Middle school runners from Macomb, Bushnell-Prairie City and West Prairie qualified for this week’s Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) State Cross Country finals following their efforts in Sectional competition on Saturday.
There are four classes in cross country as split by the IESA with each class divided into eight sectionals.
The top three teams in each of the eight sectionals, along with the top seven individuals from non-qualifying teams earn spots to the state finals at Maxwell park in Normal.
In the Class 3A Sectional H meet at Pleasant Plains Middle School, the Macomb Middle School boys captured the sectional champions posting a low score of 47 points.
Pleasant Plains was second with 69, followed by East St. Louis Clark with 86.
Individually, MMS runners won the top two spots.
Ethan Haley was the sectional champion, besting 84 other runners in completing the two-mile course in a time of 11 minutes, 34.2 seconds.
Teammate Jaxon Worthington was second, finishing with a time of 11:42.0.
Pedro Langworthy was 16th for the Bombers (12:27.9), followed by Elijah Gorman (19th, 12:33.0), Cameron Thorman (21st, 12:36.3), Kylen Gordon (24th, 12:48.6) and Justice Peters (42nd, 13:40.3).
Meanwhile, in the girls race, Macomb finished sixth with 144 points.
Bethalto Trimpe won the team title with a low score of 54 points.Williamsville (65) was second, followed by host Pleasant Plains (66).
The Bombers had two runners qualify as individuals for the state competition.
Evelyn Goc was 11th over, posting a time of 13:18.7. Meanwhile, teammate Nora Hoge was 14th, finishing the race in a time of 13:58.7.
Other runners for the Bombers included Violet Louden (34th, 15:36.2), Andi Kovacs (37th, 15:52.1), Everly Hopper (66th, 19:16.1), Cassady Garlick (75th, 22:55.2) and Kinley Taylor (77th, 25;28.5).
McKenzlee Wilcockson of Pleasant Plains bested 76 other runners to take top individual honors, posting a time of 12:41.9.
Complete team and individual results from this meet can be found at the following link: https://www.athletic.net/ CrossCountry/meet/282501/ info Meanwhile, in Class 1A Sectional H at Uhland Acres in Liberty, West Prairie and B-PC had runners earn state berths.
For the girls, West Prairie’s Josie Caho finished seventh out of 54 runners with a time of 14:18.6.
Also earning a spot in the state finals was B-PC’s Claire Runyan, who finished ninth overall with a time of 14:22.6.
Other girls racing Saturday were West Prairie’s Lillian Grigis (36th, 18:30.0), along with B-PC’s Victoria Lawrence (46th, 19:47.8) and Parker Turner (53rd, 21:28.6).
Liberty’s Raelee Obert won the 54-runner race with a time of 13:33.9 54.
The team standing saw Monmouth ICS (40), Liberty (43) and Mendon Unity (92) move on to state competition.
In the boys meet, B-PC and West Prairie also had one runner advance.
For B-PC, Elijah Rodeffer finished fourth overall with a time of 12:34.9. Meanwhile, West Prairie’s Coy Link placed sixth, finishing in 12:44.8.
Other runners for B-PC included James Webb (29th, 14:20.2), Carter Curry (38th, 15:14.1), Murphy Curry (52nd, 16:48.9) and Isaiah Rodeffer (56th, 18:28.5).
Other runners for West Prairie included Decklan Stanberry (51st, 16:39.7), Fox Markham (57th, 18:33.6), Rafe Leenerts (59th, 19:07.9), Otto Traviolia (61st, 19:44.3) and Oskar Traviolia (69th, 27:30.0).
Greenview’s Carter Johnson won top individual honors, posting a time of 11:44.9.
In the final team standings, B-PC was sixth with 149 points, while West Prairie was eighth with 195 points.
Greenview (56), Jacksonville Our Saviour (64) and Liberty (78) qualified in team competition.
Complete team and individual results from this meet can be found at the following link: https://www.athletic.net/ CrossCountry/meet/282397/ info More on the state cross country finals can be found at: https://www.iesa.org/activities/ cc/
