Highland girls track has mixed results at MVC meet, then qualifies 2 entries for state

On a cool and wet day Thursday, May 5, the Highland girls track team ventured to Waterloo High School for the Mississippi Valley Conference Championships and experienced an afternoon of ups and downs that left them a bit lower than desired in the team standings.

Highland finished fourth in the MVC meet with 98 points, six points behind host Waterloo, which took third place, while conference powers Mascoutah (158) and Triad (114.5) claimed the top two spots.

“I ran simulated meets two days beforehand and I thought definitely CM (Civic Memorial) was ahead of us, but I didn’t know (for sure) about Waterloo (being ahead of us),” Highland coach Doug Bradley said. “Waterloo, they’re really deep where we are not and that is in sprint relays such as the 4x100 and 4x200 and the 4x400.

“They just rubbed our noses in it (there) and we can’t generate that kind of speed. We had a few disappointments and we had a few surprises.”

One of the nice surprises was the throwing events as Josie Hapack and Larissa Taylor went first and second in the shot put with throws of 11.32 and 10.13 meters, respectively.

In the discus, Hapack took first place with a toss of 39.91 meters, and Taylor placed third thanks to her throw of 26.85 meters.

“The throws went extremely well for us,” Bradley said. “We were counting on Josie to win both those events but the fact that Larissa Taylor picked up a second and a third in the throws was a real nice surprise.”

Lydia Hadowsky made some nice contributions as well, finishing second in the high jump (1.57 meters) and third in the pole vault (2.82 meters).

“Lydia continues to score for us in the high jump and the pole vault,” Bradley said.

Hadowsky’s only down note of the day was a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles.

“That was one of the things that went the other way, but in a conference meet you’re gonna win some, you’re gonna lose some,” Bradley said.

Peyton Frey turned in a strong day with fourth place in the 200-meter dash (28.23) and then placed second in the 400-meter run (1:03.22).

“Peyton’s a stud and she ran her fastest time of the year in both those events,” Bradley said. “Peyton ran it (the 200) the way I love the kids to run it and that is to go out hard and hold on.”

Faith Brindley fared well in the 800 meters, clocking a 2:35.16 to take second place and Maddie Dortch finished sixth in the 1,600-meter run.

“I took Maddie Dortch out of the 3,200 and put her in the open 1,600 and she had a big day. She’s been our No. 1 distance runner this year and she finished as our No. 1 cross country runner last year ... she’s been running great,” Bradley said.

Relay results, tough injury

The relays were competitive but not dominant for the Lady Bulldogs as they placed fourth in the 400 relays, fourth in the 800 relays, fifth in the 1,600 relays and third in the 3,200 relays.

One unplanned surprise that also hampered HHS early in the meet was sprinter Lauren Maas, who ran into injury trouble after the second event.

“We had a hiccup after the second running event as Lauren Maas, our sprinter, she had knee surgery during basketball ... she was having knee pains after running one event and I scratched her out of everything else,” Bradley said.

Sectional results

On Thursday, May 12, at Triad High School, Highland qualified two entries for the IHSA Class 2A meet Friday, May 20, and Saturday, May 21, at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

The Lady Bulldogs 4x800 relay team of Dortch, Brindley, Frey, and Tarryn Keeney qualified for state with a second-place time of 10:04.72.

Hapack, meanwhile, qualified in the shot and discus, winning the shot with a throw of 12.10 meters and then finishing second in the discus with a state qualifying throw of 38.11 meters.

This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 1:24 AM.