Sports Briefs: March 4-5

Jeff Christopherson

Girls Track & Field

Members of the Lady Iron track and field team kicked off the indoor season at the Illinois Meet of Champions in Gately Park, IL on Saturday, March, 5.

Ali Ince (’24) teamed up with two commits from Stanford and one from the University of Arkansas to break a distance medley record. The distance medley is a four leg relay where each athlete runs a different distance: 400, 800, 1200, or 1600 meters. Ince ran the 800 meter portion of the event, helping the group run a total time of 11:15.45, beating the previous high school and American Under-20 record of 11:34.54.

Jordynn Griffin (’22), a member of last season’s 1600 meter State champion relay team, won the 200 meter dash and finished second in the 400 meter on Saturday.

Ruth Oliveros-Gallardo (’23) joined Griffin as an event champion, winning the shot put with a 10.53 meter throw.

Sprinter Jazmin West (’24), who qualified for State in the 100 meter last season, finished second in the 60 meter on Saturday.

Olivia Hartke (’22) competed in the 1600 meter and finished third with a time of 5:23.12, her fastest in the event since her freshman season.

Next, the Lady Iron compete at the University of Illinois Armory on Saturday, March 12.

Boys Basketball

The Ironmen lost to the Quincy Blue Devils 56-51 in the Sectional Finals on Friday, March 4, finishing the season 33-2 and tying the school record for the most wins in a season.

The Blue Devils were eliminated in Super-Sectional play, falling to Bolingbrook 49-42.

Before Friday’s game, Eli Benson (’22) and Owen Pogge (’23) represented the Ironmen in the IHSA Three-Point Showdown.

Benson made 10 triples out of 15 shots, advancing to the final round of the Statewide competition at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center on Saturday, March 12 at 1 p.m. prior to the State Championship games.

Dance

The Iron dance team competed in Orlando at the Universal Dance Association (UDA) National Competition this past weekend, placing 9th in the Large Varsity Jazz category.

The trip marked the last competition of their Iron dance careers for seniors like Casey Kendle.

“We made sure to prepare with a lot of practice before leaving,” Kendle said. “That way, we were able to have fun in Florida. We spent the first half of the trip really focusing on dance and left the second half for team bonding.”

When they weren’t competing, the team enjoyed trips to Universal Studios and Planet Hollywood at Disney Springs.

Boys Track & Field

Charles Cruse (’22) won the Windy City Pole Vault Summit on Saturday, defeating the other 12 competitors with a 16′ vault and breaking his own school record in the process.

Cruse competed at the elite meet last season and placed 6th with a vault of 14′ 6″.

The rest of the Ironmen track and field team competes this Saturday in Bolingbrook at the Raider Invite.

Editor’s note: Eli Benson is a member of the Inkspot staff.

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About the Contributors

Eli Schneider, Senior Staff Reporter

Eli Schneider is a senior at Normal Community High School and in his third year of working with the Inkspot as a Senior Staff Reporter. Eli plays varsity lacrosse for the B-N Lacrosse co-op and enjoys watching baseball, football, and hockey at both the collegiate and professional levels. Eli plans to attend the University of Mississippi in the fall of 2022 and major in Marketing Strategy and minor in Journalism An all-time dream of mine would be to work in marketing/P.R for an MLB or NHL team My favorite places to travel are Oxford, Mississippi, Dallas, Texas, and Denver, Colorado

Dylan Wehmeyer, Senior Staff Reporter

Dylan Wehmeyer is a senior at Normal Community High School and is involved with Best Buddies and FMP. This is his third year working with the Inkspot; he is a senior staff reporter. A book that moved me is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. A slogan I live by is "You never know what someone is going through. Be kind. Always."

Jonah Kramer, Sports Editor

Jonah Kramer is a senior at Normal Community High School and participates in Best Buddies, FBLA and cross country. This is his second year working with the Inkspot, where he is a senior staff reporter. A random fact about me is that my front tooth has been broken five different times. My favorite film is Knives Out. What inspires me is Jesus Christ.