Girls track: Dixon hits stride on track to take lead over host Rock Falls

ROCK FALLS – The Dixon girls track & field team hit the track running at the Rock Falls Invite on Friday night at Hinders Field, building a nearly 30-point lead before winning the title by 12.5 points over the host Rockets.

Dixon finished with 149 points to Rock Falls’ 136.5. Bureau Valley took third (67), Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio-AFC was fourth (59.5), and Riverdale finished fifth (49). St. Bede placed sixth (38.5), Milledgeville-Eastland was seventh (35.5), and Newman finished eighth (32).

The Duchesses took the lead after the eighth event, the 4x100, and never looked back. They won eight events – six of which came on the track – and added four runner-up finishes, three third places, four fourths, a fifth and a sixth.

“I think we all did really well. We all gave great effort, and I think it showed with the win,” Hannah Steinmeyer said. “I think we were all just ready to go out and do our best, and get a win. That was the plan.”

[ Photos from the Rock Falls Invite ]

Kait Knipple was part of three of those wins, taking the 800 (2:33.18) and teaming with Keeley Mick, Leah Kuehl and Steinmeyer to win the 4x800 (10:15.86), then joining Shea Lahey, Nora Fordham and Kuehl to take the 4x400 (4:30.26) and cap the team title off with a win in the final event.

Knipple said that 4x800 win in the first race of the day got the Duchesses going.

“It really set a good tone, and we were able to perform well,” she said. “Then in the 800, I am very pleased with how I ran. My teammate Leah and I knew we were going up toward the top with those Rock Falls girls, so the goal was just to compete and run hard. Especially after the 4x8, I knew that they were going to be close with us.

“My goal was to go out there and race my hardest, and go for the win – and I was able to do it tonight, so that was really nice. I felt good, and was proud of how I performed, and the team too.”

Makenzie Welch took the top spot in the shot put (9.61 meters) and the discus (110 feet, 5 inches), and Steinmeyer also won the 400 (1:02.69) and took third in the 200 (28.65 seconds). The foursome of Shea Lahey, Nora Fordham, Katie Shafer and Victoria Grossman won the 4x200 (1:55.57).

Emma Smith (11:47.52) and Emily Conderman (12:34.35) went 1-2 in the 3200 for Dixon, and Smith was happy that they were able to push each other and maximize the points in the event for the Duchesses.

“I ran the race I wanted to,” Smith said. “If I would’ve known that I could’ve beaten the record today, I might have gone a little harder. I was helping to push Emily along, and I loved the fact that my teammate was right there behind me. I love my team and we love pushing each other, so it’s nice when we can get first and second. We all competed hard.”

Conderman also took second in the 1600 (5:55.50), and Olivia Cox was second in the discus (91-5) and sixth in the shot put (8.72 meters). Steinmeyer, Fordham, Grossman and Lahey ran to second in the 4x100 (54.86 seconds).

Shafer added a third in the triple jump (8.53 meters), and Mick took third in the 1600 (5:56.73). Lahey (long jump, 4.46 meters), Kuehl (800, 2:42.15), Fordham (400, 1:08.51) and Alivia Rubright (100 hurdles, 18.55 seconds) all finished fourth, and Paige Riley was fifth in the triple jump (8.07 meters) for Dixon.

Emily Spooner led Rock Falls with three wins, taking the 100 (12.92 seconds) and the 200 (28.41), and placing third in the 400 (1:04.29). She also teamed with Makenna Arickx, Savannah Bufford and Carli Kobbeman to win the 4x100 (53.46 seconds).

“I’m very proud of myself. I put in a lot of work at practice, and did my best to provide points for my team, and improve on myself,” Spooner said. “It’s amazing to get this meet in. I haven’t really run in a big meet like this since my sophomore year because of COVID, everything got shut down. This is our first big meet, because they’ve been getting canceled. It felt good to actually have competition and run all-out.”

Kobbeman also won the long jump (4.72 meters), and Hana Ford outran the field in the 1600 (5:46.54) for the Rockets. Like Spooner, Ford was excited to earn the victory at a big meet on her home track.

“It felt really nice, because it’s been awhile since we’ve had a home meet. This is our first home meet this season – and it might be our only one – so it’s a big deal for us,” Ford said. “It was a lot of fun – and it was really tough and it really hurt – but it was so worth it.”

Amara Thomas took second in the high jump, Bufford was runner-up in the triple jump (8.88 meters), and Emily Garcia placed second in the pole vault (6-0) and fifth in the 400 (1:08.75). The team of Tayli Hultin, Ford, Gracie Rippy and Garcia took second in the 4x800 (10:32.34), and Arickx, Hultin, Ford and Rippy were second in the 4x400 (4:33.05).

Hultin added a third in the 800 (2:36.38), and Aniyah Thomas took third in the 100 hurdles (18.51 seconds) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (57.61). Addisyn Castaneda finished fourth in the 3200 (14:29.56), while Kobbeman (100, 13.69), Rippy (800, 2:43.64), Elizabeth Lombardo (3200, 15:18.61) and Mallory Pinske (300 hurdles, 58.11) all added fifths. Emma Hultin was sixth in the 1600 (6:55.97) for Rock Falls.

Elly Jones was triple-winner for the Amboy co-op, easily outrunning the field in both the 100 hurdles (15.82 seconds) and the 300 hurdles (50.55), and also taking first in the triple jump (9.54 meters). She added a third in the long jump (4.48 meters).

“It was a good day, and it’s really good to get a big meet in finally,” Jones said. “The competition is good, and it’s good practice for sectionals and the meets coming up that really matter.”

Lauren Althaus was runner-up in the 400 (1:03.63) and the 200 (28.42 seconds) for the Clippers, while Lexi Ketchum finished fifth in the high jump (4 feet, 7 inches) and sixth in the 800 (2:45.47). The team of Taylor Jahn, Lily Searing, Mallory Henert and Ketchum placed fifth in the 4x400 (5:13.54), and Skyler Ware, Reilly Schafer, Henert and Dezi Cater took sixth in the 4x200 (2:09.52).

Newman’s Jess Johns won the high jump (4 feet, 11 inches), and Syrinidie Fowkes took third in the 100 (13.49 seconds), fourth in the 200 (28.70) and fifth in the long jump (4.45 meters).

“It’s pretty great to get a meet like this in. It’s definitely challenging, because I don’t really know how fast other girls are, so it definitely pushes me to be better. I just had fun with it,” Fowkes said. “I’m happy with how I ran; I definitely could’ve gotten out of the blocks better, but I can’t really do anything about it now. This meet will 100% help us prepare for the rest of the season.”

Also for the Comets, Amiya Rodriguez finished fourth in the 100 (13.69), and Gianna Widolff placed sixth in the 3200 (15:25.85), before joining Claire Crisham, Maria Ardis and Monica Healy for a sixth-place finish in the 4x400 (5:20.46).

Bureau Valley’s Ashley Nordstrom won the pole vault (6 feet, 6 inches), and also placed second in the shot put (9.26 meters) and the 100 hurdles (17.80 seconds), and fifth in the discus (76 feet, 11 inches). Addison Wessel, Lexie Marquez, Jillian Hulsing and Taylor Neuhalfen were second in the 4x200 (1:59.34).

Allison Larkin took third in the pole vault (6 feet), and teamed with Rhaelynn Chism, Ella Entas and Marquez to finish third in the 4x100 (56.68 seconds). Hulsing, Kate Salisbury, McKenzie Hunt and Lynzie Cady were third in the 4x400 (4:45.73), while Hulsing finished fourth in the high jump (4 feet, 7 inches) and Connie Gibson placed fourth in the triple jump (8.49 meters). Cady added a fifth in the shot put (8.76 meters), and Wessel was sixth in both the 100 hurdles (19.72) and 300 hurdles (1:02.13) for the Storm.

Milledgeville-Eastland’s top finishes were thirds by Skylar Hartman in the 3200 (14:03.62) and Lynn Stringini in the 300 hurdles (54.34). Quinc Haverland finished fourth in both the discus (79 feet) and shot put (9.05 meters), and Hartman (1600, 6:45.21) and Stringini (100 hurdles, 18.90) added fifth-place finishes.

Abi Sturrup tied for fifth in the 100 (13.69 seconds), placed sixth in the 200 (29.23), and teamed with Olivia Schurman, Natalie Colehour and Holley Frederick to finish fifth in the 4x200 (2:07.75). Stringini, Schurman, Colehour and Sturrup ran to sixth place in the 4x100 (58.66 seconds).