September 12, 2024
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Streator boys, Newark girls win Rollie Morris Invite titles

By Kevin Chlum
From left: Newark's Megan Williams and teammate Kiara Wesseh race with Streator's Abby Pierce and St. Bede's Anna Lopez in the 100 meter dash during the Rollie Morris Invite on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Hall High School in Spring Valley.

From left: Newark's Megan Williams and teammate Kiara Wesseh race with Streator's Abby Pierce and St. Bede's Anna Lopez in the 100 meter dash during the Rollie Morris Invite on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Hall High School in Spring Valley. (Scott Anderson)

SPRING VALLEY – Senior Megan Williams and sophomore Kiara Wesseh have benefited from practicing with each other.

“Kiara and I have been working a lot,” Williams said. “It’s been good to train alongside her. She’s amazing.”

The duo’s work was on display Saturday as Williams and Wesseh led the Norsemen to a big victory at the Rollie Morris Invitational.

The Norsemen racked up 130 points to beat second-place Princeton (101). Streator (24) placed 10th, Fieldcrest (19) was 12th and Somonauk (8) was 13th among the 14 teams.

“I feel like we definitely have a lot of strong people and when we all come together it’s really good,” Wesseh said.

Wesseh and Williams placed one-two in the 100-meter dash and the 100 hurdles.

Wesseh ran a personal best 12.6 seconds in the 100 with Williams clocking a 12.8, while Wesseh ran 15.7 in the 100 hurdles followed by Williams’ 15.8.

“It feels very good,” Wesseh said. “My goal is just to get better than last time and I feel like I’m definitely improving slowly.

“I was trying to push further (in the 100 hurdles) than I did last time and really push through at the end because I tend to slow down.”

Wesseh also cleared 5 feet, 1 inch to win the high jump and ran a personal best 26.5 seconds to place second in the 200.

“I have a mental block going on (in the high jump) so I didn’t do as good as I hoped to,” Wesseh said. “I have cleared 5-4 before but then I just run off and I can’t make myself jump. It’s very frustrating, but I’m trying to work through that.”

Williams won the triple jump with a personal record leap of 35-8 ¼.

“I PRed in the triple jump by over a foot so that felt really good,” Williams said. “I can’t practice because we don’t have it at my school. It’s really good for me to get my steps in. (NHS coach Jeff) ‘Doc’ Schutt helps me a lot. It finally clicked today, so that helped a lot.”

Other winners for the Norsemen were Tess Carlson in the pole vault (8-11 ¾), Lindsey Hatteberg in the long jump (14-9 ½) and Peyton Eike, Lindsey Hatteberg, Addison Ness and Brooklyn Hatteberg in the 4x100 relay (55.3 seconds).

The same foursome placed second in the 4x200 relay in 1:59.

Abby Pierce led the Bulldogs as she won the 300 hurdles in 51.4 seconds and placed fourth in the 100 hurdles in 17.7 seconds.

Fieldcrest’s Carol Megow took third in the 300 hurdles in 53.3 seconds.

In the boys meet, Streator overcame Stillman Valley late in the meet to win with 92 points to the Cardinals’ 84.

Fieldcrest (16) placed 10th, Newark (11) was 12th and Somonauk (8) was 13th.

“I thought we did really great,” Streator senior Cade Stevens said. “A lot of guys did really well. Quentin Goforth and Collin Jeffries in the 4x100 and Kody Danko in the 800. We just have a lot of guys who are getting PRs. Even if they’re not toward the top of the standings, they’re putting up PRs every meet. It’s really good.”

Streator's Aneefy Ford wins the boys 4x100 meter relay as St. Bede's Tyreke Fortney finishes second during the Rollie Morris Invite on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Hall High School in Spring Valley.

Streator's Aneefy Ford wins the boys 4x100 meter relay as St. Bede's Tyreke Fortney finishes second during the Rollie Morris Invite on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Hall High School in Spring Valley. (Scott Anderson)

Stevens played a key role in the Bulldogs’ title as he won the long jump with a leap of 17-5 ¾ and ran with Jeffries, Goforth and Aneefy Ford to win the 4x100 in 45.1, which is less than a second from the school record of 44.18 seconds.

Stevens also placed third in the 200 in 23.4 seconds and finished fourth in the 100 in 11.3 seconds.

“It felt really good,” Stevens said about winning multiple events. “Long jump was a little tough going into the wind. Four by one was nice because our team, we talk a lot to the guys who have the school record, and we’re just really trying to go for that and we’re getting close. Our handoffs are looking better every time we run, so I’m getting really excited to see where that 4x100 goes for sure.”

Newark's Lindsey Hatteberg does the long jump during the Rollie Morris Invite on Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Hall High School in Spring Vallley. (Scott Anderson)

Also for the Bulldogs, Manuel Nieto won the shot put with a toss of 42-3 ½, Aiden Kearfott placed second in the triple jump at 34-10, Danko took second in the 800 in 2:00.5, Ford was third in the 100 in 10.9 seconds and fourth in the 200 in 23.4 seconds and Isaiah Dembo, Jeffries, Goforth and Ford took third in 1:40.

For Fieldcrest, Mason Stoeger cruised to victory in the 1,600 in 4:33.6.

Logan Pasakarnis led Newark as he placed second in the 400 in 57.5 seconds and took sixth in the 800 in 2:18.8. Somonauk’s Aaron Banister placed fifth in the 400 in 59.5 seconds and seventh in the 800 in 2:19.8.