Buoyed by five runners finishing in the top nine, the Macomb High boys cross country team captured the Prairieland Conference title Tuesday afternoon at Farmington High School.
Meanwhile, West Prairie/ Southeastern claimed third place in the boys division.
For the girls, Macomb finished second behind Elmwood/ Brimfield.
The team scores for the boys saw MHS finish with a low score of 30 points.
Elmwood/Brimfield was next with 41 points, followed by West Prairie/Southeastern (98), LVC (101), Farmington (130) and South Fulton (134).
“I’m so happy for them,” said MHS cross country coach Douglas Bradley. “From the 14th boy to the first boy, they’ve all contributed to the team culture and ethos.”
“I’m incredibly lucky to be working with such a good group of boys who have made each other and each other’s goals important,” he added. “This is a successful team and it has little to do with how fast they are running.”
“(Former MHS coach) Randy Ames told me after the race that the Macomb boys haven’t beaten Elmwood/ Brimfield since 2005 in the sectional race,” said Bradley.
The top five runners for the Bombers featured a 43 second split with all five earning all-conference honors in the process.
Alex Simmons finished third overall out of 69 runners, completing the three-mile course in a time of 16 minutes, 10.6 seconds, a season best.
Jackson Petitgout was fourth with a new personal best time of 16:13.6. Landon Richards was sixth (16:31.9), followed by Marc Simmons (eighth, 16:52.5, PB) and Eymen Tasdan (ninth, 16:53.5, PB).
“Alex Simmons was orchestrating his pack’s route, pace and adjustments,” said Bradley. “It’s like we have a coach out on every inch of the course. It’s cool, too, that he just finished as an all-conference medal winner in the Prairieland for the third time.”
“I’m so proud of this team,” said Alex Simmons. “We all executed the race plans well and the results showed.”
“Last year Jackson Petitgout finished in 11th and was the first non-medal winner to cross the line,” said Bradley. “I remember anticipating that he would break 17:00 for the first time at the conference and that he would be running with Landon Richards. Well, he ran over 17:30 and was a good 0:40 behind Landon. This year, he knocked every expectation out of the park.”
“I felt very strong at the start and stayed in front with Alex all race,” said Petitgout. “I felt we pushed each other very well. I was very excited to learn that we won.”
“Landon Richards felt like the end of his race was a disappointment,” said Bradley. “It wasn’t for the team. His execution was fabulous and he’s only getting better.”
“I need to get the ending right, but I’m feeling amazing,” said Richards.
“Marc Simmons, I feel, really put our opponents in some discomfort,” said Bradley. “He was the one setting the pace in the second pack when I saw them about 1K into the race. When I saw him again about 1.5 miles in he was still pushing the pace. The next time I saw him, the outcome for our opponents was clear.”
“I am very happy about the team’s and my performance,” said Marc Simmons. “Winning by that much after being the underdog by that much is extremely impressive and I’m really proud of our team.”
“For me, I thought that I was mostly pushing forward, but from just before the second mile to the 2.5 mile mark I kind of fell asleep and fell off of Eymen (Tasdan). At the 2.5 mile mark, I realized that it kind of felt like the race at WIU where I wasn’t content with how I pushed myself, so I woke up and pushed that half mile hard, which I am pretty happy about.”
As for tasdan, Bradley noted that he hit a big goal. He’s a little brother and Karem, his older brother, has held the family bragging rights for the fastest ever race time. That went down (this race) by five seconds.
“I’m very very happy, and wondering how much faster I could’ve gone if the temps and footing were better too,” said Tasdan. “It was hot out there and I felt like I had a lull in the middle of the race.”
Xander Merritt was 24 for the Bombers (18:28.2, PB), followed by Owen Haley (27th, 18:50.9), Grant Potteet (36th, 19:43.0), Apurva Kapale (43rd, 20:47.2) and Ben Enroth (44th, 21:04.2).
Rounding out the results for the MHS boys were Coheh Hunt-Twomey (46th, 21:12.4, SB), Braxton Gorman (48th, 21:26.3), TJ Steele (51st, 21:57.7) and Colton Dawdy (62nd, 23:13.8, PB).
“I really felt like the boys’ race might play out differently,” said Bradley. “I expected that Elmwood’s No. 1 and No. 2 would be racing together and that didn’t happen. That allowed Alex, Jackson, and Landon to slide in between their No. 1 and their No. 2. That order held for most of the race.”
“The key piece then became Marc and Eymen,” he added. “They dictated the pace that Elmwood’s No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 had to race at and, at least for (this race), Elmwood couldn’t hold the pace.”
“I’m sure they’ll have work on some things and be ready for us at their place on Sectional Saturday (Oct. 31). They’re a good team,” said Bradley.
For the Cyclones, five of the top six runners recorded either personal bests or season bests.
Ayden Lacey finished 13th overall, recording a personal best time of 17:16.6.
Milo Rodeffer was 23rd (18:27.7, PB), followed by Payton Totten (25th, 18:37.0, PB), Ezra Bithos (35th, 19:36.9, SB) and Ian Fentem (42nd, 20:22.5).
Michael Lynn was 49th for WP/SE (21:32.9, PB), followed by Connor Griswold (64th, 24:16.6), Jacob Foust (65th, 24:38.2) and Cashton Shipman (68th, 27:23.5).
Bushnell-Prairie City’s Logan Joiner finished 53rd, recording a season-best time of 22:12.7.
South Fulton’s Karter Chenoweth won the race with a new personal best time of 15:37.0.
Elmwood/Brimfield’s Cole Cahill finished second, posting a season best time of 15;43.4.
In the girls race, Elmwood/ Brimfield won the team title with a low score of 26 points.
MHS was second with 59 points, followed by LVC (81), South Fulton (89) and Havana (112).
WP/SE did not field a full squad and did not figure in the team scores.
“For the girls the race plan didn’t hold together,” said Bradley. “We kind of got punched hard right at the start and maybe doubted ourselves some at a critical point.”
“Racing is hard and when the other team has a plan to make it harder by starting fast then there has to be a backup plan,” he added. “I think I let the girls down by not having them ready for that.”
Two runners from MHS earned all-conference honors.
Ella McKee finished seventh out of 46 runners, posting a time of 20:21.4, while Ava Weaver was eighth, running the three-mile course in a time of 20:35.8.
“Ella would tell you she had a bad day, but she’s so good that her bad day was better than 38 other girls,” said Bradley.
“This course was challenging and so was the heat,” said McKee. “I felt OK but I’m disappointed. I know I can go faster.”
“Ava Weaver had another nice race,” said Bradley. “It’s her third all-conference finish. I’m happy that she bounced back to get a medal this year after missing out as a junior.”
“I’m satisfied with how I ran,” said Weaver. “I should’ve gone faster towards the end though.”
Olyvia Clark finished 11th (21:38.5), followed by Khloe Diggs (17th, 23:08.4) and Sofia Cardenas-Roman (18th, 23:10.9).
Jaidyn Sollenberger was 26th (24:08.5), followed by Jalaine Archdale (31st, 24:40.4), Chloe Dupoy (32nd, 25:02.3) and Leah Gorman (41st, 21:13.5).
WP/SE had three runners participate.
Alice Heinzel was 38th (28:33.3), followed by Daylee Smith (42nd, 31:20.0) and Chloe Cutsinger (43rd, 32:10.6).
Havana’s Kasyn Jibben won the race with a time of 18:28.4, finishing nearly one minute ahead of runner-up Mya Hill from Elmwood/ Brimfield.
Complete individual results from this meet can be found at the following link: www.athletic.net/Cross-Country/meet/283983/info Next up for the Bombers will be the Gene Jones Runnin’ Red Invitational at Black Partridge Park in Metamora on Oct. 10.
Meanwhile, WP/SE runners will head to Jacksonville Community Park on Saturday to run in the Dan Moy Invitational.
Joiner will head to Elmwood Saturday to run in the Elmwood/Brimfield Invitational at Maple Lane Country Club.
