Athletics Roundup: Spring 2026

Dave Porreca, Communications & Social Media Specialist

Jul 7 2026

It was another successful season for Elm and EPHS athletes this spring!

At Elm, the girls soccer team won its third Leyden-Norwood Athletic Conference title in the last four years! The Cougars beat Giles for the LNAC championship in a thriller that was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. After two scoreless overtime periods, Elm outshot Giles 3-2 in penalty kicks to decide the winner. Hailey Bey, an 8th grader, was MVP for the game, leading the team on offense throughout the contest and then taking over as goalkeeper during the shootout. Head coach Haley Devitt has now led the Cougars to a record of 39-1-3 over the past four seasons.

The Elm boys volleyball program, meanwhile, brought home medals from the LNAC playoffs. The Cougar varsity and JV squads each finished the regular season 7-2 before entering their conference tournaments. Led by head coach Sue Dutton, the JV placed third in their tourney and the varsity took fourth.

For more photos of Elm spring sports, please visit these links:

At EPHS, the Tigers stacked up quite a list of achievements this spring! For the first time in school history, the girls soccer program won an IHSA sectional championship and advanced to the Class 2A super-sectionals. This meant the Tigers made it to the Elite Eight, just one game away from qualifying for the state Final Four.

The Tigers began their playoff run on May 19 with a 9-0 regional semifinal win vs. Chicago Intrinsic Charter-Downtown. They followed that with a 6-0 regional championship victory over Chicago Lake View on May 22. The Tigers advanced to the sectional title game by upsetting top-seeded Chicago Latin 1-0 in the sectional semifinals on May 26. Then, behind leading scorer junior Leila Ramos, the Tigers beat Amundsen 2-1 to win their first-ever sectional title — on May 29, graduation day! Luckily, the game ended in time for the team’s seniors to attend the ceremony.

On June 2, the Tigers battled St. Francis in the super-sectionals. With stellar play by junior goalkeeper Madison Ranallo, the Tigers kept the Spartans off the scoreboard as the teams went into overtime tied 0-0. The match remained scoreless after one overtime. The tie ended early in the second overtime period as St. Francis went up 1-0, which would be the final score. But what an amazing game! Congratulations to the Tigers and their head coach, Martin Blake.

EPHS girls soccer senior champions pose with their sectional plaque at graduation

And speaking of state finals, the EPHS girls and boys track & field programs each had much to be proud of this year! For the girls, led by head coach Kendal Ahlmann, a strong overall Class 2A sectional performance yielded one state qualifier, Sonia Iversen, who advanced to state in the 300-meter hurdles. This was the second consecutive year that Sonia, a sophomore, qualified for state!

The boys team, led by head coach Kofi Hughes, qualified for the 2A state finals in five events: Jacob Solis (jr), 110m hurdles; Joseph Rominski (sr), Jacob Waz (fr), Joshua Manuel (jr), Daniel Dohoney (sr), 4x100m relay and 4x200m relay; Trinidad Lopez (sr), shot put; and David Swanek (sr), discus.

For more EPHS spring sports photos, please visit these links:

EPHS boys track relay qualifiers gather before their state send-off parade

Congratulations to all of District 401 athletes this year!