Numbers Add Up for Liberty Junior High Track Teams

Sixteen. Thirteen. Three.

Liberty Junior High School’s boys and girls track and field teams have basked in the glow of a sense of accomplishment in recent days by playing a numbers game.

Liberty qualified 16 girls for the IESA Class AA state meet Friday and Saturday at Eastside Center in East Peoria. And, during the course of an eventful season, the Patriots have shattered 13 school records.

Liberty finished second in both the seventh- and eighth-grade girls sectional competitions on May 14. The Patriots’ seventh-graders scored 76.5 points and eighth-graders 71.33 points.

On the boys side, Liberty qualified three individuals for the IESA Class AA state meet this weekend. The numbers add up to a winning combination.

Sixteen. Thirteen. Three.

Following is recap of Liberty sectional results:

6th Grade Boys

Discus: 1. Marco Pettinato 119-9 (state qualifier).

Shot put: 3. Marco Pettinato 37-10½ (state qualifier).

7th Grade Girls

100-meter dash: 6. Brianna Darlage 13.83.

4x200 relay: 1. Ife Bello, Brianna Darlage, Caitlyn Schreiber and Dani Morgan 2:00.58 (state qualifiers).

4x100 relay: 4. Madison Flondor, Page Grenier, Gabby Madrigal, Shea Soraghan, Meghan Carberry 58.11.

200: 3. Dani Morgan 27.67 (state qualifier), 5. Brianna Darlage 28.83.

800: 4. Olivia DeGroot 2:41.71.

4x400 relay: 4. Ife Bello, Natalie Krol, Shea Soraghan, Olivia DeGroot, Caitlyn Schrieber 4:50.05.

High jump: 1. Dani Morgan 4-10 (state qualifier), 5. Caitlyn Schrieber 4-0.

Long jump: 1. Dani Morgan 14-2 (state qualifier).

Shot put: 1. Courtney O’Donnell 25-0 (state qualifier).

Discus: 1. Courtney O’Donnell 80-1 (state qualifier), 4. Shea Soraghan 63-8.

7th Grade Boys

1600: 2. Matt Galounis 5:06.49 (state qualifier).

Shot put: 2. Brendan O’Hara 38-4 (state qualifier).

8th Grade Girls

Hurdles: 2. Emma Hahs 16.58 (state qualifier), 3. Kayla Seymour 16.71 (state qualifier).

100: 5. Stephanie McDonald 13.47, 6. Deven Bax 13.52.

1600: 1. Natalie Waters 5:43.58 (state qualifier).

4x200 relay: 2. Mackenzie Eckberg, Emma Hahs, Jess Karlic, Kaila Pohrte 1:57.68 (state qualifiers).

4x100 relay: 2. Deven Bax, Nina Bumstead, Meghann Lange, Stephanie McDonald 53.96 (state qualifiers).

200: 5. Stephanie McDonald 27.9.

800: 2. Natalie Waters 2:37.34 (state qualifier), 5. Bethany Houda 2:41.43.

4x400 relay: 3. Mackenzie Eckberg, Meghann Lange, Kaila Pohrte, Deven Bax, Emma Hahs 4:41.58.

High jump: 3. Emma Hahs 4-8, 6. (tie) Kaila Pohrte 4-4.

Long jump: 5. Jess Karlic 13-8¼.

Discus: 5. Mackenzie Eckberg 79-0.