Rockwell, Tristan Rockwell and Jack Verdoni took second in an extremely close 4x400 relay final last year to Kankakee. Miller, Sean Rockwell, Dan Kalinowski and Jack Martens had the fourth-fastest time in that race on Friday.

Max Loveall, Martens, Kalinowski and Sean Rockwell qualified with the fourth-fastest time in their 4x200 race.

“We’re very happy to win our heats in the 4x2 and 4x4, it sets us up great for tomorrow,” Rockets coach John Osmanski said. “It was a great day for us overall. The 4x2 we had a little hiccup at sectional, and we knew we could go faster. We knew if we did what we’re capable of doing, we should win our heat.”

Milas won the 100, 200 and 400 at the Fox Valley Conference Meet and had the third-fastest times in the 100 and 200 on Friday. His 21.78 200 time broke his own school record.

“I was happy with the way I ran today,” Milas said. “My goal was just to make the finals for tomorrow. I got the 100 out of the way and knew the 200 would be a little tougher in Lane 2, it’s not necessarily favorable for the 200. Going into tomorrow I want to have fun and place as high as I can and win state medals.”

SOFTBALL

Hampshire 4, Hononegah 2 (8 inn.): At Hampshire, Ali Sondergaard smacked a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to lead the Whip-Purs to a comeback win over the Indians in the Class 4A Hampshire Regional final.

Hampshire (14-15), which won its first regional title since 2016, advances to face Huntley in a Hononegah Sectional semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Hampshire trailed 2-0 entering the top of the seventh and got a leadoff hit from Mia Robinson, followed by a walk from Elyse Garcia. Sondergaard then hit a single to left field to drive in Robinson and cut Hononegah’s lead to 2-1.

After a walk by Taylor Nicholson loaded the bases, Melissa Johnson followed with a walk to tie the score at 2-all. Hampshire was unable to score again with the bases loaded and no outs but held the Indians scoreless in the bottom half to force extras.

Sondergaard (2 for 3) homered on a 3-2 pitch in the top of the eighth to score Garcia, who singled with two outs. Lily Sippel gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the eighth, but got the next three in order to clinch the win.

Robinson was 2 for 4 with a double, and Garcia scored two runs.

Sippel went all eight innings for the win, allowing two runs (one earned) on nine hits in eight innings. She struck out five and walked one.

Wauconda 9, Cary-Grove 5: At Cary, the Trojans cut a 5-0 lead to 5-4 in the third inning but couldn’t complete the comeback in a loss to the Bulldogs in the Class 4A Cary-Grove Regional championship.

Maddie Crick had five RBIs and hit a grand slam in the third inning for the Trojans (13-20).

Becca Weaver was 3 for 3 with a run scored, Kaley Koltz was 2 for 4 with two runs, and Aubrey Lonergan was 2 for 4 with one run. Allison Garski also had a hit.

GIRLS LACROSSE

Crystal Lake Central co-op 8, St. Charles East co-op 2: At Huntley, Addie Bechler scored a game-best four goals to lead the Tigers past the Saints and claim the Huntley Sectional championship – their second straight sectional title.

Maddi Lieflander scored two goals, and Fiona Lemke added a goal and three assists.

The Tigers (22-1) advance to face Lake Forest in the Huntley Supersectional at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the winner moving on to the state tournament at Hinsdale Central.

BOYS LACROSSE

Huntley 17, Prairie Ridge 6: At Grayslake, the Red Raiders (16-4) defeated the Wolves (10-10) to capture the Grayslake North Sectional championship for Huntley’s second straight sectional title.

The Raiders move on to meet Lake Forest in a Huntley Supersectional at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

BOYS TENNIS

Class 1A State Meet: Crystal Lake Central’s Logan Wasilk dropped his fourth-round consolation match to Vernon Hills’ Roman Stukov 6-4, 6-0 to end his state run.

Wasilk, a senior, went 3-2 after winning his opening match Thursday and losing his second.