Area roundup: Girls track teams fare well at conference meets

The Dixon, Rock Falls and Oregon girls track & field teams competed at the Big Northern Conference Meet on Thursday night in Rockford, and the three local teams finished 3-4-5 in the final team standings.

Host Rockford Christian won the title with 112 points, with Winnebago right behind at 108. Dixon was third (84), and Rock Falls edged out Oregon 67-66 for fourth.

Emma Smith and Emily Conderman won events for the Duchesses. Smith was first in the 1600 (5:21.29) and third in the 3200 (12:38.60), while Conderman won the 3200 (11:32.69) and finished fourth in the 1600 (6:01.30). Shea Lahey was runner-up in the long jump (14 feet, 7 inches).

Makenzie Welch took third in both the shot put (33-5 1/4) and discus (115-1), and Kait Knipple ran to third in the 800 (2:38.74). Dixon also placed third in the 4x200 (1:55.41 with Lahey, Katie Shafer, Nora Fordham and Victoria Grossman) and the 4x800 (11:11.95 with Keeley Mick, Leah Kuehl, Knipple and Teyla Wendt). Hannah Steinmeyer was fourth in the 400 (1:03.85), and Shafer added a fifth in the triple jump (27-9).

Amara Thomas was the Rockets’ lone winner, taking the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches). Emily Spooner tied for second in the 100 (13.38 seconds), and Rock Falls was runner-up in the 4x800 (10:50.80 with Tayli Hultin, Hana Ford, Gracie Rippy and Emily Garcia).

Ford was also third in the 1600 (5:50.07), while Aniyah Thomas took third in the 300 hurdles (55.57 seconds) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (18.18). Cadence Williamson was third in the high jump (5-0), and Carli Kobbeman placed third in the long jump (14-1). Hultin added a fourth in the 800 (2:38.75), and Emily Garcia finished fourth in the pole vault (6-6). Analysia Garcia took fifth in the long jump (13-5 3/4) for Rock Falls.

Jenae Bothe had the highlight of the meet to lead the Hawks, breaking the BNC record in the discus with a toss of 137 feet, 3 inches. It broke the conference record of 133-7 by Hampshire’s Erin Salinas in 2003, and also topped Allison Kereven’s Oregon record of 125-11.

Bothe also won the shot put (41-7 1/2), an event she already holds the school record in. Sophie Stender had Oregon’s other win, taking the 100 hurdles (16.81 seconds) and also finishing second in the 300 hurdles (52.83). Ava Wight was runner-up in the triple jump (30-2).

Sonya Plescia took third in the pole vault (7-0) and fourth in the triple jump (27-10 1/2), and Rylie Roberston finished fourth in the 100 hurdles (18.00 seconds) for the Hawks. Jennica Ciesel added a fifth in the high jump (4-10).

Panthers 3rd at TRAC Meet: Erie-Prophetstown scored 88 points to finish behind only Sherrard (176) and Princeton (92) at the Three Rivers Conference Meet in Manlius.

Bureau Valley was ninth (30), Newman took 12th (15), and Morrison placed 13th (5).

Riley Packer led the Panthers with a win in the 800 (2:30.16), and she teamed with Dylan Chandler, Jade Nickerson and Jillian Norman to win the 4x800 (10:35:94). She also joined Kennedy Buck, Chandler and Nickerson to take second in the 4x400 (4:29.49).

Hayley Wuebben and Olivia Purvis both cleared 2.74 meters to finish 1-2 in the pole vault, with Wuebben clearing the height in fewer misses. Buck was runner-up in the 200 (27.73 seconds) and 400 (1:02.85), and she also took third in the shot put (10.16 meters) for Erie-Prophetstown. Madyson Bushaw finished fourth in the triple jump (9.80 meters), and Brianna Neumiller added a fifth in the discus (31.60 meters).

Ashley Nordstrom led the Storm with a third place in the 100 hurdles (18.45 seconds) and a fourth in the pole vault (1.98 meters). BV also took third in the 4x200 (1:59.68 with Addison Wessel, Lexie Marquez, Jillian Hulsing and Taylor Neuhalfen).

Syrinidie Fowkes paced the Comets by finishing fourth in the long jump (4.80 meters), fifth in the 100 (13.46 seconds), and sixth in the 200 (28.68 seconds).

Erika King had the top finish for the Fillies, placing fifth in the 400 (1:07.92).

Steamers 2nd at NUIC Meet: Fulton finished with 84 points to earn the runner-up spot to Galena-East Dubuque-River Ridge (146.33) at the NUIC Meet in Pecatonica.

Dakota took third (72.33), Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio-AFC was fourth (62), and Forreston-Polo finished fifth (59). Milledgeville-Eastland placed eighth (18), and West Carroll was ninth (17).

Lauren Mahoney and Mikayla Gazo were part of three winning relays for Fulton, teaming with Miraya Pessman and Abbigail Thyne in the 4x100 (51.88 seconds), Thyne and Annaka Hackett in the 4x200 (1:50.44), and Pessman and Olivia Knott in the 4x400 (4:20.99). Lara Bielema added a win in the 300 hurdles (49.92 seconds) and a third in the 100 hurdles (17.50).

Mahoney was runner-up in the 100 (13.27 seconds), and Kylie Smither was second in the shot put (10.39 meters). Pessman took third in the 100 (13.63 seconds), and Jasmine Moreland finished fourth in the 1600 (6:24.28) for the Steamers. Hackett was fifth in the 200 (28.65 seconds), Brooklyn Brennan finished fifth in the 400 (1:08.41), Emery Wherry placed fifth in the 100 hurdles (17.79 seconds), and Hailey VanZuiden took fifth in the long jump (4.43 meters).

Elly Jones led the Clippers with wins in the 100 hurdles (16.89 seconds) and triple jump (10.58 meters), and she also took second in the long jump (4.68 meters) and third in the 300 hurdles (50.54 seconds). Lauren Althaus was second in the 400 (1:03.95) and third in the 200 (27.83 seconds).

Lexi Ketchum finished fourth in both the 800 (2:46.93) and high jump (1.46 meters), and Laela Shevokas added a fourth in the shot put (8.84 meters) for the Amboy co-op.

Sydni Badertscher won the shot put (10.54 meters) and discus (31.82 meters) to lead the Cardinals, and Letrese Buisker won the high jump (1.65 meters) and finished fourth in both the 100 hurdles (17.58 seconds) and 300 hurdles (50.70 seconds). She also teamed with Ennen Ferris, Autum Pritchard and Emileigh Williams to take third in the 4x100 (54.56 seconds).

Pritchard added a third in the 400 (1:05.07), and Kamryn Stockton finished fifth in both the 1600 (6:37.61) and 3200 (14:46.10) for Forreston-Polo.

Skyler Hartman paced the Missiles with a third place in the 3200 (13:48.43), and Quinc Haverland took third in the shot put (9.66 meters) and fifth in the discus (25.10 meters). Lynn Stringini finished fifth in the 300 hurdles (52.44 seconds) for Milledgeville-Eastland.

Olivia Shelly was the top finisher for the Thunder, taking third in both the 800 (2:43.33) and triple jump (9.95 meters). Kylie Hill finished fourth in the long jump (4.50 meters) for West Carroll.

Baseball

Dukes sweep Cogs: Dixon notched a pair of five-inning Big Northern Conference wins at Veterans Memorial Field, defeating Genoa-Kingston 4-1 and 6-1 to improve to 16-1 overall and 14-1 in BNC play.

Jake Gaither (4-0) allowed an unearned run and three hits in the opener, striking out four and walking three, and the Dukes scored three runs in the bottom of the third to snap a 1-1 tie. Bryce Feit drove in two runs, and Gage Burdick added a double, an RBI and a run; Gaither, Beau Evans and Mikey Bivins also scored.

Max Clark (2-0) went the distance in the nightcap, allowing an unearned run and two hits, with nine strikeouts and four walks, and a five-run second inning put Dixon in control. Gaither had two hits and two RBIs, Ethan Van Horn added a pair of sacrifice flies, and Evans and Clark also drove in runs. Burdick singled twice and doubled, Bivins also had a double, and they both scored runs. Evans, Feit, Kyan Adkins and Trey Scheidegger also scored for the Dukes.

Eastland 5, Amboy 1: The Cougars built a 3-0 lead through four innings, then tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth to top the Clippers.

Carson Heckman and Kellen Henze each went 2 for 4 to lead Eastland, and Henze had one RBI. Cole Huber and Jaxson Sturtevant drove in one run each for the Cougars.

Allyn Geerts earned the win, striking out four, walking two, and allowing three hits and one run across seven innings.

Jairon Hochstatter, Brody Christofferson and Tucker Lindenmeyer had the hits for Amboy (7-7, 5-3 NUIC South), with Hochstatter’s hit a double. Christofferson took the loss, conceding five hits, three earned runs and two walks while striking out five over seven innings.

Milledgeville 6, Forreston 3: The Missiles got rolling with a four-run third inning and never looked back, claiming an NUIC South win over the Cardinals.

Caden Vandyke went 3 for 4 with one RBI, and Connor Nye went 2 for 3 with one RBI to pace Milledgeville hitters.

Nye was the winning pitcher. Over 5 2/3 innings, he allowed two hits, three runs and five walks, and earned nine strikeouts. Kieren Harris threw 1 1/3 innings of relief, conceding one hit and one walk, while striking out three.

Mason Fox went 1 for 2 with two RBIs to lead Forreston, and Blake Greenfield had one RBI. Owen Greenfield took the loss, going 6 2/3 innings on the mound and allowing seven hits and five runs (one earned) and striking out 10 without a walk.

Warren-Stockton 2, Fulton 1: The Steamers scored a run in the second, but gave up two in the fourth in a loss on the road.

Drew Dykstra suffered the tough-luck loss, allowing two earned runs and one hit in a complete game, with 14 strikeouts and two walks. Ethan Price had a hit and an RBI, and Jacob Jones and Davis Ludin had the only other hits for Fulton.

Softball

Rock Falls 21, Genoa-Kingston 1, 4 inn.: Katie Thatcher pitched a no-hitter, and the Rockets scored 11 runs in the second inning and eight more in the third of a Big Northern Conference road win.

Rylee Johnson finished a single shy of the cycle, ripping a double, triple and home run to go with eight RBIs and three runs scored to lead Rock Falls (18-7, 12-2 BNC). Thatcher doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored twice, and Patty Teague had a pair of singles and scored three runs.

Savanna Fritz was 3 for 3 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored, and Brooke Howard had a pair of singles, an RBI and two runs. Olivia Osborne and Taylor Reyna both doubled and drove in a run for the Rockets, and Maddison Morgan, Zoe Morgan, and Abby Whiles also drove in runs. Ten different Rockets scored runs.

Thatcher gave up an unearned run while striking out five and walking two.

Dixon 13, Rockford Christian 0, 5 inn.: Sam Tourtillott hit a pair of home runs and pitched a one-hitter in the Duchesses’ Big Northern Conference win at Reynolds Park.

Tourtillott finished with three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored, and she struck out 11 without a walk in the circle.

Elle Jarrett was 2 for 3 and drove in a pair of runs for Dixon (12-5, 9-4 BNC). Morgan Leslie doubled and drove in a run, and Ana-Kate Phillips and Ava Valk both scored twice. All nine Duchesses scored at least one run.

North Boone 5, Oregon 0: The Hawks saw their five-game winning streak snapped with a shutout loss in a Big Northern Conference road game.

Amboy 9, Eastland 1: The Clippers built a 5-0 lead through four innings, then finished strong with a four-run sixth.

Tyrah Vaessen doubled, tripled and had three RBIs, Hannah Blanton went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, and Maeve Larson went 2 for 3 to lead Amboy (5-9, 4-4 NUIC South). Blanton earned the win, striking out 10, walking three, and allowing five hits and one run over seven innings.

Mallory Misiewicz went 2 for 3 to lead Eastland, while Jenica Stoner had a hit and scored a run. Addie Burkholder took the loss, striking out four and allowing 10 hits over six innings.

Forreston 13, Milledgeville 0: The Cardinals exploded for a 10-run third inning and cruised to a five-inning victory over the Missiles.

Jenna Greenfield went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Rylee Broshous homered and drove in three runs, and Ella Ingram went 2 for 2 with a triple and two RBIs to lead Forreston at the plate. Kara Erdmann pitched a two-hitter, striking out 11 without a walk.

Marissa Sturrup took the loss for Milledgeville, striking out seven and allowing six hits across four innings.

Fulton 6, Warren-Stockton 2: The Steamers scored three runs in the third and sixth innings, and held the Warhawks scoreless for the first four innings to secure the victory.

Amy Hughes went 1 for 3 with one RBI, and Reese Germann went 1 for 4 with one RBI to lead Fulton hitters. Teegan Germann threw a complete game for the win, striking out three, walking four, and allowing six hits and one earned run.

East Dubuque 8, West Carroll 7, 9 inn.: The Thunder scored two runs in the top of the ninth, but the Warriors answered with three in the bottom in a tight NUIC West contest.

Maddie Eppenstein was a triple shy of the cycle, smacking a double and a solo home run for West Carroll (3-13, 2-6). Tori Moshure, Erika Rice and Kendal Asay all had two hits, and Rice drove in three runs. Emily Watkins had a pair of RBIs, and Halee McGinnins added an RBI.

Kylee Delgado allowed three runs (two earned) and three hits in 3 2/3 innings, striking out one and walking four. She took the loss in relief of starter Domynique Lego, who gave up five runs (four earned) and four hits in 4 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and 11 walks.

Girls soccer

Sterling 1, LaSalle-Peru 1: The Golden Warriors tied the Cavaliers in a nonconference road game.