Belvidere North runs off with Huntley girls indoor track meet

By Bob Balgemann

Reporter

The girls indoor track team at Belvidere North High School has made a statement as the 2018 season gets under way.

The Lady Blue Thunder scored 132 points Feb. 24 to handily win the Huntley Girls Indoor Invite. Host Huntley was second with 88 1/2 points, followed by NIC-10 opponents Harlem, 71 points, in third, and Hononegah, 67 points, in fourth.

Two new school records were set, by sophomore Gianna Sagona in the 3,200-meter run, with a time of 11:19.20, and by senior Kate Oteng-Bediako in the triple jump, with a distance of 37 feet, 1 inch.

Oteng-Bediako had quite a day, also winning the long jump by clearing 16 feet, 10 inches. She participated in the 60-meter dash as well, taking fourth in a time of 8:18 seconds. Two of her efforts were personal bests.

Overall, North won nine of the 14 track and field events, with 21 personal bests being recorded that day.

Senior Grace Bundschuh continued her prominence in the dashes, winning the 60-meter event with a time of 8.02 seconds. She holds the school record of 7.99 seconds that she set in 2016, and tied in 2017. Sophomore Ayanna Wallace was fifth in the 60, with a personal best time of 8.26 seconds.

Other first-place efforts were turned in by:

– Senior Sabrina Elder in the 400-meter dash with a time 1:01.25. Sophomores Caitlin Corso and Jada Garza were ninth and 25th, respectively, in that event, both turning in personal best times.

– Sophomore Kayla McGuire in the 800-meter run with a personal best time of 2:25.33. Freshman Sydnie Elder was eighth in the 800; sophomore Karyna Mendoza was 29th.

– 4-by-400 and 4-by-800-meter relay teams, both with season’s best times. The 4-by-200-meter relay was 10th at the invitational but its time of 1:56.92, a personal best that day, is the second fastest in school history.

– Senior Taylor Ferguson was first in the pole vault, clearing 9 feet, 6 inches.

Junior Haley Dahl was second in the 60-meter hurdles, improving on the fourth place she took in the preliminaries. In the only other track event Wallace was eighth in the 200, with a personal best time of 28.62 seconds; Bundschuh finished 11th with sophomore Emily Carter in 25th.

Field events

In the shot put, sophomore Paige Lambright was seventh but her toss of 32 feet, 2 1/2 inches, a personal best, is now second in North history behind only 33 feet, 11 3/4 inches. Sophomore Sara Hulstedt finished 10th in the shot and another sophomore, Stephanie Roman, was 25th, both with personal best efforts.

Junior Brookelyn Messenger tied for fifth in the high jump, clearing 5 feet even; senior Cassian Pozzi finished in a tie for 15th, at 4 feet, 6 inches.

Freshman Kayla Hesano tied for third in the pole vault (8 feet, 6 inches) while sophomore Emily Dodeler tied for eighth, (7 feet, 6 inches). In the long jump, Pozzi took 15th with Nichole Ackerman in 31st; senior Jordan Trommater was 21st in the trip jump.

Antioch Invitational

Belvidere North’s boys track team competed the same day at the 14-team Antioch Indoor Track & Field Invitational, coming in 10th with 10 points.

Senior Dain Kuss had a standout day in the pole vault, taking second by clearing 13 feet even and setting a new Belvidere North school record while he was at it. The previous standard of 11 feet, 7 inches, was established last year.

In all, the efforts of 18 Blue Thunder performers resulted in personal bests.

This prestigious meet, held at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside, was won by

For complete article, pick up the March 4 Belvidere Daily Republican.