The Macomb and West Prairie/Southeastern High School cross country teams headed to Detweiller Park in Peoria Saturday for the annual First to the Finish Invitational.
“This meet was an important one for us because we are training much faster than we raced at Galesburg,” said MHS coach Douglas Bradley. “We needed to run fast here in Peoria and I’m pretty pleased with the results.”
“The boys were especially strong,” he added. “Putting 3 guys under 17:00 is a first for Macomb cross country since I’ve been here. I’d venture to guess that we could go back and look at the past 10 years and struggle to find three guys wearing the orange that ran that fast in the same meet.”
“The girls took a step forward too. They got some PRs and season bests. I saw some smiles after the race,” Bradley concluded.
“The team had a great performance,” said WP/SE coach Logan Lommel of his teams. “Seven of the 14 athletes that competed at the race achieved a personal record, with even more achieving their fastest mark on the course.”
“Another thing that struck me with our team’s performance was how many athletes were happy about competing their best, but they still felt hungry for their next opportunities and the goals they have set for the rest of the season,” Lommel added.
Running in the Class 1A events, the MHS girls finished 18th out of 53 teams, finishing with a score of 590 points.
Ella McKee led the way for the Bombers, finishing 48th out of 513 runners, posting a time of 19 minutes, 54.2 seconds for the three-mile course.
“This race felt pretty good,” said McKee. “I liked the crowd and I felt like it made me go faster.”
“Ella’s coming off a long winter and spring in which her legs haven’t felt 100 percent, “ said Bradley. “She’s finally seeing the light at the end of that injury tunnel. She’s just scratching the surface on her potential for this season.”
Newcomer Olyvia Clark was next for MHS, finishing 60th with a time of 20:16.6.
“I really liked my first 2.5 miles. I felt I had a good pace and was gaining on girls,” said Clark. “I’m still working on getting better over the last half mile of races.”
“Olyvia is new to us so we’re still learning how to maximize her talents,” said Bradley. “She works so hard in practice and has had some exceptional practices. Once that practice confidence begins to morph into race confidence, she’ll be a force.”
Ava Weaver placed 115th with a time of 21:15.2. Sofia Cardenas-Roman finished 231st running a personal best time of 23:05.9.
Jaidyn Sollenberger finished 255th, also running a personal bst time of 23:30.1.
Khloe Diggs recorded a season best time of 23:48.4 to finish 270th, while Leah Gorman was 397th (26:19.1) and Chloe Dupoy was 421st, recording a personal best time of 27:00.5.
West Prairie/Southeastern finished 52nd in the team standings with 1,388 points.
But all five Cyclone runners recorded either season bests or personal bests.
Brynlee Finch led the way for WP/SE, finishing 291st with a season best time of 24:09.7.
The remaining four runners all recorded personal bests.
Alice Heinzel was 384th (25:57.1), followed by Emmalyn Wilson (386th, 26:03.0), Daylee Smith (420th, 27:00.4) and Chloe Cutsinger (456th, 28:21.6).
“All of our girls improved their mark, but sophomore Chloe Cutsinger stood out with over a three minute improvement in one race,” said Lommel.
Aubrey Denning of Effingham St. Anthony won the race with a time of 17:39.7.
In the final team standings, Eureka led the way with a low score of 99 points. Winnebago (107) was next, followed by Anna-Jonesboro (187).
The Class 1A boys race included 67 teams with the Bombers finishing 16th with a score of 452 points.
Eight runners for the Bombers either recorded season bests or personal bests.
Alex Simmons led the way for the Bombers, recording a season best time of 16:23.0 to finish 47th out of 777 runners.
“I was really happy with how it turned out,” said Alex Simmons. “My splits were really even and the team’s times overall were really impressive.”
“The race plan involved Alex’s teammates running with him for the first mile,” said Bradley. “He could’ve gone faster, but he’s the ultimate team guy and he kept the pace right where they could stick with him.”
“At the mile he was leading our pack of five who were between 5:25 and 5:35. He followed that up with a 5:33 and another 5:25,” Bradley added. “He ran smart and gave his teammates one heck of a boost over those first 1600-plus meters.
Jackson Petitgout recorded a new personal best as he finished 66th overall in a time of 16:38.2.
“I had a very strong start and stayed with teammates the entire race,” said Petitgout. “I felt more fatigued than for any other race but still ran a personal best so I’m happy.”
“Jackson’s confidence as a sophomore has really grown over the past year,” said Bradley. “(Assistant) coach (Ryan) Ames did a great job putting him in situations where he felt confident in track and that has carried over. The sky's the limit.”
Landon Richards had a season best time, finishing 89th in 16:52.1.
Marc Simmons posted a new personal best time finishing 116th in a time of 17:08.0.
“I kept my foot on the pedal the whole time, I thought,” said Marc Simmons. “I didn’t go into sleep running at all in the cow’s head (isolated back section of the course with few fans) or anywhere else, and I was always trying to hang on to the person in front of me.”
“What a huge race this was for Marc,” said Bradley “He’s been a steady presence in our top five pretty much all four years and now, as a senior, he’s seeing some significant time drops. I love this for him.”
Eymen Tasdan ran a personal best time of 17:36.0 to finish 166th, while Xander Merritt had a season best time of 18:48.9 to finish 297th.
Other results for the Bombers included Owen Haley (430th, 19:55.2), Apurva Kapale (494th, 20:34.1, personal best), Grant Potteet (501st, 20:39.8, personal best), Ben Enroth (592nd, 21:37.6), Alaric Gordon (615th, 22:05.3), Braxton Gorman (662nd, 22:42.3), TJ Steele (676th, 23:06.6) and Cohen Hunt-Twomey (696th, 23:30.4).
West Prairie finished 60th in the team standings with 1,604 points.
Ayden Lacey led the way for the Cyclones, posting a season-best time of 17:37.3 to finish 169th.
“Ayden Lacey was the highlight of the night for the boys,” said Lommel. “He ran his season best and placed over 100 places higher than he had the year before.”
Milo Rodeffer was 458th (20:09.5), followed by Mason Sorrells (507th, 20:42.5, personal best), Ian Fentem (542nd, 20:58.8, season best), Connor Griswold (561st, 21:21.5, personal best), Ezra Bithos (583rd, 21:30.5), Michael Lynn (668th, 22:50.5, personal best), Jacob Foust (730th, 25:13.7, season best) and Cashton Shipman (756th, 26:59.6, personal best).
Individually, Stark County’s Evan Knobloch won the race in a time of 14:57.8.
Clinton topped the team standing with a low score of 192 points, followed by East Dubuque (197) and Eureka (229).
The Bombers return to action Sept. 19, running in the Geneseo Invitational at Richmond Hill in Geneseo.
Meanwhile, WP/SE will head to the Quincy Notre Dame Runnin’ Raider Invite Tuesday at South Park in Quincy.
