Girls track & field: Sterling defends title at its own Night Relays

STERLING – Last year, the Sterling girls track & field team defended their home turf by taking the title at the Sterling Night Relays.

This year, they again defended their turf – and their title – with another victory on Senior Night, scoring 113 points to defeat runner-up Geneseo (92) and third-place Rock Falls (73). United Township finished fourth (65) and Dixon took fifth (57) in the eight-team event.

[ Photos from the 71st annual Sterling Night Relays ]

Sterling won three events, added eight second-place finishes, and tacked on three more thirds to finish in the top three in 14 of the 16 events.

“It’s awesome [to have depth on the track and in the field], because we can always pick each other up, and if one area doesn’t do as well as they had hoped for, we always have another area that’s going to PR big-time,” senior thrower Kathryn Rowzee said. “Everyone just works well together, so it all turns out good and we get first-place finishes like this.

“We’ve just put in the work. There’s a lot that people don’t see, us showing up everyday and working our hardest. This is what it leads up to, this is what it’s all about.”

Rowzee won the shot put individually with a throw of 11.12 meters, and her second-place toss of 35.67 in the discus helped the Golden Warriors take second as a team in that event when her distance was added to those of teammates Eleanor Aitken (26.85 meters) and Peyton McCafferty (24.28 meters).

“All the work that I’ve put in has finally shown itself a little bit,” Rowzee said. “It’s not where I want it to be yet, but it’s been a good start for the year, and I’ll just keep working.”

Fellow senior Alice Sotelo also contributed big points for Sterling. The defending Class 3A state champion won the individual title in the triple jump by 1.34 meters with a season-best leap of 11.22 meters, and teamed with Madison Austin (9.45 meters) and Maggie Rowzee (9.36 meters) to take the team title in that event.

“It’s nice to come out in my home meet and hit a good one,” said Sotelo. “It’s been rough this season, honestly; the weather and the wind has just been terrible, so jumping-wise, not what I want. But as of today, and honestly, last week, I’m where I should be.”

She also ran legs on the runner-up 4x100 (50.40) and 4x200 (1:47.89) relays. Kaydence Weeks and Anna Aulwes joined her in both races, with Taah Liberty running in the 4x100 and Alivia Gibson running in the 4x200. Sotelo, Weeks and Liberty were joined by Rhylee Wade to take third in the 4x400 (4:21.68).

Contributing to relay teams on the track is something Sotelo wanted to do more of in her senior season, and she’s thrilled to see what the Warriors have been able to do in those races – and hopes they can continue it all the way to Charleston.

“It’s been great running more, it’s just awesome. I love all the girls, and our relay times are a lot better than they were last year,” Sotelo said. “We ran two state-qualifying times and PR’d a lot this meet, so just the thought of maybe being able to go to state with my teammates this year, after being alone for the past two years, it’s so great, the best feeling ever.”

Sterling also picked up event wins in the 4x100 shuttle hurdles race (1:10.02) with Aulwes, Abby Ryan, Anessa Johnson and Addison Robbins. Johnson, Abby Ryan and Robbins also took second in the 300 hurdlers team race, and Johnson, Finley Ryan, Presley Winters and Alivia Gibson took second in the fresh-soph 4x100 (51.95 seconds).

Liberty, Finley Ryan, Winters and Sage Ryan ran to second in the fresh-soph 4x200 (1:51.41), and the quartet of Rhylee Wade, Connie Ibarra, Delia Block and Kylie Nicklaus took second in the 4x800 (10:12.24).

The Warriors also added a pair of runner-up finishes in the field. They placed second in the long jump with Alivia Gibson (4.55 meters), Kirra Gibson (4.49 meters) and Robbins (4.46 meters) leaping a combined 13.5 meters, and also were second in the pole vault with Finley Ryan (2.97 meters), Winters (2.67 meters) and Esra Ramirez (2.52 meters).

Sterling’s other third-place finishes came in the fresh-soph 1,600 sprint medley relay (4:55.40 by Isabella Sylvester, Ellie Kested, Austin and Laney Zuithoff) and the 1,600 team race (36 points from Block, Nicklaus and Ibarra).

Freshman Kat Scott took part in both event wins for Rock Falls, teaming with Hana Ford, Ava Shank and Gracie Rippy to win the meet-opening 4x800 (10:10.56), and then joining Rylee Rus, Ashlyn Fargher and Ariel Hernandez to take the fresh-soph 1,600 sprint medley relay (4:40.20).

“I think we did pretty good tonight. A lot of us PR’d, and I felt really good too; I PR’d by a few seconds in the 800, which is a lot, and I also PR’d in the 400 by a few seconds in the SMR race,” Scott said. “During the SMR race, during that 400 [leg], I just was telling myself to keep going and catch up to the next person, and that allowed me to get in front of everyone, and hand it off to my teammate.”

Hernandez, Ford and Tayli Hultin finished 4-5-6 in the 1,600 team race to take second in that event, and Aniyah Thomas, Amara Thomas and Fargher combined to win the high jump; the Thomas twins both cleared 1.43 meters.

Carli Kobbeman was part of two third-place team finishes in the field for the Rockets. Her leap of 4.97 meters was good for second place individually, and she combined with Hope Hampton (4.09) and Analysia Garcia (3.77) to cover 12.83 meters in the event. She also took third individually in the triple jump (9.84 meters), teaming with Emily Lego (9.40) and Savannah Bufford (8.71) to take third as a team by covering 27.95 meters.

Ellisa Russell, Emma Rumley and the Thomas twins added a third place in the 4x100 shuttle hurdles race (1:18.08).

Scott said she and her teammates are happy to see their improvement as the postseason draws near.

“I think we’re all pushing because of the fact that conference and sectionals and state are all just right around the corner, and now everyone is thinking, ‘I have to go now!’ " she said. “It’s important to do that early in the season, but now is when everyone is trying to PR and get better. And that’s still really good, because it helps our team get better.”

Dixon’s trio of Hannah Steinmeyer, Dani Lovett and Kate Boss finished 1-2-3 to take the title in the 1,600 team race with a perfect 6 points. Steinmeyer (5:23.89) ran her fastest time of the season, and freshmen Lovett (5:30.39) and Boss (5:30.46) both set personal records.

Lovett’s time was nearly 18 seconds faster than her previous best, and she’s happy to see how far she’s come since battling an injury earlier this school year.

“I was very nervous; I haven’t ran past my PR since 8th-grade cross country season, so that felt great,” she said. “I was ecstatic at finishing 1-2-3, I didn’t even know how to handle it. It was amazing.

“At the beginning of the season I had a high ankle sprain and collapsing arches, so I was trying to build my way back up over winter running, and at the beginning of track I wasn’t doing so hot. But then when outdoor track started, I started picking up the pace and now I feel really good about my position on the team.”

Steinmeyer also ran on the runner-up 4x400 team (4:18.47), joining Mari Fruscalzo, Bella Miller and Kait Knipple. Aydrienne Lahey, Izzy Goff, MyKinzie Love and Olivia Arduini formed an all-freshman team in the fresh-soph 1,600 sprint medley relay and ran to second (4:54.22) for the Duchesses, and throwers Olivia Cox (9.93 meters), Tya Collins (9,.00 meters) and Amelia Lohse (8.35 meters) combined to cover 27.28 meters to take second in the shot put.

“It was actually a pretty good meet for us. We all did really good,” said Fruscalzo, another freshman contributor for Dixon. “We’re improving, all of us, as a team, and we’re just doing great this season. We’re not the best, but we’re going to get there one day.”

Knipple, Keeley Mick, Jordyn Crawford and Emily Conderman clocked a 10:28.82 to take third in the 4x800 to open the meet.

With a good mix of veterans and fresh faces, Dixon is still finding that balance between the present and the future. Lovett and Fruscalzo love the team dynamic, and are excited to see where it leads.

“It’s really cool. I love the team aspect right now,” Lovett said. “I’ll be really sad to see the seniors go, but I know that the freshmen, especially with how many we have coming in, we’re going to be doing great things in high school.”

“It’s kind of nice to have that mix, because this is my first year doing track – ever – and it feels good having new people, especially the older girls that are helping us with everything,” Fruscalzo said. “All of the coaches are really amazing, too. They’re all helping me through all of this. So I kind of like it, and it’s nice to be part of this team.”