High school girls track and field insider: Athlete of week, power rankings and more

Athlete of the Week

Maggie Cherveny

Cary-Grove, Senior

Cherveny took two third places by herself and ran in a third-place relay as the Trojans took second as a team at the Nelson-Daniel Classic indoor track and field meet at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday. C-G scored 49.5 points to finish behind only Brookfield East (57 1/2). Cherveny ran with Cathy Franco, Paige Schulz and Jenna Walker to take third in the 4x100-meter relay in 4:17.55. She also went 17-3 in the long jump and 33-10 in the triple jump, both for third places.

Northwest Herald Power Rankings

1. Huntley: The Red Raiders graduated big point-scorers Macy Tramblay and Tess Miller, but return sprinters Cassidy Lackovis and Alex Handchetz, along with some strong distance runners.

2. Cary-Grove: The Trojans' impressive run of six consecutive Fox Valley Conference championships was stopped by Huntley last year. Cherveny and thrower Nikki Freeman lead the way, and coach Mark Anderson always draws good numbers to his teams.

3. McHenry: The Warriors took third in the FVC Indoor Meet last month at Huntley. Good sprinters, along with good talent in field events should make McHenry one of the stronger teams.

4. Jacobs: The Golden Eagles were fourth in the FVC Meet last year and have Caleigh Walsh and Rachel Holstein back to lead the team in field events.

5. Hampshire: The Whip-Purs took second in the Byron Indoor Invitational last week with 86 points. Hampshire always does well in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays, and won the 400, 800 and 1,600 at Byron.

This Week’s Top Meets

Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Invitational

Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center, in Bloomington

The Class 2A Meet starts at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to finish around 2:45 p.m. The Class 3A Meet runs from 2:15 to 7:50 po.m. The meet is considered the indoor state meet.