January 23, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Relays shine bright for SJO girls’ track and field at Unity Invite

This past Friday night saw the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ track and field team turn in a sterling performance at the Unity Invitational.


The SJO boys’ track and field team, however, didn’t get in on the fun as the Monticello Invitational the Spartans were scheduled to compete in was rained out.


The Spartans’ girls’ team provided plenty of highlights, too, during their runner-up finish at the 19-team meet in Tolono.


SJO compiled 65.5 points, better than every other team in the field except Monticello, which rang up 98 points en route to first place.


Clinton (52), St. Teresa (48) and Unity (42) rounded out the top five teams.


The Spartans emerged with a first-place finish in one event, along with four second-place efforts, two third-place finishes, one fourth-place showing and two fifth-place finishes.


The 1,600-meter relay quart of Maclayne Taylor, Atleigh Hamilton, Hannah Rajlich and Rylee Sjuts cruised to a win in a time of 4 minutes, 15.58 seconds, more than eight seconds faster than runner-up Clinton.


Taylor added two second-place results in the 100 (12.79) and the 400 (1:01.36), while Taylor, Danie Kelso, Hailey Birt and Hamilton were part of the 400 relay that place second in 51.21. Jillian Plotner also turned in a solid performance by finishing second in the 3,200 (12:18.23).


Hamilton kept pace with Taylor in the 400, placing third in 1:01.77, while Sjuts, Ashlyn Lannert, Cassidy Bagby and Rajlich teamed up to finish third in the 3,200 relay (10:37.09).


Payton Vallee fared well in the discus representing the Spartans with a throw of 110 feet, 8 inches to place fourth. Lannert in the 300 hurdles (51.54) and Abby Behrens in the high jump (4-10) also chipped in on a successful night for SJO.


The SJO girls’ team will head back to Tolono on Tuesday for a quadrangular meet at 4:30 p.m. with the host Rockets, along with Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman and Salt Fork before heading north to Gibson City for the Falcon Invitational at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.


On the boys’ side, the Spartans are slated to head to Tolono this week as well for the annual Unity Invitational that starts at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Banner
Related Posts

Jacob, Cramer and Barnes help SJO girls’ basketball top Prairie Central

January 20, 2020

January 20, 2020

Needing a big win, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team delivered last Thursday night. The Spartans stopped a...

Price is right: SJO baseball off to solid start

April 12, 2023

April 12, 2023

The spring weather is starting to get nicer outside. And the St. Joseph-Ogden High School baseball team is starting to...

5 Question Friday with senior Goalie Hunter Ketchum

September 30, 2022

September 30, 2022

What is the best part about playing soccer for SJO? The environment. Everyone is here to compete and we are...

Rajlich, Mattsey thrive for SJO cross-country in Peoria

September 17, 2019

September 17, 2019

Thank you to Carrie Mattsey photography for the photo! The St. Joseph-Ogden High School team got its first look at...

SJO5k Results for July 30, 2022

August 1, 2022

August 1, 2022

Name City Bib No Age Gender Age Group Total Time Pace 1 Austin Bridgman Potomac IL 632 22 M 1:Open...

Armstrong, Lannert key three-game win streak for SJO girls’ basketball

December 6, 2021

December 6, 2021

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team ventured away from its home gymnasium for the first time last week....

Cook surpasses 1,000 career points

February 18, 2019

February 18, 2019

Before the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball teams plays Monday night for a shot to reach the state tournament, facing Chicago...

SJO soccer knocks off Comets via penalty kicks

September 17, 2019

September 17, 2019

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School soccer team picked up its second win of the season last Friday. The Spartans played...

Team effort sparks SJO football to win at Monticello

September 2, 2022

September 2, 2022

On paper, the start of the St. Joseph-Ogden High School football schedule appeared daunting.Open up on the road against Monticello,...

SJO cross-country teams eager to start season off and running

August 31, 2019

August 31, 2019

The end goal for every high school cross-country runner in Illinois is to end the season racing at Detweiller Park...

Izard, Cain, Pence key SJO boys’ basketball to sixth-place finish at State Farm Holiday Classic

January 3, 2020

January 3, 2020

The small-school State Farm Holiday Classic ended on a sour note for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ basketball team....

McKinney, Wedig help SJO football pull away from Prairie Central

September 5, 2025

September 5, 2025

Big offensive plays are bound to happen with the St. Joseph-Ogden football team. The Spartans, simply put, have too many...

Athlete of the Month… Keegan McCarty

September 3, 2019

September 3, 2019

Every month in season coaches at St. Joseph-Ogden High School nominate athletes to be the student-athlete of the month. A...

Brazelton, SJO wrestling off to solid start

December 14, 2023

December 14, 2023

A relatively young St. Joseph-Ogden wrestling team is faring well through the first two weeks of the season. The Spartans...

A field of art

October 17, 2019

October 17, 2019

Call it art in progress. The fans at St. Joseph-Ogden High School always take note of the painted field, endzones,...

Comments
Leave a Reply