BELOIT, Wis. — Junior Andrew Nuyen and freshman Tyler Johnson set school records to lead the Rochelle Hub track and field team during the Northern Illinois Invitational on Friday evening.

Nuyen finished first in the pole vault and eclipsed his own school record, clearing 5.21 meters (17 feet 1 inch) and breaking his previous record of 17 feet set at the Hub Relays on April 19. Johnson broke the fresh-soph school record in the 3200-meter run, winning with a time of 9:57.49 and shattering the previous record of 10:04.00 set by David Bergeson in 1998.

“I’m really impressed with our team,” head coach Dale Bergeson said. “We made a big leap in a lot of our events. The team’s hard work has paid off. This meet was a great test for us, as we went up against many big schools with really good teams. We have two more athletes who are right around the state-qualifying mark and two events that are ranked very high in the state. I’m really looking forward to seeing what our team can do at the conference and sectional meets.”

The Hubs finished fifth out of 13 schools, scoring 71 points across the varsity and fresh-soph levels. Rochelle will be back in action on Tuesday, when the Hubs host the Interstate 8 Conference meet at RTHS.

Varsity

Rochelle won three total events at the meet. Senior Jack Tilton set a personal record in the high jump, winning with a clearance of 2.03 meters (6 feet 7 ¾ inches). Junior Caden Goodwin and senior Virgil O’Dell led the Hubs in the jump pits, with Goodwin hitting a PR of 12.73 meters for fourth place in the triple jump and O’Dell leaping 5.88 meters for eighth place in the long jump. 

Seniors Jack Tarvestad and Jacob Ost led in the throwing events, as Tarvestad set a PR of 35.62 meters for 15th in the discus and Ost recorded a heave of 12.24 meters for 17th in the shot put. In the relay races, Rochelle finished fifth in the 3200-meter relay (Elijah Mayen, Chris Hickey, Declan McGee and Pedro Rosales) with a time of 8:31.99 and seventh in the 400-meter relay (Caden Goodwin, Hunter Bivins, Nathan Rosas and Richard Pierce) in 43.93 seconds.

The Hubs took seventh in the 800-meter relay (Jaden Martina, Aaron DeClerck, Justin DeClerck and Caiden Redlarczyk) with a time of 1:35.86 before placing eighth in the 1600-meter relay (Caden Goodwin, Hunter Bivins, Pedro Rosales and Nathan Rosas) with a time of 3:38.51 to close out the meet. Junior Wyatt Worthington and sophomore Hunter Bivins led Rochelle in the hurdles, with Worthington clocking in at 16.66 seconds for sixth place in the 110-meter hurdles before Bivins ran a final time of 41.65 seconds for fourth place in the 300-meter hurdles.

Juniors Declan McGee and Elijah Mayen ran PRs on Friday evening, with Mayen posting a 2:10.48 for 10th in the 800-meter run and McGee finishing in 4:55.04 for 13th in the 1600-meter run. Senior Virgil O’Dell ran a PR in the sprints, clocking in at 12.08 seconds for 19th in the 100-meter dash. Junior Reece Harris posted a season-best time of 24.52 seconds for 14th in the 200-meter dash and senior Jackson Smith ran a 55.56 for 14th in the 400-meter dash.

Fresh-Soph

Rochelle took two of the field events at the fresh-soph level. Sophomore Jaden Martina reached the state-qualifying standard in the long jump, finishing first with a PR of 6.51 meters. Freshman Zachary Johnson added a win for the Hubs, clearing a PR of 1.73 meters to win the high jump. In the hurdles, sophomore Hunter Bivins ran a time of 17.40 for third in the 110-meter hurdles and freshman Edwin Mendez ran a PR of 49.63 seconds for fourth in the 300-meter hurdles.

Freshman Tyler Johnson led the Hubs in the distance events, taking third in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:44.56. Sophomore Jaden Martina stepped up for the Hubs in the sprinting events, finishing first in the 100-meter dash and setting a PR with a time of 11.66 seconds.