Cross country: Lots of locals punch tickets to state meet at 1A Oregon Sectional

OREGON – Nearly every year, Erie-Prophetstown, Newman and Rock Falls are in a dogfight for the final team qualification spots at the 1A boys cross country sectional. This year was no different, as the Comets grabbed the sixth and final berth, while Rock Falls and E-P were ninth and 10th.

“What a relief,” Newman coach Pat Warkins said.

It’s one of the oldest sports clichés, but this truly was a team effort by Newman, as the highest individual finisher was Lucas Simpson (17:44.1) at 28th, which wouldn’t have even made it as an individual qualifier. Close behind was Lucas Schaab (17:54.2) at 31st.

“Team-wise, our No. 4 [Wyatt Widolff] and 5 [Ryan Welty] stepped up a lot,” Schaab said.

In between was Ken Boesen, who ran the race without one shoe after being spiked at the start. Boesen was 45th (18:18), Widolff was 54th (18:29), and the freshman Welty was 78th (19:10.2).

“Truthfully, the fifth guy made the difference,” Warkins said. “Ryan made great strides in last three weeks. Certainly, the tightness [difference between first and fifth place] of our group helped us out.”

Rock Falls had two individual qualifiers in Jose Gomez in 11th (17:18.9) and Anthony Valdivia right behind in 12th (17:19.4).

“We may not have a lot of talent, but this comes down to whoever is toughest. Running in 100% mental,” Valdivia said.

Elijah House of Bureau Valley will be making a return trip to state, finishing just ahead of the Rocket duo with a 17:16.6 clocking.

“I can’t be too disappointed in that,” House said.

Add Carson Jones of Polo to that list of senior returning qualifiers. He improved from 26th place and 17:59 in 2021 to 18th place and 17:28.9 this season.

“We came here earlier in the week and picked out my weaknesses on the course,” Jones said. “That’s what I needed to work on, and I think I did that. It also helped having run the course nine times before.”

Seneca’s Austin Aldridge (14th, 17:22.9) and Mendota’s Anthony Kelson (17th, 17:26.0) also qualified for state as individuals.

E-P’s chances were drastically hurt with an injury to No. 1 runner Charlie Link, who broke his foot. They finished 11th overall with 313 points.

“It was an undiagnosed stress fracture,” E-P coach Liz Green said. “He sat out for a week and then ran at Detweiller two weeks ago. He could tell it was broke in first 800 meters, but still ran the fastest race (16:19) of his life.”

Last year, Link missed nearly all of the season for migraine headaches. E-P’s Lucas Dreisbach almost claimed a state qualification with a time of 17:50.3, good for 30th. That placed him only two spots behind the final individual place.

Another disappointment came in the form of Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio’s Kyle McNinch finishing one spot away from returning downstate. The senior, who has been bothered by injuries, took 22nd place (17:39.9), compared to seventh last year.

Kyle Gnewuch of Rockford Lutheran took that final spot among individuals not on a qualifying team, taking 21st, four seconds ahead of McNinch. Last year, 26th place was qualifiying.

“My goal was top 15, and I felt confident coming in,” McNinch.

Riverdale dominated the meet with a total of 33 points, well ahead of Rockford Christian’s 112. Tommy Murray, the Reagan Run 5K runner-up, took first at 16:07.3, and will be considered one of the favorites next week at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

“I’m going down and leaving everything I have there,” said Murray, who finished in ninth place downstate in 2021.

Teammate Landis Musser was second place (16:13.2) and the Rams had two other top 10 finishers.

“This is a new feeling for me,” Musser said. “We came in knowing every point would matter.”

Girls race: After placing fourth last year at the 1A sectional, Rock Falls improved to second and will be making its fifth straight trip downstate

“We went out and did our job,” said RF coach Mark Truesdell said. “We always have high expectations for our girls.”

At the beginning of the year, Truesdell wasn’t sure he could field a full team.

“We went out and begged, borrowed and found kids, going from four to nine runners,” the 18-year mentor said.

The Rockets, with 101 points, weren’t too far away from team champ and perennial power Winnebago, who had 85. Leading the way were Hana Ford in ninth at 19:56.0 and Ariel Hernandez in 12th at 20:08.2.

“With so many great runners here like what Winnebago has, I’m satisfied,” Hernandez said. “They usually curb-stomp me. Yes, I got beat by a few, but not by as much as before.”

Ford collapsed upon finishing and had to run nearly the entire way with an untied shoelace.

“I’m just glad to have another year downstate,” Ford said, glad the 5K trek around Park West was over.

Other scorers for Rock Falls were Kat Scott in 23rd (21:10.0), Ava Shank in 27th (21:16.4), and the lone senior Brooke Howard in 43rd (22:32.1).

Oregon sophomore Ella Dannhorn (20:50.4) made it 2-for-2 in trips downstate as an individual with an 18th-place finish on her home course. Last year, she took the final individual state berth, and this time nabbed the next-to-last spot.

“I concentrated on individuals, not team qualifiers,” she explained. “Every time I got close to someone from like a Cambridge or Princeton that wouldn’t go as a team, I’d surge to pass. It worked well.”

Dannhorn did grab the ninth spot of among those not on a team qualifier, and Lexi Bohms of Princeton took the 10th and final spot at 19th overall (20:51.6), a second behind Dannhorn.

Her advantage was senior experience after also advancing as a junior.

“I felt a lot more confident, and that gave me motivation,” Bohms said. “I didn’t mind the time of day we ran [in the afternoon]. It was perfect weather. As long as I’m not running in freezing cold, I’m OK.”

The next-highest finisher among local non-qualifiers was senior Claire Crisham of Newman, who took 42nd place in a time of 22:22.0. Eastland’s Leslie Mayne finished 48th (22:41.6).

“She stepped it up last month,” Newman coach Pat Warkins said. “Claire was determined to have a really good year. She’s learning to hurt.”

Newman was 20th out of 21 teams, while Oregon took 13th and Erie-Prophetstown finished 17th.

The final results weren’t officially posted until nearly three hours after the girls meet ended, due to a discrepancy with the cameras not identifying one of the qualifiers, and a problem with another qualifiers wearing the wrong bib. It added to a long day compounded by a later start time because the timing company had to do another sectional at Elgin earlier that morning.

One thing there was no question about was the individual champ. Freshman star Sundara Weber of Sandwich, who was at a loss for words after the race, won with a time of 18:48.3, nearly a half-minute ahead of Johnsburg’s Jolene Cashmore in second place (19:14.5).

Sandwich (3rd, 163 points), Seneca (4th, 178) and Richmond-Burton (6th, 199) also qualified their full teams for state, and Johnsburg (211) just missed.