Who's going to state? Guilford leads Rockford-area girls track and field state qualifiers
HUNTLEY — The Guilford Vikings advanced to state in seven events, the most in program history, as the track and field postseason kicked in with the Class 3A Huntley Sectional on Wednesday evening and the 2A Genoa-Kingston Sectional on Friday.
The Class 1A Winnebago Sectional was postponed due to lightning and adverse weather on Friday night, but it picked back up on Saturday, with lots from the area soaring on to state from that meet.
But on Wednesday night, led by junior Jolena Sites, who soared to state in all four events she took part in, and freshman shot putter Natassja Bowman, who bolted to state on her first try with a school-record toss, the Vikings were constantly in the spotlight. And now they head to next week's state track and field meet in Charleston, which runs May 19-21, with state-medal aspirations.
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"We knew this was going to be a tough sectional, but we believed in these girls, and man did they come through," Guilford coach Greg Ford said. "We have so many weapons on this team right now, and I didn't doubt them one bit. They just kicked it in today."
The top two finishers in each event, and those that better the state standard time or distance, advanced out of sectionals and on to state.
Sites won the 300-meter hurdles in 46.49, led the 4x100 crew to a second-place finish in 48.52, placed second in the 200 dash in 25.39, and took fourth but advanced on time in the 100 dash with a mark of 12.29. DeNiya Gary, Jalin Craigs-Ingram and Anastasia Bruce joined her in the 4x100, and their time was another school record.
Bowman threw the shot 35-5, which not only gave her the sectional title, but also set the first Guilford school record of the day.
"I needed it because I wasn't really on before that," she said. "That one felt pretty perfect, though. That's what I needed, to really pop one like that. It felt amazing."
Another Guilford junior, Michelle Gasmund, advanced to state with a time of 2:19.22 while placing third in the 800 run. Gasmund was also a key part of Guilford's 4:04.54 in the 4x400, which gave them a second-place finish, and their seventh and final state bid.
Boylan junior thrower Madelyn Bishop led the way out of the 2A G-K sectional by advancing to state with a first-place finish in the shot put and a second-place effort in the discus.
Winnebago won the area's lone team sectional title, winning its own sectional, and it got nine individuals down to state.
CLASS 3A
At Huntley
State qualifiers: (Other than Guilford's seven events, here are the rest of the area state qualifiers from 3A) Harlem senior Emma Rich took first in the discus at 119 feet, 1 inch; Auburn sophomore Essence Horton-Graves took first in the 100 dash in 12.16, and took third but advanced on time with a 25.59 in the 200; Harlem senior Hannah Bilodeau took second in the 400 run in 57.98; Hononegah junior Indigo Sterud took second in the 300 hurdles in 47.05
Near-misses: Belvidere North senior Gloria Oteng-Bediako, who placed third in the triple jump at state as a freshman but hasn't medaled since, scratched on all of her sectional triple jumps on Wednesday, and took 13th in the long jump as her career came to a quiet close; Guilford senior DeYana Franco-Daye also fell 1 inch and one placement short of advancing to state in the high jump with a make at 5 feet; and the Guilford 4x200 crew of Bruce, Aamanda Curry, A'Yana Gray and Gasmund placed third, one spot out of a state bid.
CLASS 2A
At Genoa-Kingston
State qualifiers: Boylan junior Madelyn Bishop took first in shot put at 41-7 and second in the discus at 121-6; Rochelle senior Teagan Meyers won the high jump with a clearance of 5-2 1/2; Rochelle sophomore Alivia Henkel took first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 46.69; Belvidere's 400-relay team of Iman Baumgartner; Emma Pierson; Lory Lopez; Zoey Proper got first in 50.68; Rochelle senior Liberty Hayes took second in 100 dash in 13.53; Belvidere freshman Pierson took second in the 400 run in 1:02.54; Boylan's 4x800 team of Ella Linnabary; Reese Kohnle; Brietta Coen; Natalie Tekampe took second in 10:17.54.
Near miss: Belvidere sophomore Iman Baumgartner took third in the 200 dash and was less than a second off the qualifying standard, just missing a state bid in her second event.
CLASS 1A
At Winnebago
State qualifiers in track events: Winnebago junior Grace Erb got first in the 800 run in 2:16.65, and Winnebago senior Katie Erb got second in the 800 in 2:25.25; Winnebago junior Kaylee Woolery got first in the 1600 in 5:15.91, and Winnebago junior Marissa Roggensack got second in the 1600 5:24.40; Rockford Christian junior Avery Demo got first in the 400 run in 58.55; Rockford Christian senior Kelly Giardina got first in the 3200 run in 12:12.96; Winnebago senior Sophia Martino got second in the 3200 run in 12:30.84; Forreston sophomore Letresse Buisker got first in the 100 hurdles in 16.16; Winnebago junior Campbell Schrank got second in the 100 hurdles in 16.36; Oregon junior Sophia Stender got third but advanced in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.39; Byron senior Alana Julian got fourth but advanced in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.41; Winnebago senior Renee Rittmeyer won the 300 hurdles in 47.42; Forreston sophomore Letresse Buisker got second in the 300 hurdles in 47.48; Winnebago junior Campbell Schrank got third but advanced in the 300 hurdles with a time of 48.58; Rockford Christian junior Mandy Nelson got second in the 100 dash in 12.88, and third in the 200 dash but advanced with a time of 26.89; Dakota senior Kelsie Minkie got second in the 200 in 26.41, second in the 400 in 58.62, and third but advanced in the 100 with a time of 12.93; Rockford Christian sophomore Giavanna Buscema got third but advanced in the 400 with a time of 1:00.26; Byron freshman Skylar Palmgren got fourth but advanced in the 400 with a time of 1:01.69.
State qualifiers in field events: Oregon senior Jenae Bothe won the shot put at 41 feet, 5 inches; Winnebago senior Hannah Logan got second in shot put at 39-8; Forreston sophomore Sydni Badertscher got third but advanced with a distance of 37-1; Winnebago senior Hannah Logan won the discus at 116-9; Winnebago junior Amanda Gustafson got second in discus at 115-1; Oregon senior Jenae Bothe got third but advanced in discus with a distance of 113-5; Forreston sophomore Sydni Badertscher got fourth in discus but advanced with a distance of 113-0; Winnebago senior Renee Rittmeyer won the high jump at 5-0; Forreston sophomore Letresse Buisker got second in high jump at 5-0; Winnebago senior Ryleigh Warden won the pole vault at 10-5; Oregon freshman got second in pole vault at 7-0; Lutheran sophomore Amaya Teague got first in long jump at 16-5; Lutheran junior Adelyn Richard got first in triple jump at 33-2.
Area relay teams that qualified for state: Byron's 4x100 team got first in 49.98; Rockford Christian's 4x100 team got second in 50.07; Byron's 4x200 team got first in 1:46.52; Rockford Christian's 4x200 team got second in 1:48.90; Winnebago's 4x400 team got first in 4:07.48; Rockford Christian's 4x400 team got second in 4:11.13; Winnebago's 4x800 team got first in 10:47.99.
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 sectionals: Rockford-area athletes headed to girls state
