ROCK FALLS — Friday evening was a successful one for the Rochelle Hub and Lady Hub track and field teams, which brought home two trophies from the Rocket Invitational in Rock Falls.

The Lady Hubs blew away the seven-team field on the girls side, scoring 133 points to finish first while the Hubs totaled 129 points to take second in a 10-team field. Rochelle’s boys and girls teamed up to win the 1600-meter mixed relay race, while both teams combined for seven event victories during the meet. The Hub and Lady Hub athletes will be back in action Tuesday evening, when both teams head south for an Interstate 8 triangular meet at Ottawa High School.

Lady Hubs

Senior Erin Murphy led Rochelle in the throwing events, finishing second in the discus with a PR throw of 24.88 meters and winning the shot put with a PR of 11.69 meters, breaking her school record mark of 11.65 meters. Senior Taelynn Rodeghero earned three top-5 field events finishes on Friday, placing second in both the high jump (1.47 meters) and the triple jump (9.59 meters). Sophomore Elyse Manning won the triple jump competition with a distance of 9.63 meters. 

“The Rocket Invite was filled with personal bests from our athletes,” head coach Colfay Pointer said. “The team brought great positive energy throughout the meet. We knew going in that it would be strong competition, so we really emphasized using the opportunity to push themselves — and it showed. In almost every race, our athletes placed better than they were predicted to.”

The Lady Hubs logged four top-2 relay finishes in the meet. Rochelle finished second in the 3200-meter relay (Brisa Zepeda, Marley Cherry, Carol Carpenter and Kyrie Cragin) with a time of 10:55.43 before finishing second in the 800-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Alex Neece, Dylan Etes and Elyse Manning) with a time of 1:55.09. Rochelle won the 1600-meter relay (Gwendolyn O’Dell, Jasmine Walsh, Elyse Manning and Kyrie Cragin) with a time of 4:25.37.

“We've been focusing on not rushing to expect their best performances immediately, but instead being patient, enjoying the process and staying present,” Pointer said. “It’s really starting to pay off. The team is excited to keep the energy high and build momentum as we move forward.”

Sophomore Jasmine Walsh and senior Marianna Saldana brought home a pair of top-4 hurdle finishes, with Walsh taking second in the 100-meter hurdles (18.50 seconds) and third in the 300-meter hurdles (52.86 seconds) while Saldana finished fourth in both the 100-meter hurdles (19.12) and the 300-meter hurdles (53.51). Junior Kyrie Cragin earned Rochelle’s lone win in the individual running events, placing first in the 800-meter run with a PR time of 2:31.25. 

Sophomore Vivian Worthington and freshman Carol Carpenter led Rochelle in the distance events, with Worthington clocking in at a PR time of 14:05.88 for fourth in the 3200-meter run and Carpenter finishing in a PR time of 5:53.08 for second in the 1600-meter run. Sophomore Elyse Manning earned Rochelle’s best finish in the sprints, taking fourth in the 100-meter dash with a PR time of 13.01 seconds. Rochelle’s 400-meter relay team (Ryelee Bogle, Zoey Schabacker, Katie Toczylowski and Zoe Malley) finished fourth with a time of 55.48 seconds.

Hubs

Rochelle won three field events during the Rocket Invitational at Rock Falls on Friday evening. Junior Jonathan Bearrows claimed the long jump with a distance of 6.23 meters, while senior Jack Tilton cleared a PR height of 1.98 meters (6 feet 6 inches) for first place in the high jump. Junior Andrew Nuyen earned two top-2 field event placements, winning the pole vault with a clearance of 4.88 meters and finishing second in the long jump with a distance of 6.12 meters.

“I’m very proud of our progress each week,” head coach Dale Bergeson said. “Through the next couple of weeks, we will tweak our lineup to put everyone in the best position to maximize their chances of making it to state. We’re on track and right where we need to be. It was a good day.”

Junior Caden Goodwin and senior Jacob Ost recorded top-3 field event finishes, with Goodwin leaping 12.25 meters for third in the triple jump and Ost heaving 11.88 meters for fourth in the shot put. Rochelle landed three runner-up relay finishes, taking second in the 3200-meter relay (Elijah Mayen, Chris Hickey, Pedro Rosales and Tyler Johnson) with a time of 8:37.15, the 400-meter relay (Caden Goodwin, Virgil O’Dell, Nathan Rosas and Richard Pierce) in 45.05 seconds and the 1600-meter relay (Hunter Bivins, Pedro Rosales, Jackson Smith and Chris Hickey) with a time of 3:42.35.

Sophomore Hunter Bivins shined in the hurdle events, setting a PR of 41.79 seconds for second in the 300-meter hurdles after taking third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.34 seconds. Freshman Tyler Johnson led Rochelle in the distance events, placing sixth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:57.63 before finishing third in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:53.48.

Junior Elijah Mayen set a PR of 2:10.70 for fifth in the 800-meter run. In the sprints, freshman Nathan Rosas took third with a time of 24.25 seconds in the 200-meter dash after junior Caden Goodwin clocked in with a time of 11.79 seconds to take third in the 100-meter dash.