Cross country: Elijah House, Lexi Bohms look to improve on previous year’s state finishes

The final road of the season will take two Bureau County runners to Peoria for Saturday’s IHSA State Cross Country Meet.

Princeton senior Lexi Bohms and Bureau Valley senior Elijah House will both be making a return to State, which will be run at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Bohms finished 19th with a time of 20:51, claiming the 10th and final individual qualifying spot at the Oregon Sectional, just one second behind ninth-place qualifier Ellen Dannhorn of Oregon.

Bohms becomes the first PHS runner to qualify for State two years in a row since Rebekah Faber and Megan Birkey both ran in 2001 and 2002. Faber was state runner-up in her first trip and placed sixth the second time.

PHS coach Pat Hodge said they are hopeful Bohms can beating her place from last year (72nd).

“She was 45 seconds from the top 25 last year. Hopefully, we can whittle that gap down some,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s looking like the weather may play a factor as far as times go with rain and high winds forecasted for overnight on Friday and the morning on Saturday.”

Normal U-High freshmen Natalie Bierbaum is favored to win the state race. Teammate Zoe Carter will be in a pack behind her including Tolono Unity junior Eric Woodard and Monticello senior Mabry Bruhn. Sandwich freshman Sundara Weber, the Seneca Regional and Oregon Sectional champion, is seeded 13th.

Tolono Unity and Normal U-High are the top two ranked teams.

House was the third individual qualifier at sectional, finishing 10th overall with a time of 17:16.6. He joins a long list of repeat BV state qualifiers.

BV coach Bob Benck said House is poised to make the top 50 at State. He finished 156th at state a year ago.

Ethan Hogan of Columbia and Gavin Genisio of Benton are a toss-up for the top two spots. Tommy Murray of Riverdale, is hopeful for a top 5 finish.

DePaul College Prep and Normal University are the favored top two boys teams.