SYCAMORE — The Rochelle Hub track and field team scored a combined 238 points across the varsity and fresh/soph levels during the Gary Egler Invitational at Sycamore High School on Wednesday evening. The varsity athletes finished second with 100 points, trailing meet winner Sycamore by only seven points, while the fresh/soph athletes took first with 138 points. Rochelle will return to action Saturday, when the team will compete at the Warrior Invitational in Sterling.

“It’s exciting seeing our team get better each week and push to achieve their goals,” RTHS head coach Dale Bergeson said. “Our coaching staff is very intentional about our training program and the athletes are buying in and reaping the rewards. We tried to double our score in every event and be intentional about every point we could get and that worked out well for us. It was a great night. We scored points in every event and that was key to our success tonight.”

Varsity

Rochelle brought home three event victories in the field events on Wednesday. Junior Andrew Nuyen won the pole vault with a clearance of 4.72 meters, while senior Jack Tilton won the high jump with a clearance of 1.88 meters. Junior Jonathan Bearrows and senior Virgil O’Dell went first and second in the long jump with distances of 6.17 and 6.01 meters, both personal bests.

Tilton and O’Dell took third and fifth in the triple jump with distances of 11.36 and 10.75 meters. Bearrows finished fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 1.68 meters and senior Jacob Ost took fifth in the shot put with a heave of 11.82 meters. Junior Wyatt Worthington rounded out Rochelle’s top-5 field event finishers, taking fifth in the pole vault with a height of 2.89 meters.

The Hubs finished fourth or better in each of the three relay races. Rochelle took third in the 3200-meter relay (Pedro Rosales, Levi Waddle, Declan McGee and Elijah Mayen) with a time of 9:26.74 and fourth in the 640-meter relay (Caden Goodwin, Nathan Rosas, Reece Harris and Richard Pierce) with a time of 1:23.13. In the 1600-meter relay, Rochelle (Pedro Rosales, Hunter Bivins, Jackson Smith and Aaron DeClerck) took fourth with a time of  3:57.22.

Freshman Tyler Johnson led the Hubs in the distance events, winning the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:15.11 before taking fifth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:59.25. Sophomore Hunter Bivins ran Rochelle’s fastest time in the 55-meter hurdles, finishing third in 8.83 seconds while Wyatt Worthington finished fifth in 9.24 seconds. Juniors Declan McGee and Elijah Mayen ran fifth and sixth with times of 2:12.74 and 2:17.06 to lead the Hubs in the 800-meter run.

Junior Caden Goodwin and senior Richard Pierce ran top times in the sprints, with Goodwin clocking in at 7.16 seconds for fifth in the 55-meter dash and Pierce running a 25.48-second time for fourth in the 200-meter dash. Senior Jackson Smith was Rochelle’s top finisher in the 400-meter dash, running a time of 1:01.05 to take eighth place.

F/S

Rochelle swept all three sprints at the fresh/soph level on Wednesday. Freshmen Nathan Rosas and Caiden Redlarczyk went first and fourth in the 55-meter dash with times of 7.31 and 7.52 seconds. Rosas also took first in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 25.72 seconds. Sophomore Justin DeClerck emerged victorious in the 400-meter dash, finishing first with a time of 1:00.42.

Freshman Tyler Johnson shined in the middle distance area, winning the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.05 while junior Johnny Morales took third in 2:27.44. Freshmen Eduardo Cisneros and Gregory Smith stepped up in the distance area, with Cisneros running a time of 5:29.97 for third in the 1600-meter run after Smith clocked in at 13:42.42 for fourth in the 3200-meter run.

Rochelle ran third or better in each of the three relay races. The Hubs took second in the 3200-meter run (Carlos Olazagasti, Eduardo Cisneros, Cristopher Lawrence and Danny Garcia) with a time of 10:16.83 before adding a second-place performance in the 640-meter relay (Jaden Martina, German Albertson, Caiden Redlarczyk and Mason Bolhous) with a time of 1:23.76. Rochelle finished the meet with a third-place finish in the 1600-meter relay (Zachary Johnson, Danny Garcia, Eduardo Cisneros and Owen Wyssbrod) with a time of 4:16.75.

Freshman Edwin Mendez was Rochelle’s top hurdler at the fresh/soph level, finishing third in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 10.27 seconds. Junior Victor O’Dell earned Rochelle’s lone win in the field, taking first in the pole vault with a clearance of 2.74 meters. Sophomores Justin DeClerck and Aaron DeClerck recorded second-place finishes in the field events, with Aaron leaping 10.79 meters in the triple jump and Justin clearing 1.63 meters in the high jump.

Sophomore Jaden Martina was also a runner-up field event finisher, taking second in the long jump with a distance of 5.78 meters. Sophomore throwers Caiden Harris and Aaron Hernandez finished third and fourth in the shot put with respective heaves of 9.65 and 9.30 meters.