By Michael Newman

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Here are highlights of each of the 2A sectionals.

Normal University Sectional

Mahomet-Seymour’s pack up front was the difference in this meet as the #2 Bulldogs swept the first three spots in winning the team title 41-65 ahead of #1 Normal University. Mathias Powell led his team with the individual win (15:05) just ahead of teammates Ryan Hodge (15:06) and Riley Fortune (15:09). Mahomet-Seymour placed 5 runners in the first 20 spots with a split of 53 seconds on the group. Normal University is ready for state despite their second-place finish in this meet. Jared Schuckman (fourth-place) and Matthew Zacharias (sixth-place) finished in the top ten as the Pioneers ran a 59 second split on their five runners that placed in the first 27. #10 Bloomington finished third (91 points) led by top ten finishes from Austin Bicknell (eighth-place) and Nick Doud (tenth-place). #13 Normal West was fourth (109 points) led by the ninth-place finish from Charlie Wetzel. #12 Washington qualified for state in fifth just two points ahead of #19 Metamora who was missing their #1 runner Adam Gilbreath-Glaub from their lineup due to injury.

#1 Dunlap showed that they were ready for next Saturday’s race at Detweiller Park. The Eagles, led by the individual win from Campbell Petersen, placed 5 runners in the first 19 places to win the Girls Sectional title with only 39 points. Peterson was in control of the girls race as she ran 17:19 on Maxwell Park’s fast 3-mile course for the win 32 seconds ahead of Normal University’s Lyndsey Wolters and another three seconds ahead of Olivia Rosenstein of Urbana. Dunlap got top ten finishes along with Petersen’s win as Franny Verville finished fifth overall and Ayah Aldadah placed eighth overall. The top five split for the Eagles was 80 seconds, but only 37 seconds from Verville to fifth-runner Kate Piper.

The Girls meet was tough as eight ranked teams fought for five state spots. #4 Mahomet-Seymour finished second (126 points) led by Brisa McGrath’s 11^th place finish. #11 Urbana (152 points) finished third led by Rosenstein’s third-place finish. #8 Peoria Notre Dame (163 points) and #7 Washington (168 points) secured the other two state qualifying berths. #5 Normal University missed qualifying as they finished seventh overall (209 points).

Kaneland Sectional

It came down to a photo-finish to decide the winner of the Boys race in this sectional. Jacob Gebhardt of Sterling and Matt Richtman of Kaneland both came across the line together with Gebhardt given the win. Both runners were timed at 14:44.8. Crystal Lake South’s Jack Becker was nine seconds back finishing third (14:53.1). #3 Sycamore, led by Stephen Poorten’s fourth place finish, narrowly won the team title 91-97 over a surprising Hampshire squad led by the 9-11 finish from Santiago Arreola and Elijah Stuart. Sycamore ran a 65 second split on their top 5 that finished in the top 37. #4 Kaneland, who did not even qualify for sectionals last year, made it to Peoria this time finishing third (135 points) led by Richtman and the 10^th place finish from Daniel Occhipinti. Unranked Burlington Central (193 points) and Crystal Lake Central (202 points) captured the final two state qualifying spots. #15 Dixon missed qualifying by 7 points as they finished sixth.

Four seconds separated the first four finishers in the Girls race. Belvidere North’s Madison Diercks won the individual race (17:41.0) ahead of Kayla Schiera of Sandwich (17:44.2), Chelsea Gale of Prairie Ridge (17:44.6), and Rachel Richtman of Kaneland (17:45.4). #2 Belvidere North placed 4 runners in the top 15 winning the Girls Sectional title with 62 points. Their split from Diercks to their fifth runner Mia Rodriguez (34^th overall) was 97 seconds. The split on their second through fifth runners was 74 seconds. Lauren Katz finished fifth to lead #3 Vernon Hills to a second-place finish (78 points) as they placed 5 runners in the top 29 with a 72 second spread on their group. #9 Dixon finished third (122 points) ahead of #13 Lakes (162 points) and #6 Kaneland (185 points). Crystal Lake Central finished sixth missing the final qualifying spot by seven points.

Decatur MacArthur Sectional

Jenna Schwartz won the individual sectional title to lead #17 Waterloo to the Girls team title with 94 points. Schwartz, who had lost to Danville’s Shanice Garbutt in their two previous meetings this fall, ran 17:20.15 to edge Garbutt by just one second. Springfield Southeast’s Sydney Huffman finished third (18:12.04). Waterloo placed 3 runners in the first 12 and 5 runners in the top 43 to give them the win. #12 Springfield finished second (105 points) behind Gabby Wood’s fourth-place finish. #14 Chatham-Glenwood scored 115 points to edge #25 Triad for the third state spot by just one point. Mascoutah (140 points) edged Highland by eight points for the fifth and final state qualifying spot.

Nick Oakley of Charleston came from third-place in the final 200 meters to win the Boys Individual title by just one hundredth of a second ahead of John Bruce of Marion (15:00.68 - 15:00.69). Kyle Boughter of Springfield was less than two seconds back finishing third (15:02.36). #5 Chatham-Glenwood enjoyed top ten finishes from Drey Maton (fifth-place) and Cooper Peterson (sixth-place) as the Titans placed 5 runners in the top 33 to win the Boys Sectional title with 79 points. The split on their top five group was 47 seconds. Central State Eight rival #7 Springfield was next (92 points behind Boughter’s finish and placing 5 runners in the first 30. #8 Waterloo and Marion finished third and fourth both scoring 125 points. #11 Danville (140 points) edged #9 Mascoutah by four points for the fifth qualifying position.

Wheaton Academy Sectional

#6 Riverside-Brookfield was in control of the Boys race as they won the sectional title with 57 points. The Bulldogs, led by Jacob Wardzala’s fourth-place finish, placed 5 runners in the top 17 with a 44 second split on the group. #14 Illiana Christian, in their final season of IHSA competition before they move to a new facility in Indiana, qualified for state by finishing second behind the individual win from Austin Ohm and third-place finish from Derek Van Prooyen. Ohm ran 15:30 for the win and 14 seconds ahead of second-place Brett Haffner of Hinsdale South. St. Francis (124 points) and #21 Hinsdale South (162 points) finished third and fourth. Marist qualified for the state meet for the first time since 1998 as they finished fifth (170 points) just two points ahead of sixth-place Bremen.

It was close between Riverside-Brookfield and Wheaton Academy in last week’s Regional as only one point separated the two squads. It was even closer in this sectional as both teams scored 77 points. #20 Wheaton Academy placed their top five runners in before #21 Riverside-Brookfield’s fourth runner crossed the line. Wheaton Academy’s Julia Robleski’s individual win was just as close as she edged Nadia Kaczmarz of Riverside-Brookfield by just six tenths of a second (19:20.0 – 19:20.6). Kaczmarz’s teammates Hailey Jurgens and Tara Janney were close behind finishing fourth and fifth. Wheaton Academy’s Stephanie Gregersen finished third. #22 Lemont finished third (120 points) ahead of Glenbard South (140 points) and Rosary (146 points) as the other state qualifying teams. Montini Catholic finished sixth missing qualifying for state by four points.

Chicago University Sectional

#24 Deerfield punched their ticket for the state meet winning the Boys team title (64 points) behind top ten finishes from Matt Gild (second-place) and Brad Brodsky (fourth-place). The Warriors placed 5 runners in the top 25 with a 65 second split on the group. St. Viator (117 points), Payton Prep (127 points), Fenton (131 points), and Mather (136 points) were the other team qualifiers. Solorio Academy sophomore Adonaliz Hernandez won the individual race edging Deerfield’s Matt Gold by just seven hundredths of a second (15:59.2 – 15:59.7).

#10 Latin School was even more dominating in the Girls race. Marianne Mihas picked up the individual win as three other of her teammates finished in the top six to score 43 points for the sectional championship. Mihas’s time of 18:20.8 was 51 seconds ahead of Trinity’s Emma Creviston as she finished second. St. Viator’s Girls team duplicated what the Boys squad accomplished as they finished second (81 points) ahead of #23 Trinity (82 points) and Payton Prep (83 points). Deerfield (131 points) was the final state qualifying team just four points ahead of sixth-place Solorio Academy. Their Boys team also finished sixth overall in this meet.