Tuesday’s high school highlights
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By Shannon Heaton | Wednesday, September 03, 2008 |
Girls swimming and diving
The season kicked off Tuesday night with several local teams on both sides of the river taking to the pools.
Pleasant Valley 134, Rock Island 42
The skinny: The Spartans won every varsity race, going 1-2 in seven of them (three of those relay events).
The keys: Star power from PV’s Marissa Belk (200 FS, 100 BR, two relay legs), Sarah Boyer (50 FS, 100 BK, two relay legs) and Ali Stecker (200 IM, 100 FS, two relay legs), all of whom won four events.
The twist: The closest race of the night — outside of the shortest, the 50-yard freestyle — came in the first individual event, when Belk won her second event by touching out 2.89 seconds ahead of teammate Mara Al Bert.
Moline 111, Davenport West 69
The skinny: Shannon Doh and Alexa Harris each won four events for the Maroons, who won both of the sprint relay events (200 medley and 200 freestyle).
The keys: Doh’s solid freestyle sprinting (wins in the 50 and 100 FS events, as well as leading off the 200 FS relay), plus the all-around power from Harris (firsts in the 200 IM and 100 BK).
The twist: West’s Paige Wolfe was a bright for the Falcons, winning the 100 BF and 100 BR. Just after winning the breaststroke, Wolfe swam second on West’s winning 400 FS relay.
United Township 135, Burlington 39
The skinny: Panthers senior Alyssa Busch swam three scintillating events, going under a minute in the 100 BK and winning the 200 IM and swimming anchor on the Panther 400 FS relay, which nearly broke the 4-minute barrier.
The keys: In addition to Busch, Erin Willhite won four events, with firsts in the 50 and 100 FS and an anchor leg in the 200 FS relay and leadoff leg in the 400 FS relay.
The twist: Busch’s time in the 100 backstroke (59.77) would have won her the 100 freestyle by more than a second. Her 200 IM time (2:16.05) would have placed her within a body-length of second in the 200 freestyle.
Clinton 100, Tipton 82
The skinny: Libby Hess wins four events, including a solo and relay effort in the last two events, as the River Queens hold off a scrappy Tipton side.
The keys: Hess’ individual wins in the 200 IM and 100 BR were by sizable margins. Hess won the IM by 15.24 seconds, close to half a pool-length.
The twist: Alicia Goetz held her own for Tipton, with two individual wins in the 100 FS (a very fast 56.93) and 100 BK (1:09.51).
Galesburg 139, Dunlap 44
The skinny: The defending Western Big 6 champs win a lopsided dual at home against nearby nonconference rivals.
The keys: Lauren Albert (individual wins in the 100 FS and 100 BK) and Kathleen Varner (individual wins in the 200 FS and 100 BF) each won four events for the Streaks.
The twist: Katie VanHooteghem — daughter of Streaks coach Ray VanHooteghem — nearly won four events herself, but was denied the four-spot by teammate Albert in the 100 FS.
Volleyball
Likewise Tuesday night, gyms on both sides of the Mississippi were the venues for facials and floorburns, as the 2008 volleyball season got under way.
Durant triangular
The skinny: Powerful hitting from the tandem of Jordan Strawser and Annie Czarnecki propelled Pleasant Valley to two early victories in straight sets over Belle Plaine and a four-set win over the hosts.
The keys: Czarnecki, a 6-3 transfer who is already signed at Marquette, had 19 kills, while Strawser supplied 20. Sophomore setter Peyton Strawser served up both well, while freshman Emily Podschweit had seven aces against Durant.
The twist: Makenzie Meyer had 23 kills in a 1-1 effort for the hosts, who also swept Belle Plaine in three sets.
Rock Island 25-25, Rock Falls 17-19
The skinny: In the season opener for both teams, the swinging tandem of Genesis Johnson (nine kills) and Nora Johnson (no relation, five kills) was too much for the Lady Rockets’ defense.
The keys: RI’s 6-2 offense got results, as setters Ally Jo Burkhead and Amy Miers combined for 13 assists in the quick match.
The twist: Genesis Johnson, who also had two blocks in the victory, is the first Rock Island individual state champion in three decades after winning the Class AA 400-meter dash in May.
LaSalle-Peru 25-25, United Township 12-8
The skinny: The Panthers have trouble mustering an attack on the road against one of the NCIC’s traditional powerhouses.
The keys: UT is missing three players due to knee injuries, and the lack of depth was a significant disadvantage for the Panthers.
The twist: The Panthers did spread its offense around, scoring half of its points on kills from Elise Beck, Amber Miller and Elizabeth Dooley.
Orion 23-25-25, Erie 25-16-18
The skinny: In a small-school Illinois matchup that always looks close on paper and plays closer in reality, the Chargers overcame a first-game loss and strong Erie serving for the win.
The keys: The presence of Tori Matzen — a three-year starter — on the front line was a weapon Orion used with devastating effect. Matzen had 10 kills and six blocks in the victory.
The twist: With eight aces from Claire Black and Lizzy Garrison, the Cardinals clearly held the service advantage.
Cross country
Like their swimming and spiking counterparts, distance runners took to the great outdoors under sweltering conditions Tuesday.
Galesburg quint
The skinny: Moline won both boys and girls races in the season opener for five of the Western Big Six’s teams at Lake Storey Park in Galesburg.
The keys: Moline won the wars, but Alleman seniors Tim Hird and Kathleen Hogan won the individual battles, as the Pioneers captains powered their way to victories.
The twist: Tuesday’s meet originally was scheduled for Credit Island Park in Davenport. Moline, which traditionally hosts these quints, is giving over the second one next Tuesday to Geneseo. Alleman and UT will return to Lake Storey Park on Saturday for the Galesburg Invitational, and the course serves as a Class AAA regional site.
Geneseo Relays
The skinny: It was a mixed bag for Geneseo and Sterling, as the Maple Leaf boys and Golden Warrior girls defeated their opposing counterparts.
The keys: The duo of Chad Ford and Josh Lodge (combined total of 32:43.5) won the boys race, while schoolmates Stephanie Kennett and Joann Chenoweth (combined 40:05.5) were the girls winners.
The twist: Team scores were based on the individual finish of each duo, but otherwise retained the seven-entries for varsity, five-entries-scoring format traditional to cross country.
Boys soccer
Orion/Sherrard 8, Riverdale 2
The skinny: Danny Driskell found the back of the Rams’ net at will, as the combined might of the Chargers and Tigers led to six second-half goals.
The keys: Driskell scored first in the match, adding a second-half hat trick for a relentless O/S attack. Josh Fisher added a pair of goals for Orion/Sherrard.
The twist: Despite the heavy advantage of goals in O/S’s favor — auguring in favor of a significant Orion/Sherrard shot advantage — the Orion keeper had double-digit saves as well.
Girls tennis
Moline 9, United Township 0
The skinny: Moline’s singles players — the regular top six — drop just four games in 12 sets of play in a significant talent and experience advantage in favor of the Maroons.
The keys: Four Maroons — Sarah Marlier, Samantha Tonn, Jenna Jackson and Mayari Baheti — lost just one game each, in both singles and doubles play.
The twist: The closest match — 6-3, 7-5 in favor of Moline’s Hannah Helms and Karin Scott — came at No. 3 doubles.
Boys golf
Rock Island Alleman 150, Sterling 170
The skinny: The Pioneers get three sub-40 rounds, with Nick McKeown’s 41 good for fourth, to go well below the visiting Golden Warriors at Indian Bluff.
The keys: Co-medalist rounds from juniors Peter Callas and Mark Benfield, who both shot 1-over 36s.
The twist: Pioneer varsity newcomer Thomas Bohnert fired a 37, three shots below Sterling’s No. 1, Josh Kunde.
Rock Island 162, United Township 183
The skinny: Aaron Wilson’s 2-over round of 38 was good for medalist honors, leading the host Rocks to a 21-shot win at Highland Springs.
The keys: Coach Jim Braet said Saturday in Geneseo that consistency was a strength, and the Rocks proved it again, with just five shots separating Wilson from RI’s No. 5 golfer.
The twist: Cameron Ruiz has proved he belongs with the Rocks’ varsity since being moved up. After winning two JV medalist honors, Ruiz had a round of 43 Thursday, good enough for scoring.
Kewanee 156, Putnam County 164
The skinny: In a tight dual at Baker Park, an even-par 35 from Michael Eckardt proved crucial to the Boilers’ victory.
The keys: Eckardt’s round. No scoring golfer shot above 42 on the day, making a low round like his doubly devastating.
The twist: Every Kewanee scorer was at least one shot better than his Putnam County counterpart Thursday.
Girls golf
Rock Island triangular
The skinny: With all three No. 1 golfers going low, it was Geneseo’s Kelsey Lieving who went lowest at Saukie, with a round of 40 leading the Maple Leafs to a two-shot win over the host Rocks and 26 shots ahead of third-place Prophetstown.
The keys: No No. 1 went below Lieving, to be sure, but also no No. 2 went below Maple Leaf teammate Allison Farrell, who shot a 45.
The twist: Five Rocky golfers went below 50; only three were below 50 for Geneseo.
Galesburg 181, AlWood/ROWVA 258
The skinny: All four Galesburg scorers shot lower than 50, with Katarina Mangieri’s 41 on a very tough par-37 at Lake Bracken CC good enough to win medalist honors.
The keys: As good as Mangieri’s 4-over round was, it needed to be to keep teammate Abbey Heck, whose 43 many days would have been good enough for a medal at Lake Bracken.
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