Cogs win sectional, advance 9

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ROCKFORD – In 2004, the Genoa-Kingston Track and Field program received its very own facility to call home.

In just five years since the arrival of their new home, the Cogs’ girls program has blossomed. And after being shut out at the Big Northern Track meet in coach Barry Schmidt’s first season nine years ago, the Cogs have risen to sectional champions.

G-K won the Class 1A Rockford Christian Sectional on Friday with 113 points and qualified nine athletes in eight events for next week’s IHSA State Meet at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium in Charleston. Plano finished in a distant second with 85 points.

Indian Creek was 12th with 9.5 points and Hinckley-Big Rock was 16th with five points.

“This is a good sense of accomplishment,” Schmidt said. “Everyone went out and did what we asked.

Getting off the asphalt and having a place to call our own has helped a lot too. We no longer have to go find meets for practice.” 

Schmidt recalls the sore knees of athletes from not having a track and a rickety long jump board. But all that has changed as the Cogs return to Genoa with their first sectional title since 1989.

“It’s been a lot of work,” Schmidt said. “It’s been very incremental in terms of improvement. We got better in relays and some other events. Today, the field event improvement helped to carry us.”

Part of the field contingent headed downstate is Angela Brown, who finished second with a throw of 32 feet, 7 inches. Without broad shoulders, Brown said she counts on her form to generate distance. In her third year in shot put, Brown has put all the moving pieces in place and wants to throw 33 feet at the state meet next week.

“This feels good especially because I am small for a shot putter,” Brown said. “I feel proud that I can place with girls twice my size.”

Another field event athlete headed downstate is Haley Camacho after a third-place jump of 5-foot-1 in the high jump. Lauren Strohmaier finished first with a jump of 5-foot-2.

“I was nervous because I felt the bar wiggling,” Camacho said. “I think I nicked it a little. I tried to not worry about placing; I just wanted to get 5-1. I want to P.R. which would be 5-2.”

Indian Creek didn’t advance anyone to the state meet, but coach Dane Bell loses just one senior next season and thinks the Timberwolves have plenty of room to grow.

“It was a solid day conditions considered,” Bell said. “We had some good performances and had grabbed some medals. We had some first-year athletes this year and this experience will be a big help for next year.”

Natalie Harper was fourth in the pole vault for Indian Creek and senior Morgan Govig was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles.

Crippled by injuries late in the season, H-BR finished in 16th place.

The Royals were sixth in the 4x100-meter relay and Tess Godhardt was fourth in the high jump. H-BR coach Greg Burks was disappointed with the way the Royals finished the season but was overwhelmingly positive when it came to senior Erin Hellwig.

Hellwig was part of the first Royals relay team to place since 1995 and also made the finals of the discuss.

“She is a great person and really deserves everything good that happened to her,” Burks said.
Hannah Morsch had personal best times in the 3200- and 1600-meter runs.

“Hannah has been our hardest worker all year,” Burks said. “She came in every day and did her distance work as the only distance runner we have.”