2022 Amboy Columbus Day Invitational Preview

Girls race led by Winnebago, Eureka highlights this holiday meet

By Michael Newman [email protected]

The Columbus Day holiday in Illinois is a day off for schools in the state. For most teams on Monday, it is an opportunity to get a hard workout in before their conference meet. There are 34 Girls teams and 37 Boys teams that will head to the small town of Sublette just south of Amboy for the traditional of running against fellow Class 1A schools on the hallowed Shady Oaks Golf Course.

The 49th edition of this Columbus Day holiday meet is the only high school meet that takes place on this day. All focus is on the close 200 runners in each of the Varsity races as they toe the starting line.

Second ranked Winnebago is the defending team champion in this meet but will be challenged by #3 Eureka and #4 Rosary in the Varsity Girls race. Mabry Bruhn of Monticello finished fourth last year and is the top returning runner. 10 Class 1A ranked teams are in this field.

Host school Amboy is the defending team champ in this meet. #7 Eureka and #12 Elmwood are the top two teams in this year’s Boys race. Bryson Grant of Iroquois West finished third last year and is the top returning runner in this race and the favorite.

Here is a glimpse of what to watch for in Monday’s races.

Live Results | 2021 Race Highlights : Boys | Girls

Girls Race – 10:30 AM

Teams (34 Total, 10 Ranked) – #2 Winnebago, #3 Eureka, #4 Rosary, #11 Johnsburg, #18 Rock Falls, #20 Seneca, #21 Elmwood, #22 Monticello, #27 Sherrard, #29 Mercer County, Amboy, Aurora Central Catholic, Beecher, Byron, East Dubuque, Erie-Prophetstown, Franklin, Iroquois West, Kankakee McNamara, Kewanee, Lanark Eastland, Mendota, Minonk Fieldcrest, Morrison, Oregon, Orion, Ottawa Marquette, Peru St. Bede, Polo, Sterling Newman, Stillman Valley, Stockton, Taylor Ridge Rockridge, Woodstock Marian Central Catholic

Preview – Winnebago has been ranked 2nd in Class 1A since finishing behind Tolono Unity at First to the Finish on September 10. Bago will get single digits in the first three places with Grace Erb, Marissa Roggensack, and Kaylee Woolery all most likely finishing in the top five. Any of these three runners could win this race. Winnebago finished second in their last race on their home course behind #10 Hononegah. Their top five split continues to get smaller. It was over four minutes in their opening race of the season. Bago had a split just over three minutes in their last race at Freeport on October 1.

Eureka is just like Winnebago improving in every race. The Hornets won easily against a good field at Elmwood on October 1 placing Claire Albertson, Meika Bender, and Laurel Munson in the top 11. Eureka had a 66 second top five split in that race. Placing their top seven runners in before Winnebago’s fourth runner could secure them a win.

Rosary has been competing mainly against 2A / 3A schools this season. In their last race on October 1 was at the Wheaton North Falcon Classic against 3A schools where they finished 11th out of 15 schools. Chiara Surtz finished 11 in last year’s race while her sister Lianna won the race. Their top five split at the Naperville Girls Invitational on September 23 was almost three minutes off Surtz. That split will need to be cut down for the Royals to challenge Eureka and Winnebago up front. Johnsburg and Rock Falls are the next two ranked teams in this field.

Mabry Bruhn of Monticello ran 18:15 on this 2.95-mile course and could challenge for the win with the Winnebago trio of Grace Erb, Marissa Roggensack, and Kaylee Woolery close to the lead. Eden Mueller of Mercer County ran 18:11 last week at Elmwood and is a runner to watch challenge for the win. Hana Ford of Rock Falls, Jolene Cashmore of Johnsburg, Claire Albertson and Laurel Munson of Eureka, Addie Symonds of Elmwood, Chiara Surtz of Rosary, and Evelyn O’Connor of Seneca

Boys Race – 11:15 AM

Teams (37 Total, 7 Ranked) – #7 Eureka, #12 Elmwood, #18 Aurora Central Catholic, #24 Monticello, #25 Mercer County, #27 Winnebago, #28 Sterling Newman, Amboy, Beecher, Bureau Valley, Byron, East Dubuque, Erie-Prophetstown, Franklin, Hinckley-Big Rock, Iroquois West, Johnsburg, Kankakee McNamara, Kewanee, Lanark Eastland, Mendota, Mercer County, Minonk Fieldcrest, Morrison, Oregon, Peru St. Bede, Polo, Putnam County, Rock Falls, Seneca, Shabbona Indian Creek, Sherrard, Stillman Valley, Stockton, Taylor Ridge Rockridge, Westmont, Woodstock Marian Central Catholic

Preview – Eureka and Elmwood faced each other on October 1 at the Elmwood Invitational. The #7 Hornets placed their top five in the first 30 places to win the meet by 22 points ahead of host Elmwood. We should see a similar race at Amboy on Monday. Charlie Bardwell was the individual winner in that race and will challenge for a top five finish along with teammate Carson Lehman. Isaiah Hill finished fourth behind the two Eureka runners in that race. The Trojans put six runners across the line before Eureka’s fifth runner crossed. Elmwood just needs to move the pack up where they can place four runners in before Eureka’s third crosses or Hill finishes between Bardwell and Lehman.

Aurora Central Catholic has received a boost now that Patrick Hilby has concentrated on running instead of football. The Chargers finished third behind two Class 2A teams at the Lisle Mane Meet on October 1. ACC has a solid first three led by Hilby followed by James Stolfe and Armando Acosta. The split in their last meet on those runners was 44 seconds. Their top five split was 96 seconds. Closing that gap down could put this team in position to finish in the top two.

Bryson Grant of Iroquois West was undefeated this year until the Lisle meet where he finished six seconds behind Daniel Winkelman placing third. Grant is the big favorite in Monday’s race having finished third in 2021. Patrick Hilby was 32 seconds behind Grant in that Lisle race and could challenge for a top five spot with Eureka’s Charlie Bardwell and Carson Lehman and Elmwood’s Isaiah Hill. Kyler McNinch of Amboy, Jacob Elston of Monticello, Austin Aldridge of Seneca, Derek Coulter of Mercer County, and Aurora Central Catholic’s James Stolfe and Armando Acosta are some runners you could see finish in the top 10.