Gabby Harding felt like something was missing.

The Lady Hub freshman competes in both the discus throw and the shot put for the Rochelle track and field team, and she’s been near the top of the leaderboard in both events for nearly the entire season. But when Gabby’s older sister Allysa, a junior who also throws for the Lady Hubs, recently went down with an injury, her distances took a noticeable hit.

Allysa returned to the lineup soon after though, and so did the high marks Gabby has been accustomed to reaching in her first high school track and field season. Coming off a successful run in the throwing events at St. Paul Lutheran School, the competition between Gabby and her sister Allysa is one of the biggest reasons why she said she’s been able to find her stride so early in her high school career.

“I really think we feed off of each other,” Gabby said. “I have to beat her and she has to beat me. We just always have that competition between us… I was used to getting first place at St. Paul, but once I got here I saw that there’s a lot more competition so I had to step my game up. I’m starting to throw way better than I was at St. Paul because the competition is so different.”

Gabby is one of several young Lady Hubs who are fueling the resurgence of the girls track and field program. She took first place in the discus throw with a distance of 93-9 (93 feet, 9 inches) while finishing third in the shot put at the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Meet, and her individual performance helped lead the Lady Hubs freshman/sophomore team to its second straight conference title.

Allysa was a sophomore when Rochelle took the fresh/soph championship last season, winning the discus throw with a mark of 98-2 and placing third in the shot put at 31-3 ½. While she competed at the varsity level this year, she said she and her junior teammates are excited to see the younger girls continue to shine.

Specifically, Allysa said she enjoys working with the team’s young throwers including her sister Gabby and other freshmen such as Grace Valentine, Breanna Heisner, Madison Jozefowicz and this year’s fresh/soph conference shot put champion, Cristina Alfano.

“It’s pretty fun,” Allysa said. “Even though we don’t have any seniors or many people on varsity, we still cheered on the freshmen and sophomores because we wanted to win that title again… For me it’s a lot of fun because I get to be the leader of the group. Last year there were two other seniors so I was following them, but this year I can show the girls how you can be serious, but still have fun.”

Allysa has been participating in track and field for roughly six years, while Gabby said she’s been competing for about four years. They each picked up the sport for different reasons, but the two sisters both enjoy competing in the two throwing events, although Allysa said she likes the shot put a little more than Gabby does.

They may wear the same uniform, but Allysa and Gabby always battle to see who can land the biggest throws at each meet. Some days, Allysa records the longer mark, while other days it’s Gabby who winds up as top sister. But the friendly rivalry is never a bitter one, and while the total difference between marks may be small, the overall result has grown much greater as the season has progressed.

“I think it shows how we feed off each other,” Allysa said. “One meet I was throwing [the discus] 80 feet and then Gabby came out and threw like 90 feet… I told myself that I can’t let her beat me, and so my next throw went around 95 feet. We’re always together and we always have to be right next to each other just to show that we’re sisters and we’re going to be in this together.”

“My mom will point out each day that Allysa is throwing this far and I’m throwing that far,” Gabby added. “I just have to reach up and gain ground on her, and so each time she throws farther, I have to throw farther.”