2021 IHSA Class 2A XC Sectional Highlights

By Michael Newman [email protected]

Sectional Saturday for 2021 was not about fast times. Mother Nature took care of that with two days of rain preceding the four Class 2A sectional that took place across Illinois. This day was about excitement and of course disappointments as teams and runners looked to punch their qualifying ticket to Peoria for next Saturday’s IHSA State XC Championships.

Here is a look at the highlights of the four sectional meets that took place in Class 2A.

Class 1A Sectional Highlights | Class 3A Sectional Highlights

Decatur MacArthur Sectional

A time of under 15-minutes was thought to be tough to do especially on this soggy course at Hickory Point Golf Course. Alex Partlow of Carbondale made another statement in this race as he ran 14:57 to win the individual sectional title by 62 seconds ahead of Brenden Heitzig of Lincoln (15:59). Kyle Nofziger of Mahomet-Seymour finished third (16:11) followed by Waterloo’s Joe Schwartz (16:15) and another Mahomet-Seymour runner Joseph Scheele in fifth (16:18).

Mahomet-Seymour was in control in the team race scoring 61 points for the sectional title. Nofziger and Scheele were followed by Jonah Singer (13th), Ben Wallace (24th), and Hayden Grotelueschen (28th). The Bulldogs top five split in the race was 57 seconds. Springfield finished second (93 points) with a 29 second to five- runner split. Marion finished third (174 points) ahead of Urbana (189 points). Mt. Zion (206 points), Highland (209 points), and Champaign Central (221 points) were the final teams to qualify. Taylorville missed the top seven teams by eight points.

Chatham-Glenwood placed their first four runners in the top 13 with five runners in the top 21 to easily win the Girls sectional team title with 54 points. Nia Gibson led the way for the Titans finishing third followed by Emma Leahy (7th), Ava Gorrie (11th), Rachael Behrens (13th), and Kamryn Robbins (21st). Their top five split was 57 seconds.

Becca Heitzig of Lincoln easily won the individual title (18:12) by 57 seconds ahead of Waterloo’s Danielle Mudd (19:07). Gibson was next (19:16) with Hannah Meiser of Civic Memorial (19:24) and Cameron Crump of Waterloo (19:30) finishing fourth and fifth. One of the pre-meet favorites in this race Colleen Zeibert of Rochester did not have her best day finishing 24th and failed to qualify for the state as an individual.

Chatham-Glenwood doubled the score on the closest team as Mascoutah scored 116 points to finish second. Mt. Zion scored 138 points to finish third. Waterloo did not have their top runner Angelynn Kanyuck did not finish. The Bulldogs still scored 156 points to finish fourth and qualify as a team for state. Mahomet-Seymour (171 points), Highland (175 points), and Troy Triad (203 points) also qualified.

Bensenville (Fenton) Sectional

Ava Parekh and Mia Kotler took the two spots to help Latin School win the sectional title with 61 points. When this course at Fenton High School gets a little rain, it becomes a mud fest. Parekh did what she needed to do in winning with a 18:19 time. Kotler ran 18:48 to finish second. Bella Daley of Fenwick led the pack running 19:25 to finish third followed by Colette Kinsella of Nazareth Academy (19:36) and Josephine Dziedzic of Payton Prep (19:57).

McKenna Fellows was Latin’s third runner finishing 11th. Kimbo Darcy (25th) and Reese Bedford (28th) were also a part of the team’s top five. Nazareth Academy finished second (81 points) led by top 10 finishes by Kinsella and Sarah Owen (6th). St. Ignatius Prep led by Meghan Semmer finishing seventh finished third (83 points). Marist (127 points), St. Francis (138 points), Payton Prep (141 points), and Kaneland (169 points) also qualified.

Fenwick tuned up for next Saturday’s state meet placing three runners in the top seven to win the Boys team title with 59 points. Jake Phillips of Marist claimed the individual title running a 16:18 time. The Riverside-Brookfield duo of Cooper Marrs (16:31) and Paul Proteau (16:41) finished second and third. Fenwick duo of Nathaniel McKillop and Grayden Rill finished together in fourth and fifth both timed at 16:43. Ritvik Viniak of Payton Prep and Zac Daley of Fenwick were next coming in together at 16:44 finishing sixth and seventh.

Fenwick’s one second split on their top three runners was impressive. Carl Lukas (21st) and Lee O’Bryan (26th) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners giving the Friars a 54 second top five split. Kaneland finished second (98 points) behind Evan Nosek’s eighth-place finish. Riverside-Brookfield advanced to state with 106 points placing third. CPL schools Mather (123 points) and Payton Prep (138 points) finished furth and fifth. Glenbard South (161 points) and St. Francis (163 points) also advanced to Peoria with Marmion Academy missing by seven points.

Woodstock North Sectional

Elia Ton-That of Northside Prep pulled away to win the Girls Sectional title ahead of an extremely tough field. Ton-That’s time of 18:05 was 13 seconds ahead of Hadley Ferrero of Crystal Lake Central. One second separated the next three runners with Mary Grace Hegberg of St. Viator in third (18:29) with Isabella Gonzalez of Crystal Lake South and Lucia Ton-That of Northside rep fourth and fifth both with 18:30 times.

There were so many great teams in this sectional. The top three teams in this race were separated by only 16 points. Crystal Lake South comes into the state meet with a lot of momentum winning the sectional team title with 100 points. The Gators put 5 runners in the top 42 with Gonzalez followed by Abby Machesky (9th), Addie Frisch (19th), Gianna Pinta (36th), and Colette Bacidore (42nd). Grayslake Central was next (112 points) with 5 runners in the top 41. Bella Domier led the Rams placing eighth with Sara Armstrong (14th), Sofia Witt (29th), Bryn Sato (30th), and Katie Armstrong (41st) their next four runners.

Vernon Hills finished third (116 points) placing their top 5 runners in the top 45 led by Anna Todd (11th) and Reina Hill (12th). Jadyn Parker (21), Rose Sheridan (38th), and Clara Sheridan (45th) following. As the next three runners. Lakes Community made it back to state finishing fourth with 134 points. Crystal Lake Central placed fifth (147 points) followed by Prairie Ridge (148 points) and Northside Prep (159 points). Top 10 ranked Lake Forest scored 172 points to finish eighth.

The Boys race met expectations individually as Michael Schumacher of St. Viator edged Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central to win the individual sectional title. Schumacher ran 15:42 for the win four seconds ahead of Baig (15:46). Dale Johnson of Sterling ran 16:04 to finish third ahead of Cole Bernstein of Deerfield (16:11), Will Gelon of Prairie Ridge (16:17), and Tedros Mekonen of Senn (16:20).

Deerfield showed why they are a threat to win the Class 2A State title next week. The Warriors continue to come on strong placing 5 runners in the first 17 to score only 55 points. Bernstein’s top five finish was followed by Lucas Moskovitz (8th), Carter Levinson (14th), Eric Lakemaker (16th), and David Fisher (17th). Deerfield had a 46 second split on their top 5 runners. It was close between second through fifth places. Crystal Lake Central (141 points) edged Grayslake Central (143 points) by two points for second. Belvidere North (154 points) edged Woodstock (155 points) by one point for fourth. Sycamore (203 points) and Lakes (207 points) just made it to the state meet finishing sixth and seventh. Cary-Grove missed qualifying by one point. Prairie Ridge missed qualifying by three points.

Metamora Sectional

The sectional with the most changes due to the weather. The meet was moved from morning to afternoon to allow water to drain off the course. The parking area on Black Partridge Park was underwater not allowing parking on the park grounds.

Dunlap won the Girls Sectional title 64-81 ahead of Normal University. U-High’s Delaney Fitzgerald ran 17:58 to claim the individual title by 16 seconds ahead of Teagan Cover of Peoria Note Dame. Dunlap placed 5 runners in the top 28 led by top 10 finishes from Kate Robertson (3rd), Abbie Gleason (7th), and Abby Tudeen (9th). The Eagles had a top five split of 62 seconds in this meet. U-High also placed three runners in the top 10 with Fitzgerald’s win and Adriana Crabtree (5th) and Zoe Carter (6th) following. The Pioneers went down to 51st place for their fifth runner with a split on the group of over two minutes. Metamora (103 points) and Peoria Notre Dame (108 points) finished third and fourth. Normal West (131 points), Morton (142 points), and Morris (178 points) were the final three state team qualifiers from this sectional.

Morton tuned up for next week’s pursuit of a state championship easily winning the team title with only 39 points. Wilson Georges of Limestone tuned up for next week’s state race cruising to the sectional title in 15:02. Morton’s Cade Zobrist was next in 15:25 followed by his teammate Yonas Wuthrich (15:42). Limestone’s Reece Dusek (15:50) and Jackson Ward of Washington finished fourth and fifth.

Morton was just too good against the rest of the teams in this meet placing four runners in the top eight with their fifth runner Layton Knoop placing 21st. Josh Weeks followed Zobrist and Wuthrich as the team’s third runner placing sixth. Keegan Anderson finished eighth. Their top five split was 63 seconds. Peoria Notre Dame outdistanced the rest of the teams in this race besides Morton by scoring 105 points to finish second. Washington (155 points), Normal West (166 points), and Dunlap (173 points) finished third through fifth. Limestone surprised some by making it to Detweiller Park finishing sixth (198 points) with Geneseo scoring 203 points to finish seventh.