Track and field: Sterling girls take team title, Sterling boys finish 2nd at Night Relays

STERLING – The Sterling track and field teams put on a show on Thursday at the 72nd Annual Sterling Night Relays on DuWayne Dietz Track at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

The Golden Warrior girls claimed the championship in an eight-team field, edging Rock Island 99-98 for the title.

The Golden Warrior boys (88) finished second behind United Township (116) – also in an eight-team field.

[ Photos: Sterling track hosts night relays ]

For the Sterling girls, Finley Ryan took second in the pole vault (3.12 meters) and first in the 4x100 relay with Presley Winters, Anna Aulwes and Taah Liberty (50.76 seconds). Finley Ryan, Winters, Aulwes and Liberty also placed second in the 4x200 relay (1:49.11).

“I was really happy because I’ve been wanting 10-foot in pole vault for so long, and I finally made it,” Finley Ryan said. “In the 4x1, we weren’t supposed to win, but we did and that’s good.”

Abby Ryan was another Sterling standout, tying for second in the high jump (1.47 meters) and winning two relays. She won the fresh/soph 4x200 relay (1:55.42) with Alivia Gibson, Sage Ryan and Isabella Sylvester and the 4x100 shuttle hurdles (1:10.64) with Addison Robbins, Anessa Johnson and Aulwes.

Gibson, Johnson, Sage Ryan and Sylvester took second in the fresh/soph 4x100 relay (53.44), Johnson finished third in the 300 hurdles (52.70), and Robbins placed fifth in the long jump (4.63 meters).

Also for the Golden Warriors, Maggie Rowzee took fourth in the triple jump (9.67 meters).

The Dixon girls finished fifth with 61.

Olivia Cox was the top Duchess of the day, taking second in the shot put (10.85 meters) and fourth in the discus (33.95 meters).

“I feel like I could’ve done a little bit better, but I think I did well with what I had for today,” Cox said. “My goal was to be top 5 in both events. The Geneseo girl [Olivia Marshall]’s been really good for the past couple of years, so just being up there with her is a good feeling.”

Dixon’s Mari Fruscalzo, Adeline Lohse, Kate Boss and Teyla Wendt took second in the 4x400 relay (4:19.43). Wendt, Boss, Kyara Chavez and Olivia Arduini took third in the 4x800 relay (10:24.16), and Wendt also placed fifth in the 300 hurdles (54.03).

Also for the Duchesses, Ahmyrie McGowan, Izzy Queckboerner, Jasmine Somsri and Avery Cornwell took third in the fresh/soph 4x200 relay (1:59.97).

The Rock Falls girls placed sixth with 32.

Ariel Hernandez won the 1,600 (5:29.00) and took second in the 4x800 relay (10:11.73) with Hana Ford, Kat Scott and Brenna Burlack.

“I felt really good. Last week at the Rocket Invite I was really struggling, so being able to come back from that was really good for me,” Hernandez said. “For the 4x8, my goal was under a 2:30 split, and I just ran a 2:28, which is like one of my average splits for the 4x8. And then for the 16, my goal was to go under 5:30 because I was really struggling this outdoor season to go under 5:30, which I was easily doing the last indoor season.”

Ford had a fourth-place finish in the 1,600 (5:38.70), and Kayla Hackbarth added a fifth-place finish in the discus (32.10 meters) for the Rockets.

On the boys side, Sterling’s Kaedon Phillips and Andre Klaver finished 1-2 in the high jump, each clearing 1.90 meters. Phillips’ first-place jump was a personal record. Phillips also finished second in the 4x100 relay (43.86) with Joseph Holcomb, Ryan Gebhardt and Maurice Delacruz.

“It was actually pretty good. Coming in, my knee wasn’t feeling too good, but after a couple jumps and run-throughs, I got locked in and got my PR,” Phillips said. “In one of the meets, [Andre] jumped higher than me, so I gotta get this one. We’re always competing.”

Delacruz, Holcomb, Jordan Britt and Carter Chance won the 4x200 relay (1:31.81).

Dale Johnson won the 1,600 (4:29.78) and the 4x800 relay (8:02.91) with Britt, Parker Janssen and Owen Anderson.

Britt, Anderson, Delacruz and Quincy Maas won the 4x400 (3:23.81), and Gebhardt, Aiden Lacy, Emmanuel Arreola and Maas won the fresh/soph 4x200 (1:33.93).

Aalin Schmidt finished fourth in the 1,600 (4:39.09), Mason Emin placed fourth in the long jump (6.28 meters), and Carter Frieberg took fifth in the discus (38.89 meters) for Sterling.

The Dixon boys placed fifth with 65.5.

Tyson Dambman led the Dukes with three top-3 finishes. Dambman took second in the long jump (6.37 meters), second in the 4x110 shuttle hurdles (1:07.57) with Dawson Kemp, Jayden Toms and Logan Grett, and third in the 300 hurdles (41.56). Dean Geiger added a fifth-place finish for Dixon in the 1,600 (4:40.39).

The Rock Falls boys placed sixth with 37.5. Adan Oquendo, Carson Devers, Adin Law and Derek Prieto took second in the fresh/soph 4x100 relay (45.48). Oquendo, Devers and Prieto also placed second in the fresh/soph SMR 1,600 (3:49.90) with Jeffrey Sommer as the fourth runner.