LA SALLE — The Rochelle Lady Hubs were one of three track and field teams battling at the top of the leaderboard during the LaSalle-Peru Cavalier Classic Invitational on Saturday.

Rochelle scored 165 points at the varsity level, edging out runner-up LaSalle-Peru (161 points) and third-place finisher Morris (156 points) to take home the title. The Lady Hubs, who have won each of their first two outdoor meets, scored 125 points to finish third at the JV level. On the boys side, Rochelle took second at both the varsity and JV levels, recording 119.5 points on varsity and 109.5 points on JV. The teams will be back in action at home on Tuesday evening.

Lady Hubs

Senior Erin Murphy led Rochelle in the field events, winning the shot put with a new PR of 10.99 meters. Senior Taelynn Rodeghero earned two top-3 finishes in the field events, taking second in the high jump with a clearance of 1.44 meters and third in the long jump with a distance of 4.44 meters. Sophomore Elyse Manning placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 9.94 meters and junior Samantha Overton placed third in the pole vault with a height of 2.10 meters.

“A big takeaway from this meet is that all those days we spent practicing in cold conditions or over spring break are really starting to show,” head coach Colfay Pointer said. “As the meet came down to the very last event and every point counted, it highlighted just how well-rounded our team is this year—we’re finding ways to score in every event. Overall, this meet was a lot of fun. The energy was high, and the girls were supporting each other every step of the way. That support and unity are exactly what helped them come together and pull off the victory.”

Rochelle fared well in each of the five relays. The Lady Hubs took second in the 3200-meter relay (Carol Carpenter, Marley Cherry, Kyrie Cragin and Brisa Zepeda) with a time of 11:28.79 before finishing second in both the 400-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Ryelee Bogle, Katie Toczylowski and Elyse Manning) and the 400-meter throwers relay (Paris Washington, Abygail Losoya, Maddie Peska and Madison Ludwig) with respective times of 53.80 and 1:02.59. Rochelle took second in the 800-meter relay (Dylan Etes, Valerie Saldana, Zoe Malley and Alex Neece) with a time of 1:57.00 before ending the meet with a first-place time of 4:29.90 in the 1600-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Jasmine Walsh, Kyrie Cragin and Elyse Manning).

Sophomore Jasmine Walsh took charge in the hurdles, finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 18.05 seconds before claiming second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 55.36 seconds. Sophomore Vivian Worthington brought home Rochelle’s lone victory in the distance events, winning the 3200-meter run with a time of 14:57.74. Freshman Carol Carpenter also shined in the distance area, taking second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:51.94 before finishing third in the 1600-meter run with a personal-record time of 6:10.96.

Junior Kyrie Cragin recorded Rochelle’s top finish in the sprints, clocking in at 1:05.28 to take second in the 400-meter dash. Freshman Gwendolyn O’Dell clocked in with a personal-record time of 13.06 seconds to finish third in the 100-meter dash, while senior Alex Neece ran a personal-record time of 28.57 seconds to finish fourth in the 200-meter dash. 

Hubs

Junior Andrew Nuyen earned Rochelle’s lone win in the field events, taking the pole vault with a clearance of 4.70 meters. Junior Jonathan Bearrows shined in the long jump, clearing the state qualifying standard with a distance of 6.64 meters to take second. Junior Caden Goodwin also stepped up for the Hubs, setting a new PR of 12.55 meters for second place in the triple jump. 

“I’m very happy with the amount of PRs we set and that we beat our seeds,” head coach Dale Bergeson said. “It was a quality day for the Hubs. We had another event that hit the state qualifying mark and three other events that are really close now. Our athletes are putting in the work and it’s paying off. I’m looking forward to seeing what our athletes will do this season.”

Senior Jack Tilton finished third in the high jump with a clearance of 1.81 meters, while seniors Logan Frye and Jacob Ost led Rochelle in the throwing events. Both throwers set PRs in the meet, with Frye hitting 35.44 meters for fifth place in the discus and Ost marking 12.79 meters for fifth in the shot put. In the relay events, Rochelle took second place in the 3200-meter relay (Elijah Mayen, Pedro Rosales, Declan McGee and Tyler Johnson) with a time of 8:32.09.

The Hubs, who finished second or third in each of the five relays, placed second in the 400-meter relay (Nathan Rosas, Reece Harris, Richard Pierce and Caden Goodwin) with a time of 44.62 seconds and third in the 400-meter throwers relay (Jacob Ost, Marc Guzman, Nolan Johnson and Aaron Hernandez) with a time of 53.04 seconds. Rochelle finished second in the 800-meter relay (Nathan Rosas, Virgil O’Dell, Richard Pierce and Jack Tilton) with a time of 1:34.33 before concluding the meet with a third-place finish in the 1600-meter relay (Hunter Bivins, Pedro Rosales, Tyler Johnson and Declan McGee) with a time of 3:42.06.

Junior Wyatt Worthington and sophomore Hunter Bivins anchored Rochelle in the hurdles, as Bivins won the 300-meter hurdles with a PR of 42.13 seconds after Worthington took fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.24 seconds. Freshmen Tyler Johnson and Eduardo Cisneros led the Hubs in the distance events, where Cisneros ran a PR of 11:36.02 to finish seventh in the 3200-meter run before Johnson ran a PR of 4:44.03 for third in the 1600-meter run. Junior Elijah Mayen turned in a PR of 2:12.04 to take sixth place in the 800-meter run.

Senior Richard Pierce led Rochelle in the sprints, finishing fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.57 seconds. Junior Declan McGee crossed the finish line in 56.40 seconds to place eighth in the 400-meter dash before freshman Nathan Rosas clocked in at 24.02 seconds to take seventh in the 200-meter dash.