Ava Miedema, Alexzandria Richardson lead St. Charles North to its invite title; Huntley second

ST. CHARLES – The track and field outdoor season opener Saturday was victorious for St. Charles North as its 174 points placed the North Stars atop the leaderboard at their home event, the St. Charles North Invitational.

They were led by an all-around team effort with strong contributions coming from a number of different competitors, including senior Ava Miedema and sophomore Alexzandria Richardson.

“It was a good team effort from all 19 events today. Everybody chipped in and did a great job with it,” St. Charles North coach Anthony Enright said.

Miedema set a new school record while placing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.0 seconds. She also sat a half second shy of her own school record in the 300 hurdles, during which she ran a 46.66 and placed third.

Richardson sprinted to victory in the 200-meter dash, setting a blistering 26.47 pace.

“She’s just a sophomore and she’s not afraid to do all three sprint events,” added Enright, referring to Richardson’s efforts in the 100, 200 and 400. “She’s really strong, works really hard, and has a great work ethic. She doesn’t seem like a sophomore. She runs like a senior.”

“I feel like every single week it gets better,” nodded Richardson, when asked about her 200-meter performance. “That’s my favorite one, too.”

While she took home top honors in her favored event, she was narrowly defeated by Elk Grove senior Lota Ugwu in the 100.

“I started off really strong,” said Ugwu, with a grin on her face. “I have my drive step and I just went and executed it … my goal was to be near the state record, or stay on pace, so I just tried to go for a 12.”

The versatile Grenadier did just that, as she ran a 12.85 in her victorious 100-meter effort. She also finished runner-up to Richardson in the aforementioned 200-meter race, and threw the shot put 9.27 meters for ninth place.

St. Charles North senior Tosin Oshin took home top honors for the North Stars in shot put with an 11.89-meter toss.

Speaking of field events, Huntley senior Sienna Robertson was a clear standout in discus with a 39.58 meter result.

“I think it’s a solid start this season, and it’s the first meet, we’re excited for more,” said Robertson. “I just wanted a solid start to ease into it. I didn’t wanna really put a number on it, but I was feeling optimistic and just feeling confident.”

The Red Raider team leader has high expectations for herself entering the spring. “I think getting into a routine this year is especially important for me …[I’ve] got a lot of things to look forward to, and a lot of goals, and I’ve just got to keep working for it.”

Huntley took home second place as a team with 133 points overall. Their relay teams were particularly impressive, winning the 4x100, 4x400, and 4x800 meter relay events.

Seniors Dominique Johnson and Emily Byers joined junior Addison Busam and freshman Myla Wade as the Red Raiders’ representatives in both the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay races. They ran a 48.47 pace in the former and a 4:01.10 in the latter.

The 48.47 was notable, as it topped the mark that Huntley set in the event when they opened last season.

“It feels great because our team last year were state champions,” said Johnson, who also took home first place in long jump with a 5.84 meter mark.

Huntley coach Jason Monson was satisfied with the day, but is eager for more as his team races into the outdoor season.

“The goal was just to kind of knock the rust off a little bit,” Monson said. “It’s a little different when you go from the indoor to the outdoor season, so it was great to see the four by eight get out, hold a lead, continue with the lead and kind of stay engaged with the race. And the four by one was phenomenal.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250412/girls-track-and-field/girls-track-and-field-miedema-richardson-help-st-charles-north-win-own-invitational/