By Michael Newman

[email protected]

Four things that we learned from this weekend’s 2A sectional races:

1 – Things sorted out in the Girls race at Woodstock North. There are four ranked teams that had their season end in this powerhouse sectional. We did find out that Belvidere North could be a step ahead of Vernon Hills and three other teams heading into next week’s state meet.

2 – 2A Girls Individual race? Defending champion Jenna Schwartz of Waterloo, Rosary’s Lianna Surtz, Lakes Community’s Brooke Stromsland, and Morton’s Aspen Gordon all had big wins in their sectional races. Who has the edge for the title? That will be answered just after 11 AM Saturday morning.

3 – The opposite can be said about the 2A Boys Race. Matthias Powell of Mahomet-Seymour has the advantage entering Saturday’s state race after an impressive win ahead of Bloomington’s Nick Doud and four other runners.

4 – Chatham-Glenwood found their race in winning the team title at Decatur MacArthur. They have been the favorites since the beginning of the season. Metamora is coming on strong and could be one of Glenwood’s chief competition. There are other teams that are lurking that could make the state race close between six schools.

More highlights from the sectional meets can be found below.

Woodstock North Sectional – For this week, it was Belvidere North. The Blue Thunder, in a pre-state sectional race that featured five of the top six 2A teams, won the Girls Sectional title with 68 points. Vernon Hills, ranked second heading into this meet, was next with 98 points.

Belvidere North placed their top three runners in the first nine led by Gianna Sagona (2^nd), Madison Diercks (4^th), and Sydnie Elder (9^th). North had all their scorers in the top 35 that also included Caitlin Corso (20^th) and Natalie Horgan (35^th).

Vernon Hills had a 30 second split on their top five led by Emma Wakefield (14^th) and Hannah Ray (16^th). Leah Wilkowski (21^st), Ryan Schofield (24^th), and Payton Makowskyj (25^th) were the next Cougar runners to cross the finish line.

This sectional was tough with nine ranked teams in this race. Prairie Ridge finished third (130 points) behind Chelsea Gale’s third-place finish. Grayslake Central (162 points) and Crystal Lake South (172 points) finished fourth and fifth qualifying for the state meet. Dixon (187 points) and Lakes Community (195 points) were the first teams out.

Brooke Stromsland showed that she will be one of the individual favorites for next week’s state meet. The sophomore won this sectional race (17:15) by 26 seconds ahead of Belvidere North’s Gianna Sagona.

Dixon placed four runners in the top 19 led by the individual win by Collin Grady to win the Boys Sectional title with 78 points. Grady’s winning time of 15:11 was six seconds ahead of second-place Nathan Schmitt of Lake Forest (15:17) and another second ahead of Charlie Smith of Antioch.

Dixon stamped themselves as a team that could challenge next week for a state trophy with this sectional race. Brock Drengenberg also finished in the top 10 placing sixth followed by Andrew Lohse (16^th), Christian Seagren (19^th), and Cadyn Grafton (38^th).

Sycamore appears to be peaking at the right time with their second-place finish (148 points) led by Aaron Trier’s 14^th place finish. Crystal Lake Central (157 points), Lakes Community (169 points), and Lake Forest (170 points) also qualified for the state meet. Rockford Christian finished sixth (178 points) missing the state meet as a team by eight points. They did have Riley Wells qualify as an individual (11^th place) as the final individual qualifier.

East Peoria Sectional – Mathias Powell of Mahomet-Seymour showed that he will be one of the favorites at next week’s state meet, Powell ran 15:16 to win the individual title by 12 seconds ahead of Bloomington’s Nick Doud (15:28). Peoria Notre Dame’s Chris Gilbert finished third (15:36).

The team battle was close with only three teams in double digits in the scoring. Metamora won the sectional team title (70 points) led by the fifth-place finish from Adam Gilbreath-Glaub. The Redbirds placed three runners in the top 11 with Ian O’Laughlin (7^th) and Jacob Gray (11^th) following Gilbreath-Glaub. Their top five split was 64 seconds with five runners in the top 33. Bloomington finished second (81 points) led by Doud’s finish and the 9-10 finish from Evan Turnbull and Bradyn Olmstead. Washington had a 46 second split on their five runners in the top 33 to finish third with 91 points. Chris Hurd led the Panthers by finishing eight. Peoria Notre Dame (140 points) and Providence Catholic (156 points) were the final two qualifying state teams. Two-time defending champion Mahomet-Seymour missed returning to Detweiller Park for state as they finished sixth (172 points).

Aspen Gordon of Morton will be one of the runners to watch next week at Detweiller Park. Gordon ran away from the field to win the Girls Sectional title (17:46) by 29 seconds ahead of Mahomet-Seymour’s Elizabeth Sims.

Only five points separated sectional champion Mahomet-Seymour (74 points) and Normal University (79 points) in the team race. Both teams will chase after state trophies next Saturday. Mahomet-Seymour was led by Sims top finish followed by Brisa McGrath (6^th), Grace Leitz (19^th), Olivia Bunting (25^th), and Madi Balbach (26^th). U-High put five runners in the top 32 with Ella Bitner (3^rd), Mackie Madix (7^th), Lizzy Zacharias (17^th), Britany Ziemer (23^rd), and Kennedy Ummel (32^nd).

Six teams qualified for state out of this sectional. Washington (103 points) and Morton (107 points) finished third and fourth. Dunlap and Metamora both scored 131 points tying for fifth. Both teams qualify for next week’s 2A State Meet.

Decatur MacArthur Sectional – After running two “sub-par” races, it looks like Chatham-Glenwood is ready for state as the 2A top ranked team. The Titans put four runners in the top 13, five in the top 29 to win the Sectional title with 54 points. Dathan and Drey Maton led their team finishing second and third. Graham Turk (9^th), Cooper Peterson (13^th), and Cameron Smith (29^th) followed. Their top five split was 29 seconds.

Springfield, led by the fourth-place finish from Kyle Boughter, qualified for state with their second-place finish (113 points). Centralia (123 points) and Carbondale (147 points) finished third and fourth. Danville made it to state after having a rollercoaster type of season. The Vikings got top 20 finishes by Rickey Oakley (16^th) and Michael Moreman (19^th) to finish fifth (160 points) just five points ahead of Mt. Zion.

Casmir Cozzi of Mascoutah ran 15:11 to win the Boys individual title with Dathan Maton at 15:13 and Drey Maton (15:14).

It feels like Jenna Schwartz of Waterloo has been quietly putting up some great performances focusing on the big prize next week at Detweiller Park. The defending 2A champion put up another quality win running 17:24 and winning by 75 seconds ahead of Chatham-Glenwood freshman Nia Gibson.

Gibson’s Chatham-Glenwood team could be on the verge of a top five finish at state. The Titans placed 5 runners in the top 14 to win the Girls Sectional title with only 43 points. Katie Curry followed Gibson placing eighth. Then came Kiersten Patzia (9^th), Jade Anderson (11^th), and Reagan Weichold (14^th) as they completed the top five.

Waterloo (93 points), Highland (107 points), Mt. Zion (123 points), and Carbondale (162 points) were the other team qualifiers.

Kaneland Sectional – Even if Burlington Central was still in the ultra-tough Woodstock North Sectional, I think they still would have qualified for the state meet. That’s how good this team ran on Saturday. The Rockets placed five runners in the first 16 led by four runners in the top 10 to win with a convincing 42 points. Natalia Rodriguez led her team by finishing fourth overall. Erin Jossart (5^th), Brooke Barkocy (7^th), Avery Anderson (10^th), and Lauren Dowd (16^th) were next in line. Their split on the top five were only 27 seconds.

Rosary finished second (102 points) while Kaneland (124 points), Lemont (129 points), and St. Francis (144 points) also qualified for state. Wheaton Academy missed the trip for state by three points finishing sixth (147 points).

Lianna Surtz of Rosary put her name on the board again as one of the 2A race favorites next week at state. The freshman ran 17:29 to win the individual title by 66 seconds. Rachel Richtman of Kaneland (18:25) and Kaylie Politza of Lemont (18:30) finished second and third.

IMSA’s Daniel Chen used his strong miler’s kick to capture the Boys individual race (15:13) finishing one second ahead of Anthony Farmer of Burlington Central (15:14). Kaneland’s Daniel Occhipinti finished third (15:20).

Kaneland and Benet Academy are two of the teams that could challenge next week for a trophy. We saw why in this race. Kaneland placed five runners in the top 16 to edge Benet Academy 55 to 61 for the sectional title. Austin Adams (7^th), Aidan Lodwig (14^th), Ethan Walker (15^th), and Jacob Wielgos (16^th) followed Occhipinti across the line for the Knights. Their split on that group was 49 seconds.

Benet Academy also looked good with five runners in the top 21. Connor O’Keefe led the Redwings finishing fourth followed by Ben Grundman (8^th), Jack Robinson (9^th), Jack Tams (19^th), and Sean Donnelly (21^st). The split on that team was 46 seconds.

Burlington Central (119 points), Hinsdale South (143 points), and St. Francis (189 points) were the other three teams to qualify for state.

Fenton Sectional – A 1-2 finish from Ava Parekh and Marianne Mihas along with five runners in the top 13 was the edge that the Romans needed. Latin School scored 31 to win the sectional title just ahead of St. Viator (49 points). Parekh’s winning time of 17:37 was 14 seconds ahead of teammate Mihas. Chicago University’s Amanda O’Donnell finished third (18:39).

McKenna Fellows (6^th), Olivia Syftestad (9^th), and Clare Hardiman (13^th) rounded out the top five for Latin School. St. Viator was led by top ten finishes from Katie Castelli (4^th), Payton McDonnell (5^th), and Joy Bergstrom (7^th). Chicago University (83 points), Trinity (96 points), and Solorio Academy (109 points) were the other state team qualifiers.

St. Viator edged Solorio Academy 88 to 89 for the Boys team title with Mather (104 points), Latin School (113 points), and Niles Notre Dame (116 points) also qualifying. Ethan Breen of Lake View won a close Boys race as he and Adonaliz Hernandez both were given times of 15:40 with Breen winning by two tenths of a second.

Solorio Academy’s Boys and Girls Teams in this sectional qualified for the state meet for the first time in the school’s history.