Rockford-area boys athletes to watch at IHSA track and field sectionals
The boys track and field season hits the final backstretch this week as all of the area teams embark on sectionals, starting with those at the Class 3A Huntley Sectional and at the 2A Rochelle Sectional on Wednesday.
As the boys get prepped to try and get to the Illinois High School Association state meet, let's take a look who to watch at the upcoming sectionals, as well as where and when:
The NIC-10, Big Northern Conference and NUIC all held their boys conference meets last week, with plenty of locals stepping up their game at just the right times.
Belvidere North rolled to the NIC-10 team title last Friday, sparked by sophomore sprinter Nico Bertolino, who won the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Those were the only two victories for the Blue Thunder on the day, and he has some work to do on his times to make it to state, and to finals day at state.
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Harlem senior Riley Lundgren stayed on pace to make it to state in discus, winning the NIC-10 title with a throw of 174 feet, 3 inches, which boosted him all the way up to No. 4 on the 3A discus rankings, according to athletic.net. Hononegah's Jacob Klink kept soaring by claiming the NIC-10 title in solid fashion with a toss of 54-1 in the shot put. And he's still ranked 13th in Class 3A throwers with a throw of 55-5 from earlier this season.
Freeport's senior hurdler Bayley Pierce showed what he's capable of this postseason by winning both the 110- and 300-meter hurdle races. His time in the 110 highs (15.71) was 18th best in Class 2A this season, and his mark in the 300 intermediates (41.42) was 13th best in 2A.
Dixon held off Rockford Christian and Winnebago for the BNC team title, but there were still plenty of strong performances from the locals.
Winnebago sophomore Supreme Muhammad kind of charged onto the scene late in the year by clocking the sixth fastest time in 1A at the BNC meet with a time of 11.06. His teammate Michael Cunningham didn't run the 400 at conference, but he still has the third fastest time in that event with a 50.64 carrying over.
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Winnebago and Rockford Christian should both come out of this year's state meet with medals in the 4x400 relay, and they are both deep in the other relays, and up and down the lineup. The Royal Lions come in led by BNC 800 champ Aidan Sosnowski, and Bjorn Carlson, who has the ninth fastest time in 1A this year in the 400 at 51.04. Rockford Christian's Adison Elliott and Weston Forward went 1-2 in the mile run at conference and could be state contenders this week.
Headed into sectionals, three of the top seven discus marks in 1A this season, and five of the top 20, come from local throwers. That list is led by Oregon's Daniel Dominguez, who won the BNC title, and threw it 159-5 earlier this month.
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Forreston senior hurdler Matthew Beltran comes in hot, with the fifth-fastest time in 1A in the 110 hurdles, at 15.24. Pecatonica/Durand's Jake Anderson and Grant Milbrath are both athletes to watch in the discus, while Milbrath and five other locals are ranked in the top 25 of the shot put rankings.
First they have to get there, and that will depend on their performances at sectionals. The top two finishers in each event, and those that eclipse the state standard times or distances, advance to the IHSA state meet, held in Charleston from May 26-28.
Rockford-area boys track and field sectionals
CLASS 3A
At Huntley
Area teams: Belvidere North; Harlem; Auburn; East; Guilford; Jefferson; Hononegah
When: 4 p.m. field events; 6 p.m. running events on Wednesday
CLASS 2A
At Rochelle
Area teams: Freeport; Rochelle; Stillman Valley
When: 3:30 p.m./5 p.m. on Wednesday
At Belvidere
Area teams: Belvidere; Boylan
When: 3:30 p.m./5 p.m. on Thursday
CLASS 1A
At Oregon
Area teams: Byron; Dakota; Forreston co-op; Lena-Winslow; Oregon; Pearl City; Pecatonica co-op; North Boone; Christian Life; Lutheran; Rockford Christian; South Beloit; Winnebago
When: 4 p.m./ 5:30 p.m. Friday
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA track & field: Rockford athletes to watch at sectionals
