The Macomb High cross country teams headed to Detweiller Park in Peoria Saturday afternoon to run in the 48th annual Patriot Invitational hosted by Peoria Heights High School.
The boys division saw Macomb finish sixth out of 39 teams with a score of 257 points.
“Last week our boys ran well but they started too slow,” said MHS coach Douglas Bradley. “That was very much on our minds as Alex Simmons ran a 4:55 first mile. I loved the aggression.”
Elmwood/Brimfield won top team honors with a low score of 88 points. St. Joseph-Ogden was second with 94 points, followed by Delavan (132), Chillicothe IVC (168), Monticello (192) and Macomb.
Individually for the Bombers, all seven runners recorded personal bests.
Alex Simmons finished 16th overall, posting a time of 15 minutes, 44.5 seconds for the three-mile race. It was the eighth fastest time in school history.
“The first mile put me in a good position to place and get a PR, which was a relief to finally get this season,” said Simmons. “Running just behind the top pack was a lot of fun, as was running in cool, cross country weather.”
Landon Richards finished 23rd with a time of 15:48.7, the ninth fastest time in school history.
“We really didn’t know if Alex or Marc (Simmons) would be able to make it to the meet since there was a conflict with the marching band competition,” said Bradley. “That meant I had to ask Landon to race like our number one runner. He absolutely took that as a challenge. He was outstanding.”
“I was very tired when I finished but it was the best race of my life,” said Richards. “I’m now ready to go faster.”
Marc Simmons was 52nd (16:31.3), followed by Eymen Tasdan (61st, 16:42.9) and Xander Merritt (137th, 17:49.0).
Owen Haley finished 142nd (17:54.0), while Grant Potteet was 183rd (18:46.7).
Also taking part in the boys race was Bushnell-Prairie City’s Logan Joiner. He finished 280th in posting a time of 22:14.8.
Monticello’s Eli Anderson was the individual winner, topping the 299 runner field in posting a time of 14:43.4.
For the girls, MHS finished 10th out of 26 teams with a score of 342 points.
Shelbyville won the team title with a low score of 66 points.
Elmwood/Brimfield was second (123), followed by Athens (154), St. Joseph-Ogden (196) and Mercer County (204).
Pleasant Plains was sixth with 205 points, followed by Port Byron Riverdale (221), Monticello (323), Princeville (339) and Macomb.
Individually, Ella McKee topped the Bombers, finishing 32nd overall with a new season best time of 19:13.2.
“Ella has been struggling with her first mile,” Bradley noted. “(This race) she didn’t. She ran her best race of the year. I’m excited to see what she can do at home on Saturday.”
“The race went by so fast,” said McKee. “It feels very good to finally have a great start.”
Ava Weaver recorded a new personal best time in finishing 54th overall in a time of 19:53.8, the ninth fastest time in school history.
Olyvia Clark finished 112th (21:10.4), followed by Jalaine Archdale (123rd, 21:32.4, a new personal best) and Khloe Diggs (135th, 21:54.1).
Sofia Cardenas-Roman posted a new personal best time of 22:28.5 in finishing 158th, while Jaidyn Sollenberger was 177th with a time of 23:04.5.
Havana’s Kasyn Jibben claimed top individual honors, besting 235 other runners in winning the race with a new personal best time of 17:11.5.
The Bombers also captured the McMac Meridian Marker Traveling Trophy over McGivney Catholic.
The mark pays homage to the 90th meridian of longitude that runs near both schools. Macomb High is at 90.6176° West and Father McGivney Catholic High School is at 89.983° West.
The team that has the highest average place between the two schools wins the trophy.
Macomb runners averaged a 90th place finish, compared to 146th for Father McGivney.
Macomb had four runners participate in the JV boys race.
Alaric Gordon finished 64th out of 121 runners, posting a time of 20:11.3.
Colton Dawdy was 66th (20:14.1), followed by Braxton Gorman (74th, 20:38.8) and Cohen Hunt-Twomey (100th, 22:40.6).
Elmwood/Brimfield’s Ty Dawson won the race with a time of 16:42.7.
Meanwhile, in the JV girls race, Leah Gorman finished 16th out of 40 runners, recording a time of 24:16.7.
Elmwood/Brimfield’s Sophie Hulslander won the race with a time of 20:33.4.
“It was a beautiful day to race at Detweiller,” said Bradley. “All of the components were there for some fast times. The weather was fantastic, the competition was terrific, and the team was fairly well rested and ready to roll.”
“We had fourteen all-time PRs and a season PR,” he added. “We ran 19 kids so having 15 bests is about as good as it gets.”
Complete team and individual results from this meet can be found at the following link: https://www. athletic.net/CrossCountry/ meet/283995/info The Bombers, along with Joiner, will now prepare for Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 1A Regional competition at Spring Lake Park on Oct. 24.
The girls race is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with the boys race to follow at 10 a.m.
In addition to Macomb and B-PC, other teams scheduled to take part include Abingdon-Avon, Beardstown, Camp Point Central, Havana, Illini West, Liberty, LVC, Mendon Unity, Monmouth-Roseville, Monmouth United, Pittsfield, Pleasant Hill, Rushville- Industry, South Fulton, West Hancock and West Prairie/Southeastern.
