The Lyons Township High School boys track and field team tuned up for the upcoming IHSA state meet by winning the Class 3A Morton Sectional.
LTHS rolled to victory with a score 128.50, followed by the sectional host Mustangs (75).
Senior Danny Kilrea, who won the cross country state title in the fall, won the 3,200-meter race with a time of 9 minutes, 5.15 seconds. The Notre Dame-bound Kilrea topped teammate Ryan Bonfiglio (9:47.66), who also advanced to state.
Other individual event winners for LTHS were senior Joe Kriekmeier in the pole vault (15-0), junior Zach McLain in the 110 hurdles (15.33), junior Xavier Armand in the 300 hurdles (40.16) and senior Charles Harders in the 1,600 (4:24.75).
Armand also advanced to state in the 110 hurdles with a runner-up time of 15.50.
The Lions also won titles in the 1,600 (3:26.93) and 3,200 relays (8:05.05).
LTHS girls 17th at state
The Lions tied Barrington (15 points) for 17th place at the state meet over the weekend.
Strong performances in the relays set a positive tone for LTHS during Saturday’s finals.
The 1,600 relay of Renata Wingert, Sonia Slusarczyk, Lizzie Scotty and Tara Schwarz came in fourth with a time of 3:54.80. In the 3,200 relay, Maggie Abbs, Marta Kogucki, Ally Sarussi and Kate Dickman earned seventh at 9:22.36.
Slusarczyk had a superb state meet, finishing fourth in the 300 hurdles in a school-record time of 45.11. She earned 10th in the 100 hurdles (15.32).
“Overall, we performed at a very high level and ran the best we have all year,” LTHS coach Greg Frandsen said. “With 17 of the 24 that qualified for state coming back next year, I think our young runners gained valuable experience.”
Frandsen also praised Kyla Miller, Natalie Swinehart, Olivia Kalata, Claire Williams, Sunsiree Phipps, Isabelle Reynolds and London White for their effort at state.
RBHS boys head to state meet
RBHS senior George Cervanka punched his ticket to the IHSA state finals with second-place finishes in the 100 (11.20) and 200 (22.85) at the Morton Sectional. Senior Devin Moody also qualified for state in the high jump (6-6).
The Bulldogs’ 3,200 relay of Jack Sagan, Jacob Wardzala, Chris Magno and Jason Noel recorded a time of 8:09.71 as a runner-up to LTHS (8:05.05) and qualify for state.
In the team standings at Morton, RBHS was fifth with a score 57.50.
RBHS girls
Senior Isabel Montefinese finished sixth (99-09) in the first of three flights in the discus throw during Friday’s preliminaries at the state meet.
She qualified for state by winning the Lyons Sectional with a throw of 108-03.
Riversider at Timothy Christian takes 9th
Timothy Christian sophomore Hope Clark finished ninth in the 3,200 (11:53.56) at Saturday’s Class 1A state finals on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
Clark, a Riverside resident, also placed among the top third of runners with a time of 19:11 at the cross country state finals in Peoria last fall.
Fenwick qualifies in relay, triple jump
The Fenwick boys team finished eighth (31 points) at the Glenbard South Sectional.
St. Laurence (125) won the sectional, followed by Montini (79), Evergreen Park (66), St. Rita (56) and Glenbard South (51).
Fenwick qualified its 3,200 relay team and triple jumper Matthew Augustyn for the state finals.
Augustyn, a senior, came in second at sectional with a triple jump measure of 43-5.
“Matt set a personal-best by two feet and qualified by time and mark with a jump of 43 feet, 5 inches,” Fenwick coach Marcus McKinley said. “Considering that he missed winning the triple jump by about three inches as the fifth seed, it was a remarkable accomplishment.”
The 3,200 team placed first with a time of 8:33.24.
“The 3,200m relay team will be spending our short week working on speed,” McKinley said. “Matt [Augustyn] will be able to focus on triple jump, which should help him with his goal of setting a new school record and making it into the [state] finals on Saturday.”
Fenwick girls 29th at state
The Friars scored eight points at the IHSA state meet to earn a share 29th place with four other schools.
Junior pole vaulter Claire Gatermann, from Riverside, set a new school record, clearing 11 feet in the preliminaries Friday. She cleared 10-6 to finish 13th in the finals.
Fenwick excelled in the 3,200 as a relay and individuals. In the 3,200 relay, freshman Maria Quinn, junior Laura Durkin, sophomore Marie O’Brien and junior Maggie Van Ermen recorded a time of 9:42.81 to earn sixth in the state.
Senior Margaret O’Brien (11:19.20) and freshman Katie Cahill (12:33.99) placed sixth and 18th, respectively, in the 3,200.
Other notable results in the prelims included junior Colleen Grogan’s 48.19 in the 300 hurdles and senior Emma Hackett’s 90-03 in discus.
“Colleen is just starting to hurdle again after an injury,” Fenwick coach Dale Heidloff said. “Her [prelims] time at state was two seconds better than her season best.”
