LANSING, Ill. (May 7, 2024) – It’s been a whirlwind spring for TF South freshman Jordyn Clark.
After playing varsity basketball over the winter, Clark jumped right into her spring sport.
“I only had a week off (after) basketball,” she said. “I went straight from basketball to here (track and field). So I didn’t have any training in the preseason. But it worked out fine.”
Did it ever.
Clark has emerged as a multi-event standout for the Red Wolves, earning two firsts, a second and a third in her four events in last Wednesday’s South Suburban Blue Meet at Oak Forest. That helped the Red Wolves finish second to Tinley Park, 160-127.
Clark won the long jump with a personal-best leap of 17-5.5 and ran a leg on the winning 800-meter relay team. Taylor Poole, Janiya Lucas, Clark, and Nyrobi Moore ran a season-best 1:45.81. The same quartet had another season-best en route to finishing runner-up in the 400 relay at 49.03.
And Clark ran a PR of 12.88 to finish third in the 100.
“She just kind of quietly does everything you ask of her and just kind of takes it all in and keeps improving,” Red Wolves co-coach Ellie Belli said. “We thought she might do well and she’s done even better (than expected).”
Clark isn’t a stranger to success, having qualified for the junior-high state meet as a long jumper.
Still, she wasn’t expecting to dominate against varsity competition this soon.
“I usually don’t like racing against people that fast,” she said of her conference opponents. “Because I feel like I’ve run faster (against) people that are slower than me.
“But today was actually good because they pushed me.”
Lucas also had a big night for the Red Wolves, winning the 100 in 12.55 and the 200 in 26.01. And another notable effort was Jamya White’s PR of 59.76 for third in the 400.
It was just what Belli was looking for heading into this Thursday’s Class 3A sectional at Lockport.
“We hadn’t run our best or jumped our best or thrown our best,” she said. “We planned to peak at conference and sectionals and I think that’s what we did tonight.
“So I’m feeling a lot more confident going into (this) week after this.”
Badminton
TF South qualified two doubles teams for this weekend’s IHSA state tournament and finished second to the hosts at last Thursday’s Lincoln-Way Sectional.
The Red Wolves’ Annika Biegel and Emily Dominiak beat Lincoln-Way East’s Elise Briese and Divya Thumu 21-12, 21-17 in the doubles final. South’s Azuri Akbar and Deisy Salto defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Gabby Hubbs and Svery Nuesse 21-14, 21-17 for third place.
The state finals are Friday and Saturday at DeKalb High School.
Baseball
TF South coach Matt Tiffy picked up his 300th win when the Red Wolves blanked Bloom 14-0 last Thursday.
Jayden Spann went the distance for the win, striking out 11. Khanon Gresham was 4-for-4 with two runs and three RBI for South (16-10, 10-3 South Suburban Blue), while Ryan Marnell finished 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI.
The Red Wolves swept TF North 18-0 and 15-0 on April 30.
Tyler Earmsmuth was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, three runs and eight RBI in Game 1, while Jack Starcevich went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and four RBI. Gresham finished 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI.
Gresham, Jake Stachelski, and Andrew Danehl drove in two runs in Game 2.
South lost 8-3 to Marian Catholic on April 29 despite Earmsmuth’s 3-for-4 game and Moises Mata’s two RBI.
Matt Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for the Spartans.
Softball
South beat Hillcrest 15-1 on April 30 to move to 7-15 overall and 5-7 in the South Suburban Blue.
TF United
Girls soccer
United shut out Curie 5-0 on Saturday as Karen Zepeda had three goals and an assist. Teniola Odutusin added two goals.
United beat Oak Forest 2-1 on Thursday with Zepeda scoring both goals. Amanda Argueta had one assist.
Zepeda had the game-winner with less than three minutes left as United edged Evergreen Park 2-1 on April 30. Goalkeeper Angie Mendez had six saves.
Boys tennis
United went 3-0 for the week, edging Marian Catholic 3-2 on April 29, and winning 5-0 over Hillcrest on April 30 and 5-0 against Shepard on May 1.
Singles winners vs. Shepard were Angel Urquizo (No. 1) and Sijuade Bello (No. 2). Earning doubles wins were Gabe Morales and Avery Flores at No. 1, Leandro Morales and Erick Acosta at No. 2, and Alex Moreno and Aiden Kleidon at No. 3.
In the Hillcrest dual, Urquizo and Elijah Bello won at No. 1 and 2 singles respectively. The doubles wins went to Flores and Gabe Morales at No. 1, Leandro Morales and Acosta at No. 2, and Moreno and Kleidon at No. 3.
Against Marian, United had wins at No. 2 singles (Gabe Morales), No. 1 doubles (Flores and Urquizo) and No. 3 doubles (Jacob Wieck and Efi Foshoranti).
Marian’s winners were RJ Macasaet at No. 1 singles and Julian Brown and Diego Morales at No. 2 doubles.
Boys volleyball
United fell 21-25, 26-24, 25-17 to Shepard on Thursday. Anthony Lara had four aces, 10 service points, and four digs.
United swept Richards 25-19, 26-24 on April 30.
Among the contributors were Yahir Silva with 18 assists, three solo blocks, five digs, eight service points, and three kills; Lara with six digs along with strong passing and defense; Anthony Peoples with six kills and two blocks; Justin Ambrose with six kills; and Jordan Hurst with five kills and two blocks.
TF North
Baseball
The Meteors (4-20) beat Rauner 17-7 on Saturday as Aric Moultrie was 1-for-3 with three runs and three RBI.
North also lost 12-2 to Eisenhower on Friday. Fernando Rios was 2-for-3.
Illiana Christian
Softball
The Vikings improved to 14-3 with a 4-2 win against Marian Catholic on Saturday.
Mikayla Derks and Cayden Petersen each went 2-for-3, while Lydia VanderWoude and Adeline Mulder both finished 2-for-4. Mulder drove in a run, VanderWoude hit a triple and Derks had a double.
Illiana fell 8-4 to West Lafayette Harrison on Friday. Derks was 2-for-4 with a triple and a run, while VanderWoude went 2-for-4 and scored once.
The Vikings swept Whiting 17-0 and 12-0 on April 30.
Derks pitched a perfect game with 11 strikeouts in the nightcap, Lauren Sherwood finished 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBI, and Avery Martin was 2-for-2 with two doubles and one RBI.
In the opener, Maya Wondaal went 4-for-4 with a double and Libby Kreykes was 2-for-2 with a double.
Baseball
The Vikings went 2-4 for the week to fall to 11-7, beating Whiting 15-1 on April 29 and 5-2 on April 30 before losing 2-0 to Marian Catholic on Thursday, 2-0 to Chesterton on Friday, and 7-6 to Mishawaka and 6-2 to Crown Point on Saturday.
Jake Scott was 1-for-4 with a double, a run and four RBI in the first Whiting game, while Isaac VanderWoude went 2-for-2 with three runs and an RBI.
VanderWoude and Tyler Balkema both went 2-for-4 with a run in the second Whiting game and VanderWoude drove in a run.
Scott pitched an eight-hitter with seven strikeouts vs. Marian but was outdueled by Josh Davis, who threw a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts. Matt Gonzalez went 3-for-3 for the Spartans.
Scott was 1-for-4 with a double and drove in three runs against Mishawaka, while Gavin Meyer went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Luke Passo drove in both Illiana runs against Crown Point.
Marian Catholic
Boys volleyball
Phoenix McGruder passed 200 kills for the season, getting 16 plus six digs in a 25-13, 21-25, 25-17 win against Notre Dame on Thursday.
Justin McGary had 33 assists, four kills, and five digs for Marian (21-5, 3-2 East Suburban Catholic), while James Bullock Jr. added seven kills and four digs. Ricky Gallegos contributed 12 digs.
Marian swept St. Viator 25-15, 25-13 on April 30.
McGary had 18 assists and six digs, McGruder added nine kills and three blocks, and Adrian Van Byssum contributed five digs.
Marian beat Mount Carmel 25-14, 22-25, 25-20 on April 29.
McGary led the way with seven kills, 24 assists, and 12 digs. McGruder contributed 11 kills, 13 digs, and two assists, while Prince Michael Trimuel added nine kills and two blocks. Gallegos had 10 digs.
South Suburban College
Baseball
The Bulldogs finished the regular season at 27-27 after beating Elgin 4-3 on Sunday behind a strong pitching effort from Illiana Christian grad Adam Walters (6 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned run, no walks, 5 strikeouts).
Nathaniel Macnamara, John Lemm, and Anthony Martinez had two hits each.
South Suburban was swept 4-0 and 10-9 by Madison on Saturday. Evan Pearce was 2-for-3 with a homer, two runs, and five RBI In the nightcap.
The Bulldogs edged Morton 5-4 on Friday as Christian Holmes had the game-tying single in the eighth and Jayden Cummings followed with the game-winner. Starter Eric Santaguida struck out six and allowed one earned run in six innings.
South Suburban held off Kishwaukee 12-9 on Thursday as Holmes was 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBI while Lemm went 3-for-5 with a homer, two runs, and three RBI.
The Bulldogs started their busy week with a 12-2 win against Joliet on April 30. Macnamara went 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs and two RBI.
Related
- Red Wolves Badminton earn 13th-straight conference title – other local scores (April 29, 2024)
- Athlete spotlights of the week: TF South’s Andrew Danehl, and Illiana’s Mikayla Derks (May 6, 2024)
