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By Sandy Kucharski SANDY@THEWOODSTOCKINDEPENDENT.COM

Runners often say that having friends and family cheering them on really helps their performance, especially in distance events.

Unfortunately, that assistance will not be available to athletes of any stripe this season as spectators are not allowed at high school sports events per the governor’s All Sports Policy.

The policy came into play for crosscountry Sept. 3, when teams from all three high schools in Woodstock were scheduled to open their season. Woodstock High School hosted Harvard at home – Emricson Park – under overcast skies and a slight mist. Across town, Woodstock North and Marian Central Catholic High Schools were scheduled to run at McHenry Township Park against Johnsburg, but the threat of rain caused the Skyhawks to cancel the meet.

Blue Streak boys and girls got their first taste of competition, as well as victory, running on their home turf. Scoring runners for the boys were Aidan Schleutermann, 17 minutes, 30 seconds; Jack Hansen (17.52); Dylan Hanson (18.15); Alex Wickersheim (18.35); and Logan Hagmann (18.38). They defeated Harvard 18-45.

Harvard did not have enough girls on the roster to field a full race, but Blue Streak girls still stepped it up, finishing with a respectable 15 points. Scoring for WHS were Maggie Adams (22.40); Theresa Presisto (23.01); Ireland Dunnett (25.19); Grace Topf (25.44); and Amelia Ferrarini (26.25).

To ensure social distancing, the runners were released in four flights at one minute intervals. Each flight had four athletes, two from each team. The race clock stayed constant and one, two, and three minutes, respectively, were subtracted from runners in flights two, three, and four.

INDEPENDENT PHOTOS BY MARGIE PAFFRATH

fans left a noticeable void. To help bridge the gap, WHS’s new assistant coach, Lisa Kunzie, made videos of the boys and girls races and live-streamed the events on the Woodstock High School Facebook page.

“A big thank you to all our parents for following the COVID-19 rules so our athletes can compete,” Kunzie said at the beginning of the play-by-play narration.

The video caught the start of each flight, and by riding a bicycle around the course, Kunzie captured clips of the runners at various vantage points on the 3-mile course. The coverage continued until the last runner crossed the finish line.

The race coverage videos are available for viewing on the Woodstock High School Facebook page.

Boys team: 26 athletes

Top returning boys: Seniors Aidan Schleutermann, Jack Hansen, and Logan Hagmann; sophomore Dylan Hanson; and juniors Alex Wickersheim, Max Hodory, and Clark Shulfer.

Top new boys: senior Tanner Hurless, sophomore Thomas Sieck, and freshmen Charlie Baker, Jakob Crown, and Cohen Shutt.

Girls team: 15 athletes

Top returning girls: Senior Theresa Presisto, junior Ireland Dunnett, and sophomores Aby Smith, Emma Meiners, and Kathleen Thomas.

Top new girls: freshman Maggie Adams, junior Amelia Ferrarini, and also freshmen Grace Topf, Layla Mickle, and Brooke Kashmier.

Continuing their tradition of finding Continued on next page

strength in numbers, the Blue Streaks are fielding large girls and boys teams for the 2020 season. To ensure proper social distancing, WHS is staggering practice times for boys and girls.

“Since we only had three weeks of our summer running camp, we are just a bit behind where we should be,” Streaks head coach Jay Fuller said, but he commended runners for showing up with masks on at every practice and working on their social-distance running.

For the boys, Fuller sees the juniors and seniors as the team’s biggest strength since they have been tested in past races, and they know it’s now their time.

“Our biggest weakness is a good and bad thing,” he said. “We have 26 boys and can only take 10 to each meet. It is going to be hard to get everyone to run enough meets this year.”

He identified the ability to come together as a team as the girls’ greatest

Community members looking to enhance their fall décor and contribute to Woodstock North High School athletics can take advantage of the fall mum sale, hosted by the WNHS Booster Club. Plants come in 9-inch pots from Countryside Nursery with five color choices: burgundy, yellow, orange, white, and purple. Plant cost is $15 each.

Orders will be taken through Sunday, Sept. 13, at wnhsboosterclub.square. site. Plants will be available for curbside pickup from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at WNHS, 3000 Raffel Road. strength.

Fuller’s goal for both teams is to build on last year’s accomplishments. The boys are looking to bring home another conference championship and compete to win a regional.

The girls finished third in the conference last year but are looking to compete to win it this year.

Boys team: 14 athletes

Top returning boy: senior Jorge Aragon

“He has really come a long way and has transformed into a great runner,” head coach Cas Creighton said. “He definitely has his head and heart in the right place this year.”

Girls team: 5 athletes

Top returning girl: Sophomore Hannah Pittman

“[Pittman] and senior Allie Goers worked hard together over the summer,” Creighton said. “We weren’t able

Golf enthusiasts are invited to attend The Blue Streak Open 2.0 on Sunday, Sept. 20. Hosted by the Woodstock Backer Club, the event will begin at 1 p.m. at Marengo Ridge Golf Club. The entry fee of $100 includes golf and dinner. In addition, each golfer will receive a limited edition Blue Streak Open golfer gift.

For more information, call the WHS athletic office at 815-337-3030 or email dkirkpatrick@wcusd200.org.

The Woodstock High School girls varsity tennis team defeated Round Lake Senior High School 4-3 Sept. 2. The first of the season, the Streaks won all four of the super tie-breakers to take the match.

The Woodstock co-op golf team defeated Marengo 184-204 Sept. 2 at Marengo Ridge Golf Course. Leading the team were junior Sam Berry, 44; sophomore Brady Heeren, 45; junior Jake Murray, 47; and sophomore Aidan Sivore, 48.

The co-op racked up another victory on Sept. 3, defeating Richmond-Burton 198- 213 at Bull Valley Golf Club. Sivore and Murray each shot 48 to lead the team to victory. Heeren and Berry each shot 51.

The wins improved the team’s record to 5-0 for the season.

The Woodstock High School boys cross-country team won its first dual meet of the season, defeating Harvard 18-45.

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to meet much over the summer, but our team worked hard and kept each other accountable using the Strava app.

“Our girls team is slightly smaller than normal,” Creighton said, “but we were able to add a dancer, Maddie Manke. She gave the girls the opportunity to compete as a team.”

The boys team also benefited from the addition of crossover athletes. Jason Berg and Rocco Splendoria, soccer players currently waiting for soccer season, joined Thunder crosscountry. Creighton’s sons Ethan and Landan, as well as Tommy Schroeder and Will Madigan, are displaced football players who joined cross-country.

“All six boys bring a lot of talent to the team,” the coach said. “Our boys team has a great pack group. I’m excited to see them work together.

“Our season may not look like previous years, but we have goals and we intend to hit every one of them.”

Boys team: 16 athletes

Head coach Murray Domich named All-State performer Peter Walsdorf as the team’s top returning runner. Returning All-Conference runner Chris Atadero is expected to be a strong contender as well as Anthony Carney. New addition Cohen Musschoot, a soccer player with strong junior-high running performances, looks to be the No. 2 runner this year.

Girls team: 6 athletes

All-Conference runner Caroline Binotti is back, and Domich said freshman Kiara Kelly should develop into a strong runner.

In general, Domich finds managing around COVID-19 as the biggest challenge and the influx of soccer players as the biggest strength for the team this year.

While COVID-19 interfered with summer practice, Domich said, each athlete was given direction on what they needed to do to improve.

HANNAH BLAKSELY

SWIMMING Woodstock North High School junior Hannah Blaksely has stepped out of her comfort zone. With volleyball being moved to a different season, Hannah chose to give swimming a try. Hannah used to swim competitively when she was young; however, when she got to high school she chose to focus on volleyball. So, as a junior, Hannah joined Woodstock girls swimming. The very first meet of the season, Hannah clocked in as one of the team’s faster freestyle competitors and is only a few seconds from breaking records in the 50 free and 100 free – all this only being two meets into the season. She has a great future ahead of her in swimming.

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CONGRATULATIONS!