The Macomb High cross country squads raced their way to a pair of team titles at Saturday’s Western Illinois University High School Cross Country Invitational.
The meet was held at Vince Grady Field on the WIU campus.
“Home cooking is precisely what was needed,” said MHS coach Douglas Bradley. “Coach Rosado of WIU and his staff put together a great course for us to race on and Mother Nature did her part by dialing down the temps.”
“The kids were itching to cut loose and I’m ecstatic about the outcomes,” he added. “I think we had 15 kids run their all time personal bests. We had two more that ran their season best times. To top that off we had five girls win medals and the boys took home six. That’s one heck of a day.”
The girls competition saw MHS post a team-low score of 29 points in taking top honors.
Quincy Notre Dame was next with 46 points, followed by South Fulton (58), Monmouth-Roseville (106) and West Prairie/Southeastern (124).
The Bombers had five runners finish in the top 15.
Sophomore Ella McKee finished third overall with a time of 19 minutes, 58.7 seconds on the three-mile course.
“I struggled over that first mile,” said McKee. “It was definitely the weakest part of my race. I felt like I bounced back during the last mile though.”
Senior Ava Weaver placed sixth, recording a personal best time of 20:31.2. Meanwhile, sophomore Khloe Diggs was eighth, running a season best time of 21:38.8.
“Ava Weaver ran her second all-time PR of the year,” noted Bradley. “She’s been running well in practice and I’m happy that she got a solid race in so she can see some pay off for all of that work.”
“I was happy with my effort,” said Weaver. “Everything was feeling real good over those first two miles, but then my ankle started to hurt in that last mile. That’s the part of the race that I really need to work on going forward.”
Freshman Jalaine Archdale set a new personal best time of 22:30.5 in finishing 12th, while junior Sofia Cardenas-Roman finished 15th, recording a new personal best time of 22:49.4.
Freshman Jaidyn Sollenberger was 17th with a personal best time of 22:59.6, while classmate Chloe Dupoy also recorded a new personal best, finishing 31st with a time of 24:51.2.
Sophomore Leah Gorman finished 44th with a time of 27:25.1.
“We rested Olyvia Clark and Allexis Gray, so the girls were missing two big varsity contributors,” said Bradley. “That meant that the younger girls were really going to have to step up to fill those spots.”
“I couldn’t be much more happy about the way they responded,” he added. “Khloe Diggs, Jalaine Archdale, Sofia Cardenas- Roman, and Jaidyn Sollenberger were outstanding. Khloe ran her season best while the other three all ran all-time bests. That pushed the girls to a pretty sizable win.”
“Ella McKee put herself near the front of the race and held her spot,” Bradley said. “She’s such a talented girl and I respect that she pushed herself to lead her team on a day when she was missing two valuable teammates.”
For West Prairie/Southeastern,
four of the five runners taking part recorded
personal bests.
Layla Dallefeld was 23rd with a time of 23:42.9.
Alice Heinzel was 37th (PB, 25:35.1), followed by Daylee Smith (PB, 42nd, 26:34.8), Emmalyn Wilson (43rd, 27:02.2) and Chleo Cutsinger (PB, 46th, 27:35.8).
Cutsinger is a sophomore, while other Cyclone runners are freshmen.
“The girls had a strong showing with multiple girls dropping over a minute from their personal best,” said WP/SE coach Logan Lommel. “Layla Dallefeld started the season with a 27:46, (this race) she ran 23:42.”
Monmouth United freshman Hayven Rundle bested 48 other runners in capturing top individual honors, posting a personal best time of 18:24.5.
Quincy Notre Dame junior Elcee Waters was second with a new season best time of 19:13.0.
In the boys race, the Bombers posted a perfect score of 15 points in besting five other teams.
“They really wanted to get out and lay down some good times. That’s just what they did,” said Bradley. “The 54 second split between our number one runner and our number five was the best it’s been all season. That shows that the top five guys are running with a purpose. They really want their season to last into November and end in Peoria (at state).”
West Prairie/Southeastern was second with 80 points, followed by Farmington (93), Rushville-Industry (101), Monmouth United (102) and Quincy Notre Dame (121).
All 12 Bombers runners recorded either personal bests or season bests with six placing in the top 10.
Senior Alex Simmons finished second overall out of 65 runners, completing the three-mile race in a new season best time of 16:10.8.
“Alex Simmons made the team important (this race),” said Bradley. “He saw Karter Chenoweth out there looking to take the win and he didn’t take the bait. He ran a smart race and followed a race plan that helped usher his teammates to all time personal bests.”
“The race went really well, and having Jackson (Petitgout) to run the whole race with was really beneficial,” said Simmons. “Seeing all of the PRs the team got today just made the day that much better.”
Speaking of Petitgout, the sophomore was third (PB, 16:14.9), followed by sophomore Landon Richards (fourth, PB, 16:30.0), senior Eymen Tasdan (sixth, PB, 17:02.9), senior Marc Simmons (seventh, PB, 17:03.9) and sophomore Owen Haley (10th, PB, 18:14.0).
“Jackson Petitgout just keeps stacking good races on top of good races,” said Bradley. “He’s on a collision course with a sub 16:00 finish any day.”
“I had trouble getting into a rhythm in the first half mile, but after that things felt pretty controlled,” said Petitgout. “That last mile was the best part of the race for me.”
“Eymen Tasdan commented to me that last year at WIU he felt like he had the fastest time he would ever have in a race,” said Bradley. “It’s funny because he’s been faster in three of his five races this year. He worked his tail off this summer and is so much fun to watch him reap the rewards.”
“I’m so lucky to have Marc (Simmons) as my training partner,” said Tasdan. “I just kept reminding myself that if I can run with Marc in our time trials, I can run with him in the race.”
Junior Grant Pottett was 21st for the Bombers (PB, 19:06.5), followed by freshmen Apurva Kapale (39th, PB, 20:13.6), Ben Enroth (46th, PB, 20:54.8), Braxton Gorman (48th, PB, 21:18.9) and TJ Steele (53rd, PB, 21:45.3).
Senior Cohen Hunt-Twomey recorded a season best time of 22:07.9 in finishing 59th.
West Prairie/Southeastern had nine runners taking part, all recording either personal bests or season bests.
The Cyclones had three runners finish in the top 16, led by sophomore Ayden Lacey, who placed eighth overall with a personal best time of 17:23.6.
Sophomore Milo Rodeffer was 15th (PB, 18:37.1), while senior Payton Totten was 16th (PB, 18:40.3). Junior Mason Sorrells was 31st (PB, 19:48.9), while sophomore Ian Fentem was 32nd (PB, 19:54.2).
“For the first time in school history our top five were under 20 minutes,” noted Lommel. “Mason Sorrells, for example, ran 22:09 on this course last year. (This race) he came in at 19:48. Another highlight was Payton Totten, who after a homecoming football game (the previous) night took 16th overall.”
Sophomore Ezra Bithos finished 40th for West Prairie (SB, 20:25.2), followed by freshman Connor Griswold (PB, 44th, 20:37.0), junior Jacob Foust, 54th (PB, 21:56.2) and freshman Cashton Shipman (65th, PB, 24:37.4).
“For West Prairie Southeastern Cross Country, we could not have had much of a better day,” said Lommel. “Thirteen of our 14 runners ran a season best, and 12 of those runners ran their lifetime best. Every one of them had a great time and contributed to our team’s success and culture.”
“A couple of our athletes were injured, and they came to take pictures or support the team,” he added.
“Our sport is about personal improvement, and these young athletes have shown that hard work and dedication pays off when you stay persistent,” said Lommel. “I’m very proud of them.”
For Bushnell-Prairie City, senior Logan Joiner finished 64th with a time of 24:22.2.
South Fulton sophomore Karter Chenoweth posted a personal best time of 15:53.6 in winning top individual honors.
Complete individual results from this race can be found at the following link: https://www.athletic.net/ CrossCountry/meet/283529/ info Macomb and West Prairie will head to Farmington Tuesday to run in the Prairieland Conference Meet.
