By Shelby Burget
The Macomb High and West Prairie High School cross country teams headed to Detweiller Park in Peoria Saturday for the “First to the Finish” competition.
The Macomb High boys ran in the Class 2A race. As a team the Bombers finished 39th out of 64 teams with 1,181 points.
Peoria Notre Dame topped the field with a low score of 190.
Individually for Macomb, Alex Simmons led the way as he finished 152nd out of 554 runners. He posted a time of 17 minutes and two seconds for the three-mile course.
Landon Richards was next for the Bombers, finishing 221st (17:37). Following Richards was Marc Simmons (229th, 17:39.80), Jackson Petitgout (339th, 18:36.10) and Eymen Tasdan (359th, 18:46.40), Rounding out the results for MHS were Xander Merritt (429th, 19:32.30), Cohen Hunt-Twomey (491st, 20:33.80), Thomas Ashwood (493rd, 20:35.90) and Grant Potteet (528th, 22:45.30).
Maple Park Kaneland’s Carson Kaiser won top individual honors, recording a time of 14:28.30.
The MHS girls raced in the open three-mile division, finishing 39th of 54 teams with a score of 997 points.
Chatham-Glenwod posted a low score of 134. Individually for the Bombers, Ella McKee led the way, finishing 108th out of 457 runners with a time of 20:35.30.
Ava Weaver was next (156th, 21:22.10), followed by Allexis Gray (218th, 22:08.80), Khloe Diggs (298th, 23:16.90) and Sofia Cardenas-Roman (326th, 23:56.80).
Leah Gorman (439th, 28:15.30) and Jackie Rouse (450th, 30:44.50) rounded out the result for the Bombers.
Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge’s Emaline Foster won the race in a time of 16:56.20.
The West Prairie boys ran in the Class 1A race, finishing 55th out of 62 schools with a score of 1,500.
Eureka claimed the team title with a low score of 172. Individually for the Cyclones, Ezra Bithos led the way, finishing 210th out of 689 runners posting a time of 17:58.60.
Ayden Lacey was next (279th, 18:39.90), followed by Milo Rodeffer (473rd, 20:29.30), Ian Fentem (559th, 21:42.10), Mason Sorrells (592nd, 22:41.10) and Jacob Foust (678th, 27:54.50).
Chaz Oberkfell of Gillespie captured top individual honors, winning the race in a time of 14:56.40.
Brynlee Finch ran in the Class 1A girls race, finishing 206th of 421 runners with a time of 22:40.80.
Sundara Weber of Sandwich won the race with a time of 16:18.70.
Complete results from all races held Saturday can be found at the following link: https://www.athletic.net/Cross-Country/meet/256737/info The Bombers will next race on Sept. 20 in the Geneseo Invitational at Richmond Hill.
West Prairie will run in Tuesday’s QND Runnin’ Raider Invite at South Park in Quincy.
