LANSING, Ill. (May 22, 2024) – Jordyn Clark’s first season of high-school track ended with her atop the state-meet awards stand on Saturday.
The TF South freshman finished fifth in the Class 3A long jump at the IHSA finals at O’Brien Field in Charleston with a personal-best of 18-3.75.
According to the Athletic.net database, that’s the 16th-best performance in the state this spring.
“I’m very excited about that,” Clark said. “I didn’t always jump best on my first jump so I was very glad when I did that because it set the tone. It helped me jump even better after that.”
After competing in front of small crowds most of the season, the atmosphere at a college facility with lots of fans in the stands takes some getting used to for first-time state qualifiers.
“It’s a lot of older girls I was going against and I was very scared to go against them,” Clark said. “But it turned out fine. I was very happy with my place.”
She also competed in the 400-meter relay preliminaries on Friday with Taylor Poole, Janiya Lucas, and Nyrobi Moore. They didn’t qualify for the finals, but did set a program record with a time of 48.98.
“I’m very glad I got to come down to state for my freshman year, just to see how it is,” Clark said.
Boys track
Two Red Wolves will compete at this weekend’s IHSA Class 3A finals in Charleston in two events each after advancing from the Bloom Sectional on May 15.
Senior Karrel Harvest won both throwing events with efforts of 180-2 in the discus and 53-6.5 in the shot put.
Junior David Nkwogu took second in the triple jump at 45-6.5 and was one of a remarkable 10 qualifiers in the 300 hurdles, taking 10th in 41.09.
Harvest is used to the state-meet routine and is ready to chase a spot on the awards stand.
“I’m excited,” he said. “Sophomore year and last year, I was nervous. But now I’ve got the feel for the scenery, I know what I’ve gotta do.”
He’s happy to have some company at state this spring.
“I told (Nkwogu), ‘I’m not going by myself this year again,'” Harvest said. “And he told me, ‘I’m gonna qualify for you.’ And I’m like, ‘Don’t qualify for me, qualify for yourself.'”
“I feel like I could have (done) better today but overall I’m proud of myself,” Nkwogu said.
He is looking forward to cleaner hurdles races at state.
“I was doing good until I started thinking too much, hitting hurdles and stuff. But I’ve got time to fix that.”
South finished eighth among 17 teams with 35 points.
Baseball
The Red Wolves (23-12, 14-5 South Suburban Blue) rolled into the IHSA playoffs on a hot streak with five straight wins, including 7-3 over Stagg on Monday, 5-4 against Joliet Central on Friday, 7-2 vs. Evergreen Park on May 16, 12-2 against Bremen on May 15 and 10-0 over Argo on May 14.
Jayden Spann was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs vs. Stagg, while Abe Serna went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Khanon Gresham tripled, drove in a run, and stole two bases vs. Joliet Central. Spann struck out four over six innings, allowing six hits and four runs with two walks. Tyler Earmsmuth fanned one in one inning.
Jack Starcevich went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBI vs. Evergreen Park, while Earmsmuth was 2-for-3 with a triple, a steal and an RBI. Benny Gutierrez pitched a five-hitter with four strikeouts and one walk.
In the Bremen win, Gresham was 2-for-3 with two runs and three steals, Earmsmuth scored three runs, Starcevich was 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and three RBI and Moises Mata went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI.
Rodrigo Arceo pitched a six-hitter, struck out seven and walked one vs. Argo. Mata was 2-for-2 with his fourth homer, a double, and three RBI, while Starcevich finished 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.
Softball
The Red Wolves finished the regular season at 8-21 overall and 6-13 in the South Suburban Blue after losing 10-4 to Evergreen Park on May 16 and 11-3 and 9-2 to Lemont on May 14.
TF United
Boys volleyball
United avenged a regular-season loss to Crete-Monee, beating the Warriors 25-23, 25-23 on Monday in the Marian Catholic Regional quarterfinals.
United ended the regular season by beating Tinley Park 23-25, 26-24, 25-20 on May 16.
Girls soccer
United’s season ended with a 9-0 loss to sectional top-seeded Andrew in the Class 3A Joliet Central Regional semifinals on May 14.
Boys tennis
United tied for eighth at the 10-team Class 2A Oak Lawn Sectional last weekend with four points and did not qualify anyone for state.
TF North
Boys track
Meteors junior Joseph Merritt qualified for the Class 3A state meet after taking sixth in the 300 hurdles at the Bloom Sectional with a PR of 40.38.
North finished 15th among 17 teams with three points.
Baseball
The Meteors ended their regular season with a 17-12 loss to East Chicago Central on Friday.
North (5-26) also split with Hillcrest, losing 20-16 on May 14 and winning 13-8 on May 13.
Koby Thornton was 2-for-3 with a walk and four runs against EC Central, while Fernando Rios finished 1-for-2 with two walks, three runs, and two RBI.
Aric Moultrie and Chris Guzman each went 1-for-3 with two walks, three runs, and an RBI in the loss to Hillcrest.
In the win against Hillcrest, Moultrie finished 0-for-2 with three walks, three runs, and two RBI. Rios went the distance for the win, allowing four earned runs and striking out 13.
Softball
The Meteors (6-19) ended the regular season with a 16-0 shutout of Intrinsic Downtown on May 15.
Marian Catholic
Boys track
The Spartans advanced three individuals to state out of the Class 2A Hillcrest Sectional on May 16.
Seniors Paul Frazier (second, 11.01) and Marcellus Clifton (eighth, 11.12) both qualified in the 100, while junior Peyton Stoffregen moved on in the 800 (second, 2:02.19).
Marian was fifth among 14 teams with 61 points.
Boys volleyball
The Spartans ended their regular season with a 25-17, 25-17 win over Nazareth on May 14.
Justin McGary had 18 assists, four kills, and seven digs for Marian (26-9, 6-2 East Suburban Catholic), while Josh Noubaden added five kills and three digs. Prince Trimuel contributed four blocks and two kills.
Girls soccer
The Spartans finished 9-17-1 after falling 6-1 to the host Celtics on Friday in the Class 2A Providence Regional final.
Marian eliminated Bremen 4-2 in the regional semifinals on May 15.
Boys tennis
The Spartans took fifth among nine teams at the Class 1A Joliet Catholic Sectional last weekend and did not advance anyone to state.
Marian wrapped up the regular season with a 4-2 win against Tinley Park on May 14. Earning wins for the Spartans were Jon Bolton (No. 1 singles), RJ Macasaet (No. 2 singles), Chris Bonilla/Gavin Krueger (No. 1 doubles), and Julian Brown/Diego Morales (No. 2 doubles).
Illiana Christian
Baseball
The two-time defending Class 2A state champion Vikings went 3-1 last week to finish the regular season at 15-9.
Illiana beat Bishop Noll 10-0 on May 13, blanked Highland 8-0 on May 15, fell 8-0 to Andrew on Friday, and edged Hobart 8-7 on Saturday.
Isaac VanderWoude homered against Hobart and Tyler Balkema had three of Illiana’s 13 hits. VanderWoude, Aaron Gouwens, Jake Scott, and Spencer Bandstra all had two hits.
VanderWoude was 3-for-3 with a walk vs. Andrew.
Bandstra pitched a three-hitter against Highland with seven strikeouts and four walks. VanderWoude finished 1-for-3 with a homer, a walk, two runs, and three RBI.
Jack McDonald went 2-for-2 with a double, a run and an RBI vs. Noll.
Softball
Illiana (18-4) fell 6-0 to Bradley-Bourbonnais on Saturday and outlasted Crown Point 3-2 in 10 innings on Friday.
Mikayla Derks went the distance against Crown Point, allowing one earned run and one walk, and also was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Maya Wondaal homered and drove in two runs.
Boys golf
Illiana shot a season-best 313 to win the Greater South Shore Conference Tournament on Friday.
Related
- TF South Esports team wins two state titles in Rocket League (May 20, 2024)
- New TF South track facility officially dedicated to Rich Dust – and local scores (May 15, 2024)
