Richwoods Track & Field

IHSA announces 2005 Regional and Sectional assignments.
Knights assigned to:
Metamora Region - Detweiller - Oct.22 - Girls 10:00am, Boys 10:45am
East Peoria Section - ICC - Oct. 29 - Girls at 10:30, Boys at 11:30.

RHS Adds IAAF, ESPN and SI Feeds

2005-09-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

RichwoodsTrack.com now publishes IAAF, ESPN and Sports Illustrated headline news.

RHS Headline Feeds Syndicated

2005-09-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

RHS now offers headline syndication via Atom XML feed.

Top Performances

2005-09-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

2005 Richwoods Track Top Individual Performances

2005 Schedule and Results

2005-08-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

2005 Richwoods Final Track Results

2005-06 Richwoods Cross Country Schedule

RHS Hosts Fresh Start

2005-08-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

Richwoods High School hosts newcomers at Fresh Start.

East Peoria's Broe Fails to Advance

2005-08-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

Tim Broe fails to reach finals in 5K at World Championships.

Sanders Among Top National Returning Disc Competitors

2005-08-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

Jewel Sanders among top 10 returning discus competitor in nation.

Former Knight Proves To Be a Bear In the Field

2005-08-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

Former Richwoods thrower Delaina Martin sets school records at Washington University.

Knight Vies for Pageant Crown

2005-08-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

2005 Knight pole vaulter Dianna He named 1st runner-up in Miss National Teenager 2005 pageant.

Knights at USATF Natl. Championships

2005-08-01T04:46:00.000-07:00

Knights Compete at USATF Junior Olympics National Championships

Seeds Established For Nationals

2005-07-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

Jewel Sanders and Katie Grinstead find seeds for Nationals.

Knights Pair Qualify for USATF National Championships

2005-07-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Sanders and Grinstead qualify for Junior Olympic National Championships.

Knights' Grinstead Takes Double Gold

2005-06-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Richwoods' Katie Grinstead struck double gold at the Prairie State Games with wins in the 3000 m. and in the 1500 m. thereby qualifying her to compete in the 2005 State Games of America in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The SGA are held biannually.

Peoria Area Scores at National Championships

2005-06-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

June 26, 2005

Tim Broe 3-Peats as 5K National Champion

East Peoria native Tim Broe won his third consecutive national championship at 5,000 meters. Broe continued his dominance at the distance, winning in a personal-best 13 minutes, 12.76 seconds. That was plenty to best fellow adidas runner Ian Dobson's 13:15.33.
"I'm still an underdog in a lot of people's eyes," Broe said. "That motivates me. Maybe three in a row will prove to everyone that I'm the top 5,000 runner in the U.S."
Ryan Hall was third, Wheeling native Jorge Torres was fourth, and Jonathan Riley, who joined Broe in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, finished fifth.
Broe ran from the front for the first five laps, then let others take turns pushing the faster-than-expected pace. With 800 meters to go, Broe, Dobson and Hall had formed a lead pack. Broe made his move and had the race in control with 400 left.
Injuries hindered Broe's conditioning heading into the national meet in recent years. Now the former steeplechaser feels strong as he shoots for a top-eight finish at the 2005 IAAF World Championships Aug. 6-14 in Helsinki, Finland.
"It's really starting to come together," Broe said. "This is the first time since 2001 that I've come in here knowing I'd done everything I could and was really prepared."
While Broe accomplished something familiar, IVC's Zach Glavash (right) basked in newfound glory. "I'm just really happy," Glavash said. "This is icing on the cake."
Glavash followed his sophomore season at Illinois by running 1:48.69 to finish fifth in a heat won by Khadevis Robinson in 1:47.53. Glavash's time was faster than all four qualifiers from the second heat, won by Jebreh Harris in 1:48.89.
"The second heat is usually faster, but from what (Illinois coach Wayne Angel) told me - and I should listen to him because he's always right - is that I could do it. And he made me believe."
Glavash, 21, is making his first appearance at a USA Outdoors.
"I'm by far the youngest guy here, so it's an experience I'll never forget," he said. "These are great guys and I'm learning a lot from them."
Glavash was not quite able to match his carrer best in the finals on Sunday. Running a time of 1:49.64 allowed Glavash to grab a 7th place finish in the National Championship. The winning time on the finish board belonged to Robinson at 1:45.27.
In women's 1500-meter action, Normal West alum and Arkansas All-American Christin Wurth (left) running for Nike was joined by East Peoria grad and Reebok sponsored Jenelle Deatherage (right), an All-American in her own right at Wisconsin, in the 1st preliminary heat as each of the central Illinoisans race earned a spot in the finals.
Wurth's time of 4:14.14 placed her second in her heat closely followed by Deatherage's 4th place heat finish at 4:14.74. The heat winner was Treniere Clement at 4:13.95. Wurth was 4th and Deatherage 7th in overall results of the opening round.
Despite substantial time improvement by both Wurth and Deatherage in Saturday's finals, neither was able to claim a top three spot which would provisionally qualify for the August World Championships. Wurth ran a strong 4:08.80 to claim 6th place and Deatherage's 4:11.02 placed her 8th. The race was won by Clement in 4:06.73, the best American time of the year.
Complete Results of 2005 National Championships

Big Numbers

2005-06-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

June 22, 2005

Knights Went Big Game Hunting

An analysis of the competition shown in the linked chart, demonstrates that opponents whom the Knights faced during the 2005 season fully supports what the coaching staff has long told the team - they will "go and run with the 'Big Dogs'" at every opportunity. During the regular season the Knights faced the top 4 state finishing teams and an amazing 9 of the top 13 teams - numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 10, 12 and 12.

Richwoods Awards Announced

2005-06-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

On the strength of 2 state championship medals, 3rd in Discus and 9th in Shotput, Richwoods Junior throws specialist Jewel Sanders was named as the Most Valuable Participant.

Jewel now holds both Richwoods throwing event record - 145' 10" in the Discus, and 40' 8" in the Shotput. In addition to her State Meet showing, in Discus competition Jewel had the best throw at the Palatine Relays, the Rock Island Invitational, and the North Central Invitational, as well as second place at the Sectional Championship and the Galesburg Invitational. In the Shotput competition, she won the Sectional title and placed third at Rock Island, North Central and Galesburg. Jewel was also the winner of both throwing events in each of the dual meets during the 2005 season.

Brittney Wallace was the recipient of the Kim Field Award. This award is presented to the athlete who best embodies career long dedication, effort, and cooperation which allowed her to have achieved the most from her abilities. It recognizes realistic goal-setting , cooperation with coaches and teammates, daily reliability, personal integrity, and dedication, all of which allowed for personal achievement - although not necessarily winning. It is awarded to the team member who reflects achievement through personal effort and triumph of spirit in her years of women's track at Richwoods and is symbolic of ultimate respect and admiration of her coaches and teammates.

The Adrienne Moos Award was presented to Alesha Guard. This award acknowledges the athlete who through effort, cooperation, and self-sacrifice has been marked as an example of one who places her team before herself. It is a person who has shown herself to be a dedicated, inspirational leader who has accomplished through daily hard work and who is respected by her teammates, her coaches, her opponents, and the faculty at Richwoods.

Knights Sherrick McManis Claims State Long Jump Title

2005-06-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Richwoods Junior claims the IHSA AA Boys Long Jump Crown. Full Story

RHS Performers at PJS Honor Roll

2005-06-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

Seniors Brittney Wallace and Shauna Wills were joined by Junior Jewel Sanders and Freshman Katie Grinstead as the only Knights to qualify to compete at the annual Journal Star Honor Roll Meet.
The event marked the career end for Wills, who is the Knights' record holder in the Pole Vault, who finished 8th at Honor Roll in her specialty event, and for Wallace who finished the 300 Hurdles at the meet in 7th position. Wallace ranks number 5 in RHS annals in the 300 Hurdles and 8th in the 100 Hurdles.
Sanders fresh from her previous weekends' double medal winning performances at the State Championships qualified to compete in both throws. The Knights' record holder in both events could muster enough to grab the 2nd place medallion in each of the throws behind Tremont Senior Sam Springer whose 144' 2'" discus throw broke Sanders' previous record of 141' 8" in the meet.
Grinstead made her debut in the Honor Roll Meet with a distance double in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs. The Meet produced quite a smile from Katie as she took home her initial Honor Roll Medallion by finishing 3rd in the 3200. She came back to finish 8th in the 1600.

Sanders Claims 2 Medals at State

2005-05-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Richwoods Junior thrower Jewel Sanders accomplished what seemed unthinkable at the beginning of the season - winning medals in both throwing events at the IHSA State Championship. Expectations had been high all season in the discus for the returning All-Stater from 2004 who owned an 8th place medal from last year's State meet. However, her shotput history, while commendable had not been at the same level of her discus work. 2005 represented a breakout year for Jewel in the shotput.
In the discus Jewel entered the State meet as the 2nd seed. Sanders appeared tight due to high expectations in the opening round of the event on Friday. She finished the day 6th in her flight with a best of 128' 3". Jewel approached the Saturday finals determined not to merely be satisfied to be there. Her best throw of 137' 11" moved her into 3rd place.
The shotput proved to be the reverse of the discus for Jewel. With few expectations in the event, Sanders appeared relaxed. At the end of the day by virtue of her 39' 5½" throw she suddenly found herself in 7th place and vying for a medal. When she returned Saturday for Finals she was unable to improve as some of the field advanced past her.
Sanders' medal performances in two individual event is the third time that such has been achieved in Richwoods Women's Track history. A double medal performance at State previously having been accomplished only by Ann Henry in 1980 when she finished 6th in the 800 and 8th in the 1600, and by Tracy Smith in 1993 who took medals with 3rd in the 400 and 5th in the 200.

Knights Place 8th at Sectionals

2005-05-19T06:06:00.000-07:00

Richwoods managed to ride the coattails of state qualifier Jewel Sanders to an 8th place finish at the 2005 IHSA Sectional Championships which were held at Bloomington High School. Sanders won the shotput with a throw of 38' 9". Despite a huge throw of 145' 10", which would have won the state championship for each of the last 5 seasons, Jewel could only claim 2nd place to the 148' 0" of Bloomington's Emma Schmelzer. The Sanders and Schmelzer discus throws are the top 2 seeds for next weekend's state championship. The next best discus mark is 136' 8".
Knights' freshman distance runner Katie Grinstead ran a p.r. of 12:03.5 and finished 3rd in the 3200 missing state meet qualification by one place. Senior Brittney Wallace placed 5th in the 300 hurdles. Richwoods' 4x800 relay of Olivia Coker, Alesha Guard, Sravanthi Veguna and Alie Stowell and 4x400 of LaPorschua Lindsey, Deja Davis, Markesha Fondren and Brittney Wallace both received medals on the strength of their 6th place finishes. Results Photos

Late Season Updates

2005-05-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

On April 23 Richwoods traveled to Urbana for what apparently will be the final running of the North Central Invitational. The meet saw the meet begin in damp conditions with a wind chill in the mid-teens. Despite the difficult weather conditions the Knights produced a number of season best performances and finished in 5th place in the meet. Results
The Knights proved to be poor hosts to Manual and defeated the Rams by a 134-17 score. The meet marked the 58th consecutive dual meet victory for Richwoods and raised the season record to 6-0. The highlight of the meet was in the shotput where Jewel Sanders became the first Knight to break the 40' barrier and set the Richwoods record at 40' 8"Results
Notre Dame received far better treatment from the host Knights. The Irish came in fired up and ready to compete allowing them to end the Richwoods win streak by a 100-51 count. The dual meet win streak began March 26, 1998 and endured over parts of 8 seasons. Results
Richwoods next made its annual trek to the Palatine Relays. The Knights ran reasonably well but could score only a single point in the event. Following the event RHS freshamn sprinter Shavantay Thomas was diagnosed as having a stress fracture in her foot and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Results
Friday May 6 saw the Mid-State 6 Conference Championship meet held at Peoria Stadium. Despite the Knights production of 22 season best performances they could muster no more than a 3rd place finish with 122 points behind Champion Notre Dame's 192 and Pekin's 152. Jewel Sanders claimed both of the throw championships with distances of 139' 5" in the discus and 39' 4.5" in the shotput. Senior Pole Vaulter Shauna Wills claimed the Knights' only additional gold. Results

Knights Overcome Dragons

2005-04-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

April 19, 2005

Richwoods traveled to Pekin for the final away dual meet of the season. During the ride Coach Maier noted that the Dragons are a dangerous team and would likely provide a challenge to the young Knights...and the youngsters responded by beating the Dragon 93-58. The intensity between the long time adversaries manifested itself from the beginning of the meet. In the initial running event of the evening RHS' LaPorschua Lindsey ran a :64.0 anchor in the Medley to edge Pekin's Lynsey Barnard literally by a lean at the tape. Richwoods senior Brittney Wallace was a double winner in the hurdles and as well as being a member of 2 winning relays, 4x100 and 4x400. Richwoods was able to demonstrate its depth by sweeping the relays in the meet. Jewel Sanders again claimed both of the weights going 37' 10½" in the shot.
Katie Grinstead, the Knights freshman distance specialist, ran 12:29.3 in the 3200 and beat defending 1600 and 3200 meter conference champion Allison Glick by over 20 seconds. Glick came back ready for the 1600. In what was probably the best race of the evening Glick and Grinstead raced side by side for the entire 1600. Grinstead held a slight lead when Glick attempted to pass repeatedly in the final 2 laps. For 7 attempts she held Glick off. As the two made the turn into the final straightaway they were confronted by lapped runners. Glick seized the opportunity and swept swept to the outside as Grinstead slowed slightly to avoid contact when the inside opened. Given the lead Glick closed the door and beat Grinstead to the finish by a stride.

Knights and Other Peoria Area Entries Rocked

2005-04-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

April 17, 2005

The ladies from Richwoods boarded the bus again and went visiting to Rock Island.
The home town Rocks proved to be less than gracious hosts to the 14 guest teams in claiming firtst place in their invitational. The visiting Peoria area teams which visited were held to the bottom 5 positions in the very strong meet. The relatively inexperienced Knights could muster no better than a 12th place finish.
Despite the overall finish level, RHS did produce a number of quality performances including Jewel Sanders seizure of the Class A discus title with a 126' 3" effort. Sanders also was 3rd in the Class A shot. Richwoods young "D-dogs" distance crew showed that they will likely be a group to be reckoned with yet this season. Freshman Katie Grinstead's p.r. distance double of 12:11.4 in the 3200 for 6th place in the Class A event placed her 7th on RHS all-time list, and her Class B finish in 3rd place with a time of 5:46.1 in the 1600 earned her 18th in the RHS list. She was joined by Freshman Ali Stowell on the 1600 list at 23rd with a 5:52.6 clocking (all times are FAT adjusted) which netted her 7th position in Class C. Stowell also ran a season best 2:42.4 in the 800 meter and claimed 2nd in the Class B race.
Senior Alesha Guard joined up with Freshmen Olivia Coker, Sravanthi Vegunta and Stowell to place 6th in the 4x800 relay in a RHS season best 10:55.3 time.

Results Photos

Knights Top Woodruff 126-24

2005-04-14T05:20:00.000-07:00

The Knights swarmed over the undermanned Warriors by winning 15 of the 19 events. Nathalie Razo was a triple individual event winner taking the 100 Hurdles, Triple and High Jumps. Katie Grinstead continued her strong middle distance efforts in winning the 800 m and 1600 m events. Knights' freshman Shavantay Thomas was kept out of the individual win column by Woodruff All Conference senior sprinter Pertrice Holley...but only by a lean in both the 100 and the 200 making for interesting matchups in the late season conference and sectional championships next month. With her :27.3 clocking in the 200, Thomas moved past three of last season's top RHS 200 runners - All-Staters Stephanie Lovingood, Biannca Ward and Jessica Smith - to claim number 24 in the all-time RHS lists.

Despite everything else that was going on, the evening really belonged to double event winner Jewel Sanders. In the shotput Jewel leapt over former RHS state contender Almeda Pitts into second place on the all-time RHS records list (http://richwoodstrack.com/Top_Times/top_list.htm) with two throws exceeding 39', the best being 39' 4". The mark is a mere 1 1/2" off the RHS record set by Delaina Martin in 2003. Sanders also threw a season best 126' 3" in her specialty, the discus.

Knights Discover Not All Competition Created Equally

2005-04-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Knights made their customary journey to Galesburg to compete in the Silver Streaks annual Invitational. The young Richwoods team discovered that not all teams are created equal. Despite 13 season best team performances the Knights could muster no more than a middle of the list 6th place finish in the 11 team meet. Perennial powerhouses Moline and Galesburg showed the benefit of an indoor season and that they are well prepared for the outdoor season in finishing 1 - 2.

Richwoods was led by returning All-State junior Jewel Sanders and freshman distance runner Katie Grinstead. Sanders set a personal best of 36' 0" in the shot placing 3rd. She also continued to make positive strides in her conversion to a full spin move in the discus claiming 2nd place with a season's best of 118' 5". Grinstead continued her efforts to establish herself as one of the better distance runners in RHS history with her strong performances in the 2 long races of the evening. Her 12:23.4 time which earned her 2nd in the 3200 coupled with a 5:52.9 fourth place performance in the 1600 suggests that her credentials as a top RHS performer are well on the way toward being accepted.

Results:

http://richwoodstrack.com/2005/Results/Galesburg%20Res.htm

Photos:

http://richwoodstrack.com/2005/Images/galesburg.htm

Newbies Lead Knights Past Morton

2005-04-01T06:24:00.000-08:00

Coach Maier Achieves 200th Win

The host Richwoods Knights won 11 events en route to beating the visiting Morton Potters 88 1/3 - 62 2/3, with the rather unusual score resulting from a 3 way tie for second place in the pole vault. Richwoods was again led by its group of newcomers in the win. Freshmen were very active in the effort led by Ali Stowell who was involved in 4 winning efforts ( 800 m, 1600 m, 4 x 400, 4 x 800 ), Olivia Coker in 3 wins ( 400 m, 4 x 400, 4 x 800 ), Katie Grinstead ( 3200 m, 4 x 800) and Shavantay Thomas ( 4 x 100, 4 x 200 ) in 2 wins each. Sophomore first year Knights Markesha Fondren ( 4 x 100, 4 x 200 ) and Amy Bussman ( 4 x 200 ) also helped to reach the RHS total. The victory by the Knights marked the 200th career win for longtime Richwoods Head Coach Joe Maier whose dual meet win-loss ratio now stands at a lofty .803 ( 200-49 ) over his 30 year tenure. The result also marks the Knights 55th consecutive dual meet victory with the streak stretching back to the second meet of the 1998 season.

An examination of the Knights history has caused an error to surface in the overall won-lost record of the program. The correct dual meet record for the team over its 31 year history is 206-50 (.805), with Coach Maier's record being the above referenced 200-49 (.803) over 30 seasons.

The :13.0 time in the 100 m by Shavantay Thomas moved her onto Richwoods All-Time Top Perfomances in the event at Number 23. Career bests by Jewel Sanders' of 35' 2½' in the shot put and Amber Gayles' of :18.2 in the 100 hurdles retained their respective spots of 3rd and 20th in the RHS lists.

Knights Rank Nationally

2005-03-29T05:39:00.000-08:00

Knights No. 8 in USAToday Final Poll

On the strength of their 38-0 undefeated season, the Richwoods Knights finished the season as the 8th best team in the nation according to the March 29 USAToday Super 25 basketball final ratings of the 2005 season. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/super25w.htm

2005 Season Begins With Double Win For Knights

2005-03-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

The Knights overcame nagging injuries and wet, frigid conditions in turning back both Dunlap 85-66 and IVC 136-13 to extend Richwoods' dual meet win streak into its 8th year.

In individual events RHS newcomers Shavantay Thomas (100m, 200m), Katie Grinstead (3200m) and Ali Stowell (400m) claimed wins against both opposition schools in the listed events.

Additionally Grinstead (1600m, 800m) and Katie Johnston (HJ, TJ) also produced wins versus IVC.

The 12:57.4 performance by Katie Grinstead in the 3200 placed her 23rd in the Knights All Time Top Performance rolls.

2005 Richwoods Knights Women's Track & Field

2005-03-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

Captains - ©

Seniors

Amber Gayles
Alesha Guard ©
Dianna He
LaPorschua Lindsey
Latasha McDowell
Latisha McDowell
Shauna Wills ©

Juniors

Deja Davis
Michelle Zagardo

Sophomores

Amy Bussman
Adrien Clay
Sara Durree
Markesha Fondren
Alyssa Glawe
Katie Johnston
Amanda Schroeder
Theresa Smart
Jolene Wells

Freshmen

Olivia Coker
Tiara Cordon-Aldana
Katie Grinstead
Megan Hodge
Brianna O'Neal
Jessie O'Neal
Emily Roesler
Alexa Stowell
Shavantay Thomas
Emily Triebel
Sravanthi Vegunta

Knights' Hoopsters Claim State Title

2005-03-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

Finish Season 38-0

The Richwoods Women's Basketball team entered the IHSA state tournament finals ranked Number 1 in Illinois with a 35-0 record...and as underdogs ranking 19th nationally by USAToday but behind Chicago Young's 15th and Oak Park Fenwick's 16th positions.

The Knights had the opportunity that they wanted since the bracketing would require RHS to face Young and Fenwick head to head. In the quarterfinals the Knights defeated Fenwick 48-43 earning the right to meet Young. Young had lost only once to the then nationally ranked top team. Richwoods proved to be up to the task overcoming the Dolphins 59-51 to move to the championship game. In the evening finale the Knights bested Bartlett 52-48 to win the 2005 IHSA AA Championship.

By finishing the season with a 38-0 mark Richwoods went into the IHSA record books as the 2005 AA State Champions but also as the single season IHSA winningest team. They also became the 7th undefeated AA State champion team which includes the 1983 undefeated Knights team which was led by national Player of the Year Nora Lewis. Richwoods became the only IHSA school with more than a single undefeated women's basketball season.

2004 Conference and Sectional Champs

2005-02-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Knights '04 MS-6 Medalists

2005-02-03T12:28:00.000-08:00