Byron, Stillman Valley girls do well against larger schools at 2A sectional

STERLING – In a competitive 2A girls track & field sectional May 14, Byron and Stillman Valley performed admirably by scoring 37 points each and qualifying several individuals and relays downstate.

Host school Sterling won the meet with 93 points, with the Tigers and Cardinals tied for eighth with 37 points.

The Byron 1,600-meter relay of Neve Schilling, Ashley Potter, Macyn Burris and Skylar Palmgren took home a first place with a time of 4:06, which was seven seconds faster than state qualifying. Finishing right behind in second were Stillman Valley’s Saundra Brodersen, Taylor Davidson, Alexandria Hoff and Makinzie Lamb with a 4:12 clocking.

For two of smallest schools present, it was a closing statement to everyone else in the meet’s final event. Both schools also qualified in another relay.

The same girls that ran the 1,600 relay for Stillman also hit the state-qualifying mark (50.59) in the 400 relay with a time of 50.24, good for third place.

“That was a big PR for us in the 400 relay,” Stillman coach Matt McMullen said. “The girls bought in this season and things clicked for us at conference.”

In the 800 relay, Byron took third with Malia Morton joining Schilling, Potter and Palmgren at 1:47.24, safely under the 1:48.87 SQ.

Morton qualified in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.64, which was second to the 15.50 by Elli Sines of LaSalle-Peru. Teammate Schilling earned a state berth in the high jump at 5-foot-1.

Hoff, a sophomore, nearly won the 400 meters for Stillman with a 1:00.82, right behind the 1:00.76 by Delanie Card of Sandwich. Another Cardinal sophomore, Lamb, was third in the 300 hurdles and a half second better than the 48.74 to qualify. The final SV individual qualifier was Brodersen with a 5-1 high jump.

“We have tight team dynamics,” SV coach Krissy Porter said. “This is the most we’ve sent down in the 10 years I’ve been coaching. Having Matt come aboard has been huge.”

Rochelle, which finished in 10th place, had one qualifier, shot put champ and school record holder Erin Murphy (38-10).