Girls track and field: Record Newspapers 2024 season previews

The high school track and field season goes outdoors soon. Here are previews of teams from around the Record Newspapers coverage area.

Newark

Coach: Abbey Akre.

Top returners: Kiara Wesseh, sr., 100 dash, hurdles, high jump, long jump; Addi Ness, jr., triple jump, 400; Tess Carlson, jr., pole vault; Brooklyn Hatteberg, sr., 200 /relays.

Key newcomers: Makenzie Doss, fr., sprints/relays; Annalyse Creps, fr., sprints/relays; Stephanie Snyder, sr., distance; Olivia Smith, jr., distance.

Worth noting: Newark last year took the whole girls team down state with seven individual events and three relays qualifying. Wesseh was first in Class 1A high jump, third in the 300 hurdles, fourth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the 100-meter dash. Carlson took ninth in pole vault. Newark took second in its conference meet. Wesseh, Ness and Carlson all qualified for the Top Times indoor state meet this spring. Wesseh was second in the high jump, third in the 60 hurdles and seventh in the 60 dash at Top Times, Carlson was sixth in pole vault and Ness 11th in triple jump.

Snyder and Smith have joined Newark’s team this year and are huge additions in distance races as Newark had no girls running above a 400 last year.

“The girls relays have the potential to be very strong this year as we have multiple girls back and others that can fill spots when needed,” Akre said.

Oswego

Coach: Dwayne Wilson

Top returners: Lauren Broome, sr., hurdles/middle distance; Josie Reiseck, jr., distance; Samantha Ventura, jr., distance.

Key newcomers: Destiny Hicks, fr., sprints; Kristin Soderlind, fr., distance.

Worth noting: Oswego took 10th at indoor conference this spring, after finishing fifth at the outdoor conference meet last year. Broome was indoor conference champ in the 55 hurdles, and took fourth in the 400. She holds the third-best 55 hurdles time in Class 3A state indoors of 8.51 seconds run at the North Central Cardinal Classic. Hicks took seventh in the 200 at indoor conference, fellow freshman Soderlind was eighth in the 800, Reiseck 10th in the 1,600 and Ventura 10th in the 3,200.

Oswego East

Coach: Steve Ideran

Top returners: Hailey Soriaga, sr., pole vault; Layla Brisbon, so., relays/hurdles; JJ James, jr., relays; Ava Karg, so., pole vault; Kyla Moore, so., relays; Emma Berglund, jr., distance; Josslyn Gaona, sr., distance; Olivia Van Denend, jr., distance.

Other returners: Delia Akyea, jr., long jump/triple jump; Julia Burney, so., distance; Caitlin Cohan, sr., throws; Keke Evans-Love, jr., sprints; Graysen Lepkowski, sr., pole vault; Brooklynne Martynus, jr., high jump; Alex McElyea, sr., throws; Kayli Pembroke, so., high jump; Mae Robinson, jr., hurdles/distance; Annie Schiltz, so., distance; Nicole Warbinski, so., sprints.

Key newcomers: Jiana Busby, fr., distance; Avaya Kittling-Turner, fr., sprints/jumps; Taylor Monahan, fr., sprints/hurdles; Makayla O’Neal-Jenkins, fr., sprints; Nevaeh Satterwhite, fr., sprints; Morgan Tracy, fr., sprints.

Worth noting: A deep senior class led Oswego East to conference and sectional titles last year, but there is a lot of experience returning. Nine Wolves have state meet experience in track or cross country and of that group seven are underclassmen. Soriaga, a Wisconsin-Milwaukee commit, is a two-time state qualifier in pole vault who took eighth at state last year, sixth at Top Times this spring and set Oswego East’s indoor school record this spring. Gaona, an Illinois-Springfield recruit, is a two-time state cross country qualifier. Brisbon is a a returning state qualifier and the defending conference 100-meter dash champ. The Wolves had six freshmen compete at indoor conference, where Oswego East took fourth. “So we are extremely young across the team, but have a lot of talent and experience already in that young group,” Ideran said. Oswego East reset the indoor 4x200 record three different times with seven different girls running on the relay.

“We talk about the fact that our depth defines our program and that should hold true again this year,” Ideran said.

Plano

Coach: Rick Ponx

Top returners: Elo Montesinos, sr., sprints/relays/triple jump; Alexa Sobieszczyk, sr., sprints/high jump; Alexandra Lemke, sr., middle distance/relays; Leila Bonilla, sr., middle distance/relays; Lilia Ochoa, sr., sprints; Sanyi Burrell, sr., sprints/triple jump; Kaylee Klatt, so., hurdles/sprints/relays; Kalia Young, jr., long jump/triple jump; Ash Armstong, jr., distance; Allison Goodyear, jr., distance; Neela Hall, jr., middle distance.

Key newcomers: Stevie Young, fr., sprints; Chloe Rowe, fr., shot put/discus.

Worth noting: The Reapers are coming off a strong indoor season with good showings at Glenbard North and Plainfield East while winning the Reed-Custer Comet Classic for the third straight year. Montesinos and Sobieszczyk return from Plano’s state-qualifying 4x100 relay. Plano last season took third place at conference and fourth place at sectionals, a finish dominated by its sprinters and a vaulter.

“This year we will be counting on every aspect of our team [sprinters/mid-distance/distance and field events] to lead us into the Kishwaukee River Conference,” Ponx said.

Sandwich

Coach: Elizabeth Vick

Top returners: Sunny Weber, so., distance; Ashley Hintz, sr., sprints/hurdles; Erin Lissman, jr., distance; Joanna Rivera, jr., distance; Clara Schiradelly, so., sprints/pole vault; Scarlett Paul, so., throws.

Key newcomers: Alayla Harris, fr., sprints; Delanie Card, fr., sprints; Teagan Lederman, fr., sprints; Addyson Cline, fr., sprints; Dulce Arriola, fr., sprints; Tegan Stryszyk, fr., sprints/pole vault; Hannah Treptow, jr., distance/high jump; Kayla Kressin, fr., distance/middle distance.

Worth noting: Sandwich is coming off a fifth-place finish at state last spring, as Claire Allen won the shot put and discus titles and Sunny Weber capped off her freshman year by taking third in the 1,600 and second in the 3,200. Weber, third at state cross country last fall, just set a new Sandwich indoor 3,200 record at the Top Times meet. Lissman was a state qualifier in the 4x800 relay as a freshman, as was Rivera, who is coming off an injury but is determined to make big strides in the 800. Schiradelly joined Sandwich midway through last season after gymnastics season and emerged as one of the team’s top sprinters, and will also pole vault this spring. Paul was Sandwich’s No. 2 shot putter behind Allen as a freshman. Added to the mix is an impressive group of freshman sprinters, and basketball star Treptow has joined the team after taking two years off of track and field.

“We’re excited for the future with this girls team,” Vick said. “We have some incredible incoming talent and a wonderful group of upperclassmen to guide them along the way. On the distance side, we have a group of athletes that are eager to either return to state or earn their way to state for the first time. Sunny Weber, in particular, is eager to return and out-do her already impressive performance from last year. We have many incoming sprinters with experience at the IESA state level that is sure to set them up for success this year. After experiencing that level of competition before, this group is ready to make it to that stage again.”

Yorkville

Coach: Lauren Vriezen.

Top returners: Courtney Clabough, jr., shot put/discus; Allegra Triner, sr., distance/relays; Cassidy Madden, jr., high jump; Lily Camargo, jr., distance/middle distance; Sophia Keeler, jr., distance/middle distance; Anabelle Reeder, so., distance/middle distance; Ava Galloway, sr., distance/middle distance; Ashley Schraeder, so., distance/middle distance

Worth noting: Clabough is a returning state qualifier in the shot put and discus who took eighth in the shot put at state, and just placed sixth in the shot put at the Illinois Top Times meet. Triner and Keeler were members of the state-qualifying 4x800 relay team that took eighth in Charleston. Triner took seventh place at Top Times in the 800 with a new personal record of 2:17.9, and ran that after helping the 4x800 relay team also take seventh at Top Times. Madden is a returning state qualifier in the high jump looking forward to outdoor season after dealing with some minor injuries throughout indoor. Camargo, Keeler and Reeder also ran on the 4x800 relay at Top Times. Added to that distance group, Galloway is back in the mix after a long recovery following hip surgery over the summer, and Schraeder is getting back into things after an injury following cross country season. Yorkville took sixth at indoor conference. “On the sprinter side of things we have a pretty young team so it is exciting to see where they will fit in as the season progresses and we are lucky to have a solid group of senior leadership in that group to help bring them along,” Vriezen said.

Yorkville Christian

Coach: Jeff Schutt

Top returners: Paige Gillman, so., hurdles/pole vault

Key newcomers: Payton Wallin, so., discus; Hope Frieders, fr., shot put/discus; Gabby Allen-Thompson, fr., shot put/discus; Ruby Moe, fr., shot put/discus.

Worth noting: With no seniors on the team, the Mustangs will lean on freshmen and sophomores to compete in the majority of the events. Gillman runs both hurdles races and this year will be adding pole vault to her list of events. Wallin, Frieders, Allen-Thompson and Moe are newcomers in the throwing events.