Dixon’s Olivia Cox advances to track finals; West Central softball wins regional: Friday’s Sauk Valley Roundup

Girls track and field

Cox on to Saturday in throws: At the IHSA Class 2A State Meet preliminaries held Friday in Charleston, Dixon senior Olivia Cox scored top-12 finishes in both the shot put and the discus to move on to Saturday’s finals at Eastern Illinois University.

Cox in preliminaries placed 11th in the shot put (10.53 meters) and eighth in the discus (34.14).

Sauk Valley state qualifiers competing Friday but not advancing to Saturday’s finals included Sterling’s Anna Aulwes (19th in the 200), Anessa Johnson (23rd in the 100 hurdles), the 4x100 relay team of Presley Winters, Finley Ryan, Aulwes and Taah Liberty (25th), 4x200 team of Winters, Liberty, Aulwes and Alivia Gibson (17th) and Ryan in the pole vault (T-14th).

For Rock Falls, the 4x800 team of Hana Ford, Kat Scott, Brenna Burlack and Carli Kobbeman placed 21st, while Kayla Hackbarth (18th) missed the cut in the discus.

For Dixon, the 4x800 relay team of Kate Boss, Teyla Wendt, Olivia Arduini and Daniela Lovett finished 20th in prelims.

Girls soccer

Belvidere North 4, Dixon 0: In the championship match of the Class 2A Belvidere North Regional at MercyHealth Complex, the Duchesses were shut out by the regional hosts.

Dixon’s season comes to a close with a record of 13-11. Belvidere North – now 20-1 – advances to the Belvidere High Sectional.

Baseball

Rock Falls 4, Durand/Pecatonica 2: In the semifinals of the Class 2A Newman Regional, the Rockets (16-13) moved on to Saturday’s 10 a.m. regional championship tilt against the host Comets, the key inning being a three-run fourth.

Austin Castaneda tripled, homered and drove home three runs for Rock Falls. Carter Hunter also had an RBI in support of winning pitcher Ethan Moeller (7 IP, 2 ER, 3 K), who allowed only six hits and a walk in the complete-game victory.

Softball

Dakota 5, Polo 3: In the championship game of the Class 1A Dakota Regional, the hosts topped Polo (8-16) in a tight game to end its season, answering the Marcos’ three-run top of the third with four runs in the bottom half to take control.

Cheyanna Wilkins doubled, and Allissa Masrschang singled and drove in a run for Polo. Wilkins (2 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 K) suffered the pitching loss and was relieved by Camrynn Jones (3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 9 K).

Durand 6, Milledgeville 4: In the championship of the Class 1A Durand Regional at Saelen’s Park, the Missiles (10-10) didn’t allow a Durand run after the second inning and rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to catch their regional hosts.

Kendra Kingsby (4 2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 K) held Durand scoreless from the circle in relief of starter Addison Janssen (1 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 2 K). Olivia Wooden doubled and drove in two runs, with Janssen tagging three singles with an RBI.

West Central 10, Fulton 0 (6 inn.): In the championship game of the Class 1A West Central Regional, the hosts improved to 30-3-1 on the spring and captured their third consecutive regional title with the shutout of the Steamers.

Ashley Meyer (homer), Becca Hinshaw (two singles, double) and Shelby Bowman (three singles, three runs scored) drove in two runs apiece for the Heat in the victory. Lauren Winters added two singles and an RBI of her own in support of winning pitcher Addie Seitz (6 IP, 0 R, 10 K), who walked no one and allowed only two hits.

Jessa Read (3 IP, 6 ER) suffered the pitching loss for Fulton, which sees its season end with a record of 24-6.

Boys track and field

Oregon 4th at Winnebago: At the Class 1A Winnebago Sectional, Oregon (64 team points) finished fourth in a field of 14 teams, with the hosts (123) running away with the team title.

Briggs Sellers (13.67 meters in the shot put) and Leo Cardenas (3.85 in the pole vault) captured individual titles to advance to next weekend’s state meet in Charleston.

Also advancing as individuals for Oregon were Evyn Carreno (13.50, 2nd in the shot put) Daniel Gonzalez (2:03.03, 2nd in the 800-meter run).