Illinois HS XC State Series - Class 1A Sectional Recaps - November 3, 2019

By Michael Newman

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Photo: Ryder James impressive at Effingham St. Anthony

Muddy conditions ruled the day in the northern part of the state. The big teams that were expected to win did setting up showdowns for November 9 at Detweiller Park. The favorite individuals made it to Peoria setting up great individual duals especially in the Girls race between Lianna Surtz, Lydia Roller, and Amelia McLain.

Get to Detweiller Park early on Saturday for the 1A races. You won’t be disappointed.

Oregon Sectional

Winnebago placed four runners in the top eight with their fifth runner Grace Erb finishing 15th. It was more than enough to give them the Girls Sectional title with 35 points. Natalia Martino led her team finishing third followed by the 6-7-8 finish of Marissa Roggensack, Katie Erb, and Kaylee Woolery who all crossed the finish line at 20:01. The split from Martino to the pack was 46 seconds. The split from Martino to Grace Erb was 92 seconds.

Lianna Surtz of Rosary won the individual title as expected. Surtz crossed the line in 18:22 finishing 43 seconds ahead of Rock Falls’ Bailee Fortney (19:05) and Martino (19:15).

Rock Falls scored 69 points finishing second led by Fortney and the 11th place finish from Erin Porter.

Rosary (103 points) and Rockford Christian (111 points) finished third and fourth. Harvest Christian Academy was the final team qualifier as they scored 150 points. Aurora Central Catholic finished sixth for the second year in a row missing qualifying for state by six points.

Harvest Christian Academy placed five runners in the top 26 with a 72 second split to easily win the Boys team title with 43 points. Their first three runners were within 27 seconds of each other with Matthew Olech (3rd), Hayden Colclasure (5th), and Daniel Winkelman (11th).

Rockford Christian, behind the seventh-place finish from D’Artagnon Beaver, finished a strong second-place with 84 points. The Royal Lions had a 24 second split from second runner Stephen Thomas (24th) to fifth runner Carter Fryar (34th).

Aurora Central Catholic (136 points), Rock Falls (147 points), and Sherrard (169 points) were the other three team qualifiers. Dawson Smith of Rock Falls was the individual race winner (16:24) 31 seconds ahead of Keith Country Day’s Tristan Olpin.

Effingham St. Anthony Sectional

Monticello swept the team titles Saturday in this sectional. The Sages look to continue that trend next Saturday in Peoria.

The Boys team placed 5 runners in the top 12 to win with 42 points. Luke Sokolowski led the team finishing third followed by Josh Baysore (7th) and Morgan Dixon (9th). The split on their first five runners was 55 seconds.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda’s Ryder James ran 15:55 to win the individual race 11 seconds ahead of Urbana University’s Henry Kraatz and another second ahead of Sokolowski. Urbana University finished second (96 points) behind the finishes by Kraatz and Aryan Lalwani (6th). St. Joseph-Ogden (158 points), Tolono Unity (162 points), and Robinson (173 points) were the other teams to qualify.

It was close in the Girls race as expected. Monticello came away with the team win (5e points) as the Sages placed five runners in the top 23 with a 75 second top five split. Monticello had three runners in the first 11 led by Rachel Koon (3rd) followed by Mabry Bruhn (5th) and Grace Talbert (11th).

Lydia Roller of Staunton was in control of the individual race running 17:48 for the win. Urbana University’s Kate Ahmari ran second (18:29) followed by Koon (18:41).

Tolono Unity finished second (66 points) with Kylie Decker (4) and Caroline Bachert (10) leading the way. The Rockets placed five runners in the top 22 with a 58 second split on their top five.

St. Joseph-Ogden finished third (110 points) followed by St. Thomas More (116 points) and Urbana University (132 points). Marshall missed qualifying finishing sixth (161 points).

Elmwood Sectional

Top ranked Stanford Olympia checked off another box on Saturday winning the Boys Sectional Title with 60 points. The Spartans were paced by a 5-6 finish from Charlie Kistner and Jon Neville. 5 runners were in the top 21 for Olympia with only a 44 second split. Elmwood finished second (92 points) led by Luke Hoffmann’s eighth-place finish. The Trojans placed 5 runners in the top 37 with a 58 second split.

Deer Creek-Mackinaw, behind Colby Johnson’s fourth-place finish, scored 129 points to finish third. El Paso-Gridley (131 points) and Eureka (200 points) placed fourth and fifth.

It was a sprint to the finish as Noah McIntyre of Athens came away with the win (15:11) two seconds ahead of Miles Sheppard of Hamilton/Warsaw. Elias Bergman of Illinois Valley Central ran 15:26 to finish third.

In the Girls race, Eureka took the top two places in the individual race as Anna Perry ran 17:41 for the win 19 seconds ahead of teammate Alexi Fogo. Williamsville’s Caroline Gwaltney was two seconds back in third followed by Olympia’s Savanah Beavers who was another three seconds back.

Normal University won the team title (85 points) despite the fact that their first runner Lyndsey Wolters finished 16th. It was their pack that was the difference as they had all of their top five in the 29 with only a 37 second split.

Eureka behind Perry and Fogo scored 102 points to finish second. Stanford Olympia finished third (128 points) ahead of Williamsville (140 points) and Tremont (155 points).

Benton Sectional

One of the bigger surprises among the five 1A sectionals happened in the Boys race in this sectional. Not really known by outsiders at the beginning of the season, Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran was the surprising sectional winner tying with host Benton both scoring 96 points. CCORL won the sectional on the sixth runner tiebreak. The Stallions were led by top 10 finishes from Ty Reynolds (5th) and Zach McKowen (9th) placing five runners in the top 32. Benton was led by individual race winner Reece Johnson. The junior ran 14:39 on the 2.92-mile course edging Ty Barbre of Carmi-White County at the line. Both runners had the same time. Trenton Wesclin’s Justin Mumford finished third (14:54).

Freeburg (113 points), Father McGivney (138 points), and Steeleville (156 points) were the next three teams to qualify for state.

Benton swept team and individual honors in the Girls race. Amelia McLain won the individual race on the final time on her home course to lead the Rangers to the team title (71 points) placed five runners in the top 30. McLain’s winning time of 16:46 was 35 seconds ahead of Breanna Chandler of Freeburg. Janelynn Wirth ran 17:30 to finish third.

It was extremely close for the next three places with only one point separating those three teams. DuQuoin scored 97 points to finish second as Freeburg and Roxana finished third and fourth both scoring 98 points. Breese Mater Dei was the final team qualifier placing fifth (157 points).

Lisle Sectional

Three runners in the first seven was enough strength in the front to give IC Catholic Prep their first sectional title with 78 points. The Lady Knights were paced by Carly Manchester (2nd) followed by Kennedy Calcagno (4th) and Frankie Chaidez (7th). Julia Wolke of Liberty Christian Academy ran 19:02 to win the individual race 5 seconds ahead of Manchester and another two seconds in front of Amanda O’Donnell of Chicago University (19:09).

Beecher (113 points), Wheaton Academy (115 points), Chicago University (146 points) finished second through fourth. Herscher and Timothy Christian both scored 155 points tying for fifth. Both teams qualified for the state meet.

Defending Class 1A State Champion Clifton Central placed three runners in the top five to defend their sectional title with 68 points. Isaiah Ditta finished second to lead the Comets while Mari Anthony finished fourth and Trevor Swanson placed fifth. Central placed five runners in the top 36 timed with an 87 second split on that group. Drew Rogers of Herscher was dominant in winning the individual race in 16:05 more than 24 seconds ahead of Ditta.

Northridge Prep finished second (100 points) followed by Herscher (115 points) and Latin School (116 points). Chicago University finished fifth (155 points). DePaul College Prep finished sixth missing qualifying for state by six points. Joliet Catholic was another 10 points back in seventh.