By Michael Newman

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Here are highlights of each of the 1A sectionals.

Carlinville Sectional

In a preview of the Girls State Meet, #2 St. Joseph-Ogden edged #1 Tolono Unity 56-59 for the sectional title as the Spartans placed their top 5 in the first 17 places. Faith Houston led her team finishing sixth overall as her team ran a 34 second split on their top five. Top ranked Tolono Unity was without their top runner Jordan Harmon for the third meet in a row. Harmon has a foot strain that has prohibited her to run. She is expected to race next Saturday at the state meet. Unity’s freshmen Caroline Bachert and Evelyn Adkins stepped up for the Rockets finishing third and fifth overall. Unity placed their top 5 in the first 24 with an 86 second split on their scorers.

#14 St. Thomas More finished third behind the sectional individual win from Fran Hendrickson. The sophomore ran 17:44.05 to capture the title ahead of Staunton’s Lydia Roller (17:47.05) and Unity’s Caroline Bachert (17:50.68). #23 Staunton finished fourth (190 points) behind Roller’s second place finish. Teutopolis will be going to Peoria after finishing fifth (198 points).

Conditions were not ideal at Carlinville with temperatures in the mid-30’s with on and off sleet. That did not seem to bother Logan Hall as he won the Boys individual race as a tune up for next Saturday’s state meet. The senior, who finished third at state a year ago, easily won this sectional title (15:12.87) by 23 seconds ahead of the St. Joseph-Ogden duo of Braden Pridemore (15:35.68) and Wyatt Wolfersberger (15:37.05). The #4 Spartans won the Boys Sectional title with 99 points as they placed 5 runners in the first 52 with an 86 second split on the group. #8 Robinson, paced by the 11^th and 15^th places by Lukas Baird and Wyatt Bonell, punched their ticket to Peoria by finishing second with 137 points. #14 Urbana University was just five points back in third (142 points) followed by #10 Carlinville (151 points) and #13 Lawrenceville (183 points) who also qualified for state. The seven individual qualifiers stopped at 10^th place with Logan Hall’s freshman brother Layton.

Elmwood-Brimfield Sectional

Not many details from this meet at the time of this writing due to timing complications. It was noted on the IHSA site that Wyatt McIntyre of Athens won the individual race in a new course record (14:41). #2 Elmwood Brimfield captured the Boys Sectional crown 96 to 98 ahead of #6 Deer Creek Mackinaw. #3 Athens (116 points), #7 Monticello (125 points), and #16 El Paso-Gridley (142 points) were the other team state qualifiers.

#7 Williamsville won the Girls team title (98 points) behind Caroline Gwaltney’s 8^th place team finish. #5 Monticello (122 points), #10 Eureka (150 points), and #11 Stanford Olympia (190 points) finished second through fourth also qualifying for state. #22 El Paso-Gridley (202 points) was the final team qualifier (202 points) in a close finished separating two other teams by five points for a state berth. #20 Springfield Lutheran (205 points) and #21 Tremont (207 points) just missed qualifying. Eureka’s Emma Argo was the individual winner in the Girls race.

Oregon Sectional

It was a close finish in the Boys race as seven seconds separated the first five finishers. Riley Wells of Rockford Christian, who won the 1A 800 Meter Run last May, used his strong kick to capture the Boys Sectional title (15:52) winning by three seconds ahead of Seneca’s Christopher Collet (15:55) and another second ahead of Johnsburg’s Tim Bertulis and Rock Falls’ Dawson Smith (15:56). Owen Habeger of Illinois Valley Central finished fifth (15:59). Wells led #5 Rockford Christian to the sectional team title (68 points) as he led five Royal Lions’ runners in the top 32 places. #11 Illinois Valley Central was next (142 points) followed by Sterling Newman (161 points) and #15 Seneca (163 points). Marengo was the final team qualifier (196 points) as Pontiac just missed by two points and Rock Falls finished seventh just missing by four points.

A 1-2 finish from Alex Gomez and Bailee Fortney led #3 Rock Falls to the Girls team title with 59 points as the Rockets placed 4 runners in the top 10 and 5 runners in the first 42. Gomes took home the individual crown (18:54) just one second ahead of her teammate Fortney. #13 Johnsburg finished second (112 points) ahead of other state qualifying teams #15 Rockford Christian (127 points), #17 Kewanee-Wethersfield (158 points), and #24 Amboy (163 points).

Lisle Sectional

Defending 1A State Champion Harvest Christian flexed their muscles showing that they are ready for a title defense. The Lions placed 5 runners in the first 15 to easily win the sectional title with 37 points. Just as dominating was the individual win from Jack McNabola from Francis Parker HS in Chicago. The senior blew away the field running 15:04 for the win 45 seconds ahead of the rest of the runners. HCA was led by the second-place finish from Andrew Dobrescu (15:49) as he led a 62 second split on his team’s top five. #12 Clifton Central finished second (104 points) behind Isaiah Ditta’s fourth-place finish. #22 Paxton-Buckley-Loda (126 points), Herscher (151 points) and Timothy Christian (175 points) were the other state qualifying teams in this sectional.

#4 Herscher made a statement in the Girls race that they could be ready to contend for a state trophy. Led by top ten finishes by Jillian Milton (8^th) and Josie Mendell (9^th), Herscher scored 79 points to win the sectional title ahead of #8 Harvest Christian Academy (91 points) who were led by Nygia Pollard who was the individual champion. Pollard’s time of 18:07 was 21 second faster than second-place Frankie Chaidez of IC Catholic Prep. Pollard’s teammate Carsen Forte ran 18:49 to finish third. #6 Kankakee McNamara finish third (138 points) led by the 5-6 finish of Eden Rainbolt and Faith Provost. #16 Beecher (140 points) and Chicago’s Noble Academy (189 points) were the other two state qualifying teams.

Benton Sectional

#9 Freeburg, led by the third-place finish from Charlie Parrish, captured the team title in this sectional scoring 92 points with their top 5 runners in the first 30 places. Their pack behind Parrish solidified their win as Carson Smith (14^th place) led four Freeburg runners to an only 20 second spread between the group. Pinckneyville (127 points) edged Columbia (129 points) for the second spot as #19 Benton (138 points) and #21 Breese Mater Dei (149 points) were the other team qualifiers. #25 Steeleville finished sixth missing qualifying as a team by two points. The Individual race was close. Breese Mater Dei’s Luke Goebel ran 14:24.9 on the 2.92 Benton City Park Course to win the individual race by just one tenth of a second ahead of Trenton-Wesclin freshman Justin Mumford. Parrish was seven seconds behind in third.

Nashville got a top ten finish from Jaylyn Bower (9^th overall) to capture their first Girls Sectional title 95-102 ahead of #9 Freeburg. #12 Breese Mater Dei (109 points), Pinckneyville (139 points), and DuQuoin (166 points) were the other team state qualifiers. Sixth-place New Athens missed qualifying for the state meet by four points. The Girls Individual race was just as close as the Boys race. Hometown favorite Amelia McLain of Benton won the sectional title (17:33.6) just two tenths of a second ahead of Freeburg’s Breanna Chandler.