Illinois Weekend XC Highlights - September 24, 2023

First day of fall brings the falling of times especially at St. Joseph Ogden

By Michael Newman

I received a text on my way home on my phone asking me if I would post the results from the St. Joseph-Ogden Classic. When I came home I turned on my computer, checked social media, and then saw why the results were requested to be up so quickly.

Records were set in the Boys and Girls races in the St. Joseph-Ogden Classic on Saturday morning. There was no need to ask about the course conditions. The course is mostly on the streets of St. Joseph, Illinois. It gives you an idea of why the finishing times were so fast.

Jackson Barrett and Josiah Hortin of Tuscola both surpassed the meet record set by Ryder James in 2021 of 14:21. Barrett ran 14:12.15 to set a new course record while Hortin was less than a second behind running 14:13.11 to finish second.

There were four runners total that ran under 15-minutes in this race. 1A #1 Tuscola held all the aces in the deck placing 5 runners in the top 8 to score just 20 points for the team win. 1A #8 St. Joseph-Ogden scored 86 points to finish second ahead of 1A #10 Pleasant Plains (170 points), 1A #12 El Paso-Gridley (175 points), Seeger IN (193 points), and 1A #24 St. Teresa (193 points).

St. Joseph-Ogden’s Carson Maroon was the first non-Tuscola runner to cross the line running 14:46.58 to finish third. Then came to the finish Tuscola’s third and fourth runners Blake McLeese (14:51.23) and Will Foltz (15:09.13) who finish fourth and fifth. Tuscola’s fifth runner was Xander Neamtu that ran 15:27.35 to finish eighth. Tuscola’s top five split of 75 seconds.

The Girls course record set by Anna Sophia Keller in 2015 of 16:14.2 fell. Two runners surpassed it. Isabella Keller of St. Anthony now holds the record running an incredible 15:58.75 to take the win. It was only Keller’s third high school race in her career. Katie Foltz of Tuscola was also under the old record time running 16:10.95 to finish second. Hadessah Austin of Seeger IN ran 16:26.99 to finish third with Erica Woodward of Tolono Unity (17:09.75) and Tessa Bowers of Shelbyville (17:18.48) finished fourth and fifth.

1A top ranked Tolono Unity again controlled the race they were in placing 5 runners in the top 13 to score just 39 points for the team win. Woodward was followed by Mackenzie Pound (6th), Emily Decker (7th), Olivia Shike (10th), and Camryn Reedy (13th) had a 58 second split between Pound and Reedy. 1A #5 Shelbyville scored 79 points to finish second with 1A #8 El Paso Gridley (112 points), Seeger IN (135 points), and 1A #25 Effingham St. Anthony (189 points) also finishing in the top five.

There were other great meets that happened this weekend. You can read and watch videos from the Palatine Meet of Champions here. You can also look at what happened at the Griak Invitational and the Naperville Girls Invitational here.

Here are some highlights from of some of the other meets across the state (and beyond) from the past weekend.

East Peoria Invitational @ Illinois Central College – 2A #4 Washington was in complete control of this meet placing 5 runners in the top 10 to score just 21 to win the Girls Varsity race. Sophia Ramirez led the Panthers with the individual win (19:06) finishing 15 seconds ahead of Ava Boyd of Mahomet-Seymour (19:21). Washington’s top 5 split from Ramirez to tenth-place Caylie Ahten was 62 seconds. 2A # 13 Morton finished second (72 points) ahead of 1A #3 Eureka (95 points) and 2A #15 Mahomet-Seymour (115 points).

2A #6 Morton edged 2A #15 Washington 80-82 for the Boys team title. 1A #5 Eureka scored 87 points to finish close in third. Caleb Mathias of Champaign Central ran 15:53 to pull away for the win nine seconds ahead of Josh Weeks of Morton who finished second (16:02). Augustus Gaudio of Mahomet-Seymour ran 16:17 to finish third. Morton had 2 runners in the top five with Christian Harris finishing fourth. Morton placed 5 runners in the top 36 with a 97 second split. Washington was led by Fisher Rinkenberger who finished fifth. The Panthers had 5 runners in the top 39 with a 78 second split.

Rock River Run @ Hoover Park – Dale Johnson of Sterling did not have to push the pace a week before a potential showdown with Dylon Nalley next week in Peoria. Johnson made it look easy running 15:23 to win the Boys individual race by 11 seconds ahead of Naif Al Harby of Sycamore (15:34). David Valkanov of Kaneland (15:57), Julian Hipp of Geneva (16:03), and Sam Mosbarger of Geneseo (16:05) were a part of the top five finishers. 2A #10 Kaneland, led by Valkanov and Evan Nosek finishing 12th, scored 81 points for the team win ahead of 2A #25 Dixon (100 points), 2A #20 Sterling (110 points), and 2A #27 Sycamore (113 points).

#18 Hampshire, led by the third-place finish from Hudson Szymoniak, placed 5 runners in the top 20 to win the girls team title with 45 points ahead of 2A #17 Dixon (70 points). Geneva (145 points) and 2A #28 Sterling (148 points) finished third and fourth. Sundara Weber of Sandwich ran 17:27 to win the girls race by 41 seconds ahead of Sofia Borter of Geneva. Szymonik ran 18:57 to finish third.

Midwest Invitational @ Blackhawk GC, Janesville WI – #19 Hinsdale Central Girls  went north of the border to run in this meet. The Red Devilettes scored 211 points to finish third to finish behind Madison West (97 points) and Neenah (164 points). Camden Griffin led Hinsdale Central by finishing 25th overall. The top five split between Griffin and fifth runner Evelyn Skay was 53 seconds. Warren Township finished 11th in this race led by the 13-14 finish from freshmen Finley Jezuit and Kaylee Wilson.

Oconomowoc WI edged #16 Naperville Central 100-102 in the Boys team race. 2A #4 Woodstock scored 167 points to finish third. Rockton Hononegah was the next team to finish placing 11th. Central placed 5 runners in the top 31 with a 42 second split on that group. Tyler Browning (9th) and Nick Kamp (17th) were the team’s top runners. Ishan Patel ran 15:40 on the 5k course to finish fourth overall. Aryan Patel was Woodstock’s second runner finishing 18th.

Culver Academies Invitational @ Culver Academies IN – #15 Lyons Township made their annual trip to this meet which resulted in a fifth-place finish in the Varsity Open race. Carmel scored 51 points to win the team title with Bloomington North scoring 89 points to place second. Lyons Township, with 152 points, were led by the fifth place finish from Nicholas Strayer. The team had a 59 second split on their top five runners. Their 2-5 split in this race was just 14 seconds.

Mia Kotler of Latin School had the fastest time of the three races in this meet as she ran 17:59.5 to win the Varsity Closed Division. Latin School finished 11th overall in this meet. The Romans were helped by a fourth place finish from Ellen Anderson.

Springfield HS Invitational @ Lincoln Park – It was all Becca Heitzig in the Girls Varsity race in this meet. The Lincoln senior ran 18:04 on the rugged Lincoln Park course to win by 66 seconds ahead of Ashlyn Chopra of Chatham-Glenwood. Chopra led the 2A #1 to the team win with 34 points placing 5 runners in the top 27. 2A #14 Mt. Zion, led by Renee Ballard finishing third, finished second with 58 points. Julian Baker of Mt. Zion ran 15:53 to win the Boys Varsity race by two seconds ahead of Owen Morgan of Taylorville. 2A #14 Mt. Vernon were led by a fourth-pace finish from Caedmon Cook in winning the Boys team title with 94 points. 10 points separated the next four teams as 2A #19 Taylorville finished second with 101 points followed by 2A #17 Mascoutah (102 points), Mt. Zion (108 points), and 2A #18 Chatham-Glenwood (111 points).

Macnider Park @ Hoover School, Schaumburg – It was close in the girls Varsity race as #9 Minooka edged #27 Minooka 54-55 for the team title. Minooka placed 5 runners in the top 19 led by Maya Ledesma (3rd) and Taya Gummerson (7th). Huntley was led by Haley Rahman finishing 4th, Ava Allison finishing 6th, and Cori Kilvinger finishing 9th. Maria Polyakov of Glenbrook North ran 18:49 for the individual win. Marley Andelman of St. Charles East ran 19:03 to finish second.

#12 Aurora West got top five finishes from Sean Heetland (2nd) and Samuel Roccio (4th) to help them win the Boys race with 56 points. #23 Glenbard West scored 62 points to finish second. Aurora West did not run their #2 runner Nathan Gehrman in this meet. John Ihrke of Glenbrook North ran 15:46 to win by 10 seconds ahead of Heetland (15:56) and Tommy Nitz of Huntley (16:04).

Freeburg Invitational @ Smithton Park – Gavin Genisio and Gabriel McLain went 1-2 to help 1A #3 Benton to win the Boys Team title with 53 points. 2A #13 Bethalto Civic Memorial scored 53 points to finish second with 2A #21 Troy Triad scoring 93 points to finish third. Genisio’s winning time of 15:05 was 25 seconds ahead of teammate McLain. Civic Memorial teammates Max Weber and DJ Dutton finished third and fourth. Drew Twyman of Triad finished fifth. Benton had 3 runners in the top 6, 5 runners in the top 18. Civic Memorial placed 5 runners in the top 17. 2A #7 Waterloo dominated the Girls race placing their top 5 in the first 9 places to score 33 points to win the team title. Troy Triad was the closest team scoring 120 points to finish second. Elena Rybak of Father McGivney ran 18:17 to win the individual race by 32 seconds ahead of Cameron Crump of Waterloo (18:49). Rybak’s teammate Kaitlyn Hatley ran 18:55 to finish second.