ROCHELLE — After setting a new school record in the shot put during the indoor season, Erin Murphy set a goal for herself to establish a new outdoor school record this spring. After earning consecutive PRs over her first two outdoor meets, the senior thrower achieved her goal at her home track on Tuesday, when Rochelle faced off against Sterling, Sycamore and Dixon.

Murphy achieved another PR on her first throw of the day, but her best effort came minutes later, when she launched her shot 11.44 meters (37 feet 6 ¼ inches) to shatter Rochelle’s previous outdoor school record of 37 feet 1 inch established by Deanne Kester in 1986. It’s the second school record of at least 30 years that Murphy has broken during her senior season.

“It was really great and I’m another step closer to achieving all of my goals,” Murphy said. “It was really exciting to do it at home and it gave me the motivation to keep going and getting farther distances. It was a huge PR and a big PR was something I needed to keep pushing myself. It was a ring I was comfortable in. I knew where I was since I’ve thrown here all year.”

Murphy, who took first out of 30 throwers in Tuesday’s shot put competition, has added over 5 feet to her throws since she opened the indoor season at the Sycamore Invitational in March. Using the glide technique to launch her shot, Murphy has made significant progress in a short amount of time. Only in her second year of track and field, Murphy qualified for the Illinois Top Times Indoor State Meet this year and is seeking to qualify for the IHSA State Championship.

“I’ve been working on a few specific things at practice and I thought those things clicked during the meet,” Murphy said. “I had a really good release and there are definitely things I can still work on to keep improving, but things clicked at the meet. I was comfortable and I did my thing. When I got into the ring, I only focused on a few things... My snap at the end was really good and I’ve been working on getting that final push and getting all of my weight into the full throw.”

Murphy also led Rochelle’s girls in the discus throw on Tuesday, taking seventh with a mark of 23.83 meters. The Hubs finished second with 64 points, while the Lady Hubs took second with 65.5 points. Both teams will be back in action this weekend, with the Hubs holding the annual Hub Relays while the Lady Hubs are set to travel for the Freeport Invitational on Saturday.

Lady Hubs

Senior Taelynn Rodeghero was Rochelle’s top finisher in three field events, winning the triple jump with a distance of 9.90 meters while placing second in the high jump with a clearance of 1.42 meters and 10th in the long jump with a distance of 4.30 meters. Junior Samantha Overton led the Lady Hubs in the pole vault competition, finishing seventh with a height of 2.10 meters.

Rochelle’s teamwork shined in the relay races, where the Lady Hubs earned three victories. Rochelle took first in the 3200-meter relay (Brisa Zepeda, Marley Cherry, Carol Carpenter and Kyrie Cragin) with a time of 11:56.77 before finishing second in the 400-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Zoey Schabacker, Katie Toczylowski and Elyse Manning) with a time of 54.89 seconds. 

Rochelle won both the 800-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Dylan Etes, Katie Toczylowski and Alex Neece) with a time of 1:57.71 and the 1600-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Jasmine Walsh, Elyse Manning and Kyrie Cragin) with a time of 4:35.60. Freshman Carol Carpenter was Rochelle’s top finisher in two of the distance events Tuesday, taking second in the 1600-meter run with a time of 6:27.56 after placing seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:48.78.

Sophomore Vivian Worthington added another runner-up finish in the distance events, taking second in the 3200-meter run with a time of 15:06.00. Sophomore Jasmine Walsh spearheaded the charge for the Lady Hubs in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing second with a time of 18.89 seconds. Junior Kyrie Cragin finished fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:06.91. 

Freshmen Gwendolyn O’Dell and sophomore Dylan Etes each ran top times for the Lady Hubs in the sprinting events, with O’Dell clocking in at 13.40 seconds to take third in the 100-meter dash before Etes crossed the finish line in 29.75 seconds for fourth place in the 200-meter dash.

Hubs

Rochelle scored a chunk of its points in the field, where the Hubs won four of the six events. Juniors Jonathan Bearrows and Caden Goodwin led Rochelle in the jump pits, with Bearrows leaping 6.37 meters for first in the long jump and Goodwin soaring 12.33 meters for first in the triple jump. Junior Andrew Nuyen placed first in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.57 meters and senior Jack Tilton tied for first place in the high jump with a clearance of 1.82 meters.

Seniors Jacob Ost and Jack Tarvestad recorded Rochelle’s strongest throws Tuesday, with Ost recording a heave of 12.82 meters for sixth in the shot put and Tarvestad earning a mark of 34.89 meters for 10th place in the discus. Rochelle was the runner-up in three of the four relays, finishing second in the 400-meter relay (Jaden Martina, Aaron DeClerck, Caiden Redlarczyk and German Albertson) with a time of 46.39 seconds and the 800-meter relay (Jaden Martina, Aaron DeClerck, German Albertson and Caiden Redlarczyk) with a time of 1:41.19.

The Hubs ended the meet with a second-place finish in the 1600-meter relay (Tyler Johnson, Pedro Rosales, Declan McGee and Jackson Smith) with a time of 3:55.52. Rochelle opened the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 3200-meter relay (Chris Hickey, Levi Waddle, Christopher Lawrence and Danny Garcia) with a time of 10:24.88. Sophomore Hunter Bivins ran Rochelle’s fastest time in the 300-meter hurdles, clocking in at 42.69 seconds to finish in second place.

Freshmen Tyler Johnson and Eduardo Cisneros led the way in the distance events, with Cisneros ending the 3200-meter run in second with a time of 11:55.00 and Johnson finishing the 1600-meter run in second with a time of 4:50.79. Juniors Elijah Mayen and Declan McGee ran fifth and sixth in the 800-meter run with times of 2:10.86 and 2:11.49. In the sprints, sophomore Pedro Rosales crossed the finish line in 55.26 seconds for third place in the 400-meter dash.

Sophomore Justin DeClerck and freshman Nathan Rosas led Rochelle in the sprints as well, with Rosas clocking in at 11.88 seconds for 10th in the 100-meter dash before DeClerck ran a time of 24.79 seconds for ninth in the 200-meter dash.