Sterling’s Abby Ryan and Kaelee Varden advance to state high jump finals: Friday’s Sauk Valley roundup

Girls track & field

Sterling sends two to state finals: Sterling’s Abby Ryan and Kaelee Varden both advanced to the high jump finals as they were two of 24 girls to hit 1.55 meters in the preliminaries.

Sterling’s highest finish otherwise came from freshman Kendall Barajas, who was 25th in the discus. Presley Winters was 28th in the pole vault at 2.65.

Rock Falls’ first-year pole vaulter Ryleigh Eriks hit yet another personal record of 3.10 meters, but she was just short of advancing to the finals after 13 girls hit 3.20 meters. She tied for 14th in the state with six other girls. Kayla Hackbarth (32.63) was 23rd in the discus.

Boys tennis

Class 1A Freeport Sectional: Sterling’s Aron Rivera and Newman’s Joel Rhodes qualified for the state tennis meet after reaching the singles semifinals. Rivera, seeded fifth, swept his first match before pulling out a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 win over Freeport’s fourth-seeded Alex Cuatlatl. Rivera will face Alleman’s undefeated three-time state champion Nicholas Patrick in the semifinals. Rhodes, seeded second, won both his matches 6-0, 6-0. He will face Geneseo’s third-seeded Ben Robinson on Saturday.

Softball

Galena 8, Milledgeville 0: Galena’s Ava Hahn pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed as the Missiles were shut out in the Class 1A regional final matchup at home. Milledgeville pitching was saddled with five unearned runs in the loss. Kennedy Livengood singled and stole a base for the Missiles.

Stillman Valley 4, Oregon 0: The Hawks were out-hit 8-3 as they wrapped up the season at the Class 2A Bureau Valley Regional final. SV’s Makenzi Shere pitched a complete game with six strikeouts and no walks. Oregon’s Brooke Halverson had a double. The Cardinals scored two unearned runs against Oregon starting pitcher Isabella Berg, who struck out four and walked none.

Geneseo 8, Sterling 2: The Warriors were out-hit 11-5 in the road setback as Jaylee Brudos (two RBIs) and Avery Kennedy (three RBIs) each hit home runs for the Maple Leafs. Rosie Cantu doubled and Bree Taylor had two hits for Sterling.