Crystal Lake Central’s championship spring tops the list of local sports stories for 2024

The 2024 sports year in McHenry County saw Crystal Lake Central win a state championship in girls soccer and baseball on back-to-back weekends in the spring, a near repeat state champ in girls track and field, and two first-time Olympic qualifiers.

Here is a look at the top 10 local sports stories for 2024 as voted on by the Northwest Herald sports staff.

1. Tigers’ championship spring

Crystal Lake Central delivered a spring to remember as the Tigers won state championships in back-to-back weekends.

First, Central’s girls soccer team blanked four-time state champion Triad 1-0 on a game-winning goal by senior defender Paiton Hulata to earn its first Class 2A state title, with goalkeeper Addison Cleary and the Tigers defense of Kalissa Kaiser, Hulata, Chelsea Iles and Shaylee Gough pitching a shutout.

A week after the girls soccer team won its first state title, Central’s baseball team, which entered the postseason as a No. 10 seed, got its first with a 3-2 win over Lemont in the Class 3A state championship game. The Tigers did not lead until the sixth inning on a go-ahead triple by Rhett Ozment.

“There was never a second I didn’t think we were capable of making it happen,” Central first-year baseball coach Cal Aldridge said.

2. Tarazi makes Olympic debut

Valerie Tarazi, a 2018 Prairie Ridge graduate, made her Olympic debut when she took part in the 200-meter individual medley in Paris for the Palestinian team. Tarazi, whose grandfather was born in Gaza, finished 32nd and set a new personal best time while she also was one of the flag-bearers for the opening and closing ceremonies.

The 24-year-old qualified for the Olympics by competing in two world championships events and had the highest World Aquatics points of any female Palestinian swimmer.

“It’s been my dream my whole life,” Tarazi said of qualifying. “It still doesn’t feel real.”

During her senior year at Prairie Ridge, Tarazi won her third Northwest Herald Girls Swimmer of the Year honor and also competed in track and field. She was selected as the Northwest Herald Female Athlete of the Year before heading to Auburn.

3. Marian Central wrestling wins case against IHSA

Marian Central freshman Jimmy Mastny put together one of the most dominant postseasons in McHenry County history, winning every match by fall or forfeit, en route to winning the Class 1A 157-pound state championship and helping the Hurricanes get their first IHSA dual team state title.

However, a big question throughout the season was whether or not Mastny would be allowed to wrestle for the Hurricanes after the IHSA argued that head coach Jordan Blanton and Mastny violated the IHSA’s recruiting by-laws.

In September, however, a McHenry County judge thew out the suspensions and said Blanton and Mastny didn’t violate any rules – allowing both to return to the mat this season.

4. Huntley girls track and field almost repeats

Huntley’s girls track and field team nearly pulled off back-to-back Class 3A state titles but placed runner-up to Prospect, which took fourth in the final race – the 4x400 relay – to pass the Red Raiders in the final team standings.

Still, Huntley had a season to remember. The Raiders placed first in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays for the program’s first titles in state races – as all their previous first-place medals had occurred in field events.

Dominique Johnson won her second straight triple jump title, Sophie Amin took second in the 100 high hurdles, Johnson was third in the long jump and Sienna Robertson was fifth in the discus.

Huntley got first-place finishes from the 4x100 team of Amin, Emmy Byers, K’Leigh Saenz and Vicky Evtimov, and the 4x200 team of Johnson, Byers, Saenz and Evtimov.

“I’m super happy. Any time you can come out and perform and put up 50 points at [state], you have to be incredibly happy,” coach Jason Monson said. “We competed against the best teams in the state ... and I’m incredibly proud of the way our girls performed all weekend.”

5. Owen Cravens makes Paralympics debut

Owen Cravens, a Huntley High school graduate and Algonquin resident, finished in fourth place and just missed out on a medal in the men’s PTVI paratriathlon at his Paris Paralympics debut.

The PTVI category consists of athletes with visual impairments. Cravens was diagnosed with Stargardt disease as a child, which causes vision loss in children and young adults.

Cravens won this year’s American Triathlon Para Championships in Miami and took third in the World Triathlon Para Series in Yokohama, Japan.

6. Bentancur’s rare feat

Marian Central’s Christian Bentancur did something no other Illinois athlete ever had by catching 231 passes in football and scoring more than 2,000 points in basketball. Among area boys basketball players, Johnsburg’s Zach Toussaint (2018, 2,249 points) and Crown’s Gary Gliesmann (1981, 2,011 points) are the only others to get to 2,000 career points. Bentancur finished with 2,049.

Bentancur, now a freshman at Clemson, finished his high school career with 231 catches, fifth on the IHSA all-time list. In his final season, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound senior had 92 catches for 1,345 yards and 21 touchdowns. His 54 career TD catches are third in IHSA history, and he was the 11th player to reach 200 career receptions in state history.

7. Joe Stevenson retires

Senior sports writer Joe Stevenson, after a 42-year career, including 35 at the Northwest Herald, called it quits at the end of the 2023-24 school year – getting a championship sendoff with Crystal Lake Central’s baseball Class 3A title in June. Stevenson started working at the Northwest Herald in 1989, and his knack for finding a unique story was second to none. He quickly became a trusted source in the community.

“Joe cares, and he’s endlessly curious,” former Northwest Herald sports editor Kyle Nabors said. “It didn’t matter if he was covering the Bears, a high school athlete or a 95-year-old who still played in a local golf league, those traits always meant Joe was going to come back with something great.”

8. Ihenacho’s big throw

Cary-Grove’s Reece Ihenacho, the 2024 Northwest Herald Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, captured the Class 3A discus title and almost unleashed the longest throw in state history with his final throw of 62.61 meters (205 feet, 5 inches) at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium.

Ihenacho was 6 inches short of Edwardsville’s AJ Epenesa’s state record. Espenesa is now a defensive end on the Buffalo Bills.

“I’m happy that I was able to finish my high school season off like this,” said Ihenacho, now at Illinois. “I’m glad I could close this chapter.”

9. Hamill breaks scoring record

Crystal Lake Central’s Katie Hamill, despite playing in only five games as a freshman because of the COVID-19 pandemic, broke the school’s girls basketball scoring record that stood for 40 years.

Hamill, now at Division II Missouri-St. Louis, won the Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Player of the Year, averaging 22.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 5.1 steals a game for Central, which won its first regional title since 2019. Hamill ended her four-year career with 1,813 points.

“It’s really crazy,” Hamill said after breaking the record. “It feels good because I know I’ve had teammates that appreciated me, and they feel good for me, too. They are the reason I’ve scored that much.”

10. Huntley, Prairie Ridge volleyball reach state

Huntley earned its first state appearance since 2001 and placed fourth in Class 4A, while Prairie Ridge earned its first appearance since 2018 and took third in 3A. Huntley senior outside hitter Georgia Watson, a Kentucky commit, and Prairie Ridge sophomore outside hitter Maizy Agnello helped lead their respective teams to the final weekend of the season at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena.

Watson was named the Northwest Herald Volleyball Player of the Year, and Agnello also was considered for the honor – recording a season-high 20 kills for the Wolves in their third-place match at state.

Before this season, McHenry County last had a volleyball team reach state in 2018.