High school girls track and field: Huntley wins first sectional title since 2014

LAKE ZURICH – Huntley juniors Daryn Davis and Kendal Only crossed the finish line in the 100-meter high hurdles in Lanes 5 and 6 and sensed something special had just happened.

They hugged and jumped up and down in celebration, knowing Davis had won the race. A few moments later, they received even better news, Only was going to state with her teammate.

Both ran the fastest times in their careers. Davis won in 15.03 seconds, and Only was third in 15.39 at the Class 3A Lake Zurich Girls Track and Field Sectional on Thursday night at Mel Eide Field.

They left the infield a couple of minutes later for the triple jump, where Davis won and Only was runner-up. Their performances headlined a big night for the Red Raiders, who won their first sectional team title since 2014. It completed the Raiders’ first triple crown (winning McHenry County, Fox Valley Conference and sectional championship in the same season).

Huntley finished with 100 points, with Barrington (94) and Lake Zurich (76) next.

“I liked the [100 hurdles] race a lot,” said Davis, who also qualified in the long jump. “I tried to stay with the girls next to me (Palatine’s Erin Oleksak in Lane 4). If I did that, it would help me get a personal best and get the qualifying time.”

Oleksak was seeded first at 14.84, and Davis was seeded second at 15.18. Only just wanted to keep as close to Davis as possible.

“Normally I just focus on staying with her, and it pushes me to go faster,” Only said. “The key was my block start. I’ve been struggling with that.”

Huntley’s 4x100 relay team of Jenna Belonax, Melissa Aninagyei-Bonsu, Sabrina Krog and Taryn Sargent won, and the 4x200 team of Belonax, Aninagyei-Bonsu, Sargent and Ola Oladipo took second.

The Raiders wrapped up the sectional title with Sargent taking third and Aninagyei-Bonsu fourth in the 200, before Belonax, Krog, Mary Raclawski and Oladipo took second in the 4x400.

“Daryn and Kendal came up big tonight,” Raiders coach Shawn Nordeen said. “[Only] running the hurdles and sticking with Daryn. She didn’t panic. She ran her race and pulled herself through. That just kind of carried them through into the triple jump.”

Other state qualifiers from the area were Crystal Lake South’s Savannah Morgan (100), Jacobs’ Nadia Baraglia (200) and Cary-Grove’s Allison Drage (1,600).

Mundelein’s Khari Thompkins (12.73) won the 100, with Morgan (12.75) and South teammate Gianna Patenaude (12.76) right there.

“[That finish] is kind of overwhelming,” Morgan said. “[I was thinking] I really hope I get this place. You can only hope for the best.”

Patenaude won the 100 at the FVC Meet and was thrilled for her teammate. When hearing Morgan was second, she yelled, “You’re going!”

Baraglia, a senior, came to the sectional with the sixth-fastest seed time, but she extended her high school career another week by taking second.

“It feels incredible,” Baraglia said. “There were a lot of tears at the end. I was in Lane 7, and no one was in Lane 8, so when I came out of the turn, I had no idea [where I was]. When we got into the straightaway, I was with one other girl and was trying to go really fast and get to the finish.”

Drage will make her first state appearance after making it through a loaded 1,600 field with six competitors who had run the qualifying standard (5:08.84) this year. She took fourth in 5:08.09.

“It was a really fast field, I was super excited about that,” Drage said. “That means if I stick with them, I’ll be within range. That was the goal, just to hold on to these girls until I was near the end. It was a very exciting and focused race.”

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

Class 3A Lake Zurich Sectional

Team scores: 1. Huntley 100, 2. Barrington 94, 3. Lake Zurich 76, 4. Palatine 68, 5. Stevenson 50, 6. Mundelein 38, 7. Libertyville 31.5, 8. Crystal Lake South 22, 9. Vernon Hills 21.5, 10. Jacobs 17, 11 (tie). Cary-Grove, Wauconda 12, 13. Prairie Ridge 10, 14. Buffalo Grove 4, 15. Hampshire 2.

4x800 relay: 1. Barrington-* (Baker, Cossio, Fitzpatrick, Norris) 9:23.59, 2. Lake Zurich-* (Burk, Baffa, Loftus, Burns) 9:35.02, 3. Huntley 9:42.58, 4. Libertyville 10P:16.45, 5. Jacobs 10:18.52, 6. POalatine 10:29.29.

4x100 relay: 1. Huntley-* (Belonax, Aninagyei-Bonsu, Krog, Sargent) 49.62, 2. Stevenson-* (Cadichon, Peterson, Mays, Tollison) 49.66, 3. Palatine 50.26, 4. Barrington 5-.36, 5. Crystal Lake South 50.76, 6. Vernon Hills 51.02.

3,200 meters: 1. Sorenson-* (Stev) 10:59.79, 2. Burns-* (LZ) 11:06.17, 3. Berquist (Barr) 11:18.82, 4. Andrews (Barr) 11:32.17, 5. Aldridge (CLS) 11:36.53, 6. Dieschbourg (CG) 11:41.31.

100 high hurdles: 1. Davis-* (Hunt) 15.03, 2. Oleksak-* (Pal) 15.11, 3. Only-* (Hunt) 15.39, 4. Quinn-* (LZ) 15.48, 5. Walker (CG) 15.83, 6. Husby (Barr) 16.18.

100 meters: 1. Thompkins-* (Mund) 12.73, 2 Morgan-* (CLS) 12.75, 3. Patenaude (CLS) 12.76, 4. Aninagyei-Bonsu (Hunt) 12.82, 5. Helmer (Barr) 12.93, 6. Sargent (Hunt) 12.99.

800 meters: 1. Miller-* (Mund) 2:21.42, 2. Burk-* (LZ) 2:26.29, 3. Hoeltgen (Barr) 2:26.96, 4. Blohm (CG) 2:27.02, 5. Magro (Barr) 2:27.70, 6. Raclawski (Hunt) 2:28.59.

4x200 relay: 1. Barrington-* (Baker, Cossio, Helmer, Pokorny) 1:45.14, 2. Huntley-* (Belonax, Aninagyei-Bonsu, Sargent, Oladipo) 1:46.58, 3. Stevenson 1:46.89, 4. Palatine 1:48.03, 5. Lake Zurich 1:51.83, CL South 1:52.55.

400 meters: 1. Thompkins-* (Mund) 58.59, 2. Mark-* (LZ) 59.93, 3. Miller (Mund) 1:01.31, 4. Busch (PR) 1:01.77, 5. Spytek (VH) 1:03.13, 6. Evinger (Hamp) 1:03.94.

300 low hurdles: 1. Cossio-* (Barr) 45.60, 2. Oleksak-* (Pal) 45.75, 3. Quinn (LZ) 46.77, 4. Dunn (Barr) 49.00, 5. Wolnik (Hunt) 49.20, 6. Krawczyk (Wauc) 49.46.

1,600 meters: 1. FItzpatrick-* (Barr) 5:00.14, 2. Norris-* (Barr) 5:03.23, 3. Rochester-* (Lib) 5;06.02, 4. Drage-* (CG) 5:08.09, 5. Morrison (Hunt) 5:14.46, 6. Burns (LZ) 5:17.58.

200 meters: 1. Lyons-* (Lib) 26.29, 2. Baraglia-* (Jac) 26.36, 3. Sargent (Hunt) 26.52, 4. Aninagyei-Bonsu (Hunt) 26.59, 5. Thompkins (Mund) 27.01, 6. Kim (VH) 27.05.

4x400 relay: 1. Barrington-* (Baker, Cossio, Dunn, Helmer) 4:01.27, Huntley-* (Belonax, Krog, Raclawski, Oladipo) 4:08.17, 3. Palatine 4:09.31, 4. Lake Zurich 4:11.33, 5. Vernon Hills 4:18.55, 6. Hampshire 4:19.34.

Shot put: 1. Clay-* (Stev) 39-2.5, 2. Mlotk-* (Pal) 37-2.5, 3. O'Neall (Stev) 36-2.5, 4. Cottingham (BG) 35-8,5. Pisukle (Hunt) 35-6.5, 6. Cabusao (Jac) 35-0.5.

Discus: 1. Clay-* (Stev) 124-6, 2. Stammer-* (Pal) 116-9, 3. Daniels (Lib) 113-9, 4. Barnvos (Hunt) 110-0, 5. Proft (VH) 105-10, 6. Kwietniewski (Lib) 100-7.

High jump: 1. Daun-* (Wauc) 5-7, 2. Oleksak-* (Pal) 5-3, 3. Ordway (Barr) 5-1, 4. Mitchell (Hunt) 5-1, 5. Busch (PR) 5-1, 6. Collins (PR) 5-1.

Long jump: 1. Kim-* (VH) 18-10, 2. Klett-* (LZ) 18-0.5, 3. Davis-* (Hunt) 17-7, 4. Skoby (LZ) 16-9, 5. Sobolak (BG) 16-4, 6. Pokorny (Barr) 16-0.

Triple jump: 1. Davis-* (Hunt) 37-11.25, 2. Only-* (Hunt) 36-9.25, 3. Schaffer (Jac) 35-11.75, 4. Ciezadlo (CLS) 35-0, 5. Begun (CG) 34-4.25, 6. Ryzka (Hamp) 33-6.5.

Pole vault: 1. Rothas-* (LZ) 11-3, 2. Streepy-* (Pal) 11-3, 3. Jones (LZ) 10-3, 4. Skie (Lib) 10-3, 5. Caldwell (Barr) 9-9, 6. Ruesch (Barr) 9-9.

*-State qualifiers.