We’re at Downers Grove North, where Naperville Central looks to repeat as IHSA Girls Track & Field Sectional champions. All our Naperville area schools minus Metea are in attendance. Some top local schools like the host Trojans and conference foe, Neuqua Valley hope to stop the Redhawks from repeating. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
DuPage Valley Conference jumpers fly high in the IHSA Sectional
Starting the meet with the long jump and Naperville Central’s Brook Sawatzky. She soars to a score of 5.54, good enough for third and a spot at state.
Neuqua Valley’s Zawadi Brown is up and running. She jumps a distance of 5.81 meters and secures second place.
Rounding out the long jump with another Wildcat, Olvia Dalson. The sophomore records the furthest jump of the meet for first place, at 5.84 meters.
Staying here but in different events with the triple jump. Downers Grove South’s Karen Boakye scores an 11.76 and gets second place for a spot at state.
Local athletes to qualify for state in the triple jump include Neuqua’s Lauren Ammenhauser in sixth, Sawatzky in third, and Neuqua’s Gabi Karvelis wins the event with a jump of 11.95.
In the high jump, Jennifer Buelher clears this height early on and goes on to win the event at 1.57 meters. Naperville North’s Lorie Thompson qualifies for state at 1.52 meters.
Allison Roozeboom of Naperville Central advances to state in the discus
Concluding the field portion of events with the discus. Naperville Central’s Allison Roozeboom earns a second-place finish and a spot at state with this throw of 34.35 meters.
Yorkville’s Courtney Clabough is coming off a first-place finish in the shot put just minutes before. She hugs the line with this discus throw of 38.47 meters and another first-place finish.
Let’s begin the running portion of the day with the 4×100 meter. On the final handoff, Plainfield North’s team of Alex Eydenberg, Kaiya Bradshaw, Aniya Poindexter, and Taylor McClain make the push to get the win. Everyone in this final heat qualifies for the State Meet, including Naperville Central and Neuqua Valley.
Redhawk Repeat: Liv Phillips wins second straight sectional in the 3200 meter
The next race is the 3200 meters, and Naperville Central’s Liv Phillips looks to make it back-to-back sectional championships, as she gets in front early on. The Redhawk is cruising here about halfway through, with a major gap between Benet Academy’s Delilah Helenhouse and Naperville North’s Julie Piot. In the end, Phillips wins with a time of 10:25.88, over twenty seconds ahead of Helenhouse! Piot rounds out the top three, as the top nine runners from this event will move on to state, including Huskie Shania Tandon, Redhawk Ava Hendren, and Wildcat Elizabeth Hall. The DVC runners congratulate one another at the end.
Let’s jump over to the hurdles, where this race comes down to Redhawk Brooke Sawatzsky in lane four and Oswego East’s Layla Brisbon in lane three. The two are step for step coming down to the finish before Sawatzky empties the tank to win with a time of 15.35 seconds. Brisbon gets second, and Vanessa Obeng from Plainfield Central finishes in third, as the top three advance to state.
Naperville area schools win the next three races
To the fastest event of the day in the 100 meters, with Neuqua’s Zawadi Brown, one of the fastest athletes we’ve seen across multiple sports this year. Brown in lane three outspeeds McClain of Plainfield North in lane five, and Courtney McDonald of Plainfield East in lane six.
The 800 Meter race sees Naperville Central’s Abby Mogg and Lola Satre-Morales get out in front with Downers North’s Ava Gilley. The Trojan leads halfway through with Satre-Morales and Naperville Norths Emma Berres right behind, along with Mogg a few paces back. Rounding the turn for the final push, It’s Satre-Morales who edges out Gilley by just .05 seconds with a time of 2:13.26. Berres is close in third, Mogg in fourth, Hannah Renner of Downers North in fifth, Benet’s Keira Jenke in sixth, and Yorkville’s Allegra Triner gets seventh. All advance to State.
We get the 4×200 relay going, where multiple Naperville area teams are competing. Rounding the final turn, Brown, the Neuqua’s anchor helps secure the Wildcats a state-best time of 1:39.64, along with Dalson, Ava Belle, and Karvelis. Plainfield North gets second, DGN third, and Naperville Central in fourth. The top seven qualify for the state meet.
Benet’s Payton Mathelier wins the 400
We go to the 400 Meter race where Benet’s Payton Mathelier is one of the few to start without a starting block. The Redwing rounds the final turn trailing a little bit, but turns it up and crosses the finish line first with a time of 58.20 seconds! She PRs and heads to State.
Liv Phillips edges out Waubonsie’s Lily Baibak in the 1600 meter
In the 1600 Meter, Phillips the Redhawk and Piot the Huskie, get off the starting line well to lead the pack. Halfway through, Phillips is in front, with two trojans behind her, along with the Huskie pairing of Piot and Rianna Tandon, but keep an eye on Waubonsie Valley’s Lily Baibak who currently sits in eighth. Coming around for the final push, the Warrior leads, before Phillips turns it up to secure her second win on the night. What a race from Baibak though, as she qualifies for state in second, along with Piot, and Rianna Tandon in fourth and seventh respectively.
Neuqua Valley star Zawadi Brown wins her third event of the night
Nearing the end of the night in the 200 meters, Brown looks for another victory for Neuqua Valley. She flies her way to first place with a time of 24.31 seconds, beating out McClain of Plainfield North, and Kristyn Johnson of Bolingbrook. The Wildcat wins three events, along with a second place in the long jump!
We wrap up the evening with the 4×400 relay, and the team standings are close between Naperville Central and Downers Grove North. The hosts round the corner in front, with Plainfield North, Naperville North, and Naperville Central behind. Plainfield North wins, with DGN in second, while Central moves into third, Neuqua up to fourth, and North in fifth. All qualify for the state championship.
Naperville Central girls track & field on one of the best runs in program history
Naperville Central girls track and field wins its second straight IHSA Sectional with 102 points to Downers Grove North’s 99.75. NCHS girls track and field is on one of if not the best runs in program history. They’ve won the indoor and outdoor DVC championships for two consecutive years and now have won a second straight IHSA Sectional.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
