Cross country: Rock Falls girls claim team title at Class 1A Rock Falls Regional

ROCK FALLS – With homefield advantage on its side for the Class 1A Rock Falls Regional on Saturday morning at Centennial Park, the Rock Falls girls cross country team absolutely dominated the competition.

With 27 team points and three top-five finishers, the Rocket girls easily outpaced runner-up Sherrard (62), and in the process, secured a trip to the Class 1A Oregon Sectional next Saturday.

A total of 76 runners and eight complete teams competed in the girls race.

Mercer County’s Eden Mueller was the individual champion, running an 18:17, and Orion’s Olivia Thomsen was the runner-up, crossing the finish line in 18:32.

The Rockets finished 3-4-5 in the 27-point effort, landing five runners in the top 15. Third-place finisher Hana Ford led the group, clocking a 19:08.

“I did good. I wasn’t really paying attention to the other runners very much,” Ford said. “I think in the beginning, one girl surged on me and I just didn’t notice. I wish I would’ve surged with her instead.

“It was nice having our home course for our regional.”

Ariel Hernandez and Kat Scott took up the fourth and fifth spots, running a 19:19 and 19:33. Ava Shank was the 10th-place finisher in 20:33, while Gracie Rippy came in 15th in 20:54. Also competing for Rock Falls were Brooke Howard (22nd, 21:49) and Aniyah Thomas (36th, 23:13).

The Oregon girls moved on to the sectional, compiling 110 points for a fourth-place finish.

Ella Dannhorn was the top Hawk, recording a 19:54 for seventh place.

“I actually did not feel great. I had really high expectations for today, and just didn’t really get to them,” Dannhorn said. “I feel like my second mile was slow and dragging.”

Also competing for Oregon were Ellen Hodson (16th, 21:03), Natalie Tremble (35th, 23:11), Abbie Ludwig (38th, 23:29), Katelyn Bowers (55th, 24:33), Valerie Nyderek (62nd, 25:56), and Sofia Garcia-Albi (63rd 25:59).

The Erie-Prophetstown girls secured a sectional berth, racking up 130 points to finish fifth. Jillian Norman was the fastest Panther, clocking a 21:50 for 23rd, and Chloe Slock came in right behind her, registering a 21:52 for 24th.

E-P took 30th with Clara Ashdown’s 22:48, 50th with Brooke Lalley’s 24:12, 57th with Isabella Pangrazio’s 24:46, and 59th with Gracelyn Abell’s 25:01. Jaelin Hawkins added a 64th-place finish for the Panthers with a time of 26:26.

The Newman girls tallied 165 points, securing the final team spot into the sectional with a seventh-place finish. Claire Crisham was the top Comet, running a 20:47 for 14th.

Newman’s Sophia McCoy came in 45th in 23:57, Monica Healy finished 51st in 24:17, and Gianna Widolff secured 61st in 25:27. Reagan Hammes took 66th in 27:04, and Gianna Sagel rounded out the Comets’ lineup in 74th in 30:46.

Eastland’s Leslie Mayne reached the sectional individually, running a 21:19 for 18th.

Morrison’s Emma Christin narrowly missed the sectional cut as the top Filly, clocking a 21:44 for 20th.

Amboy was led by 32nd-place finisher Natalie Pratt’s 22:55. Ramsie Grenoble finished 43rd in 23:46 as the leading Polo runner. Olivia Shelly ran a 25:08 for 60th as the lone West Carroll runner.

There were 89 runners and 12 complete teams competing in the boys race.

Regional team champion Riverdale completed a podium sweep, with Tommy Murray taking first (15:19), Landis Musser securing second (15:36) and Peyton Sand nabbing third (16:09). Riverdale’s 24 points far outpaced the field; Mercer County was the next-closest team with 99.

The Rock Falls boys scored 108 for a third-place team finish. Jose Gomez finished fourth in 16:17 as the leading Rocket, and teammate Anthony Valdivia secured sixth in 16:35.

“I felt pretty good, except leading up to this week, I’ve had a problem with my Achilles. During the race, I taped it up, put like a patch on it, and saw how it felt,” Gomez said. “It was tightening up a little bit, but I just kind of ran through it. I felt pretty good, except going over the hill, I knew I had to hit a move or something because my finish isn’t the best. So I did that just like I did last year, and it worked out for me.”

Gomez said his familiarity with the course worked to his advantage.

“It’s definitely better [having the regional in Rock Falls],” he said. “I know my course and I know where to move, hit my surges. It’s better than going to a course I’m unfamiliar with.”

Christian Cid took 20th in 17:20, Gunnar Damhoff placed 39th in 18:18, and Brady Root claimed 45th in 18:36 for the Rockets. Victor Rivera ran an 18:50 for 51st, and Juan Hernandez clocked a 19:07 for 57th to round out the Rock Falls lineup.

The Newman boys were another team sectional qualifier, finishing fourth with 119 points. Lucas Simpson paced the Comets with a 13th-place finish, clocking a 16:46.

“I felt pretty good. This week, we worked on pacing – in 200s, going up 40 seconds to see if we could even slow my first-mile split down to even it out, so I felt pretty good today,” Simpson said. “I feel like the first mile I could’ve went a littler slower, because I died a little bit, but every other mile I felt pretty good.”

Lucas Schaab was the second-fast Comet, placing 16th with a time of 16:52. Ken Boesen ran a 17:35 for 25th, Wyatt Wildoff ran a 17:37 for 27th, and Ryan Welty clocked an 18:26 for 42nd. Zachary DeForest came in 52nd in 18:54, and Espen Hammes finished 59th in 19:12 for the Comets.

The Erie-Prophetstown boys earned sixth with 131. Lucas Dreisbach and Jacob Gibson finished 17th and 19th, running a 16:54 and 17:13. Victor Bonnell ran to 22nd in 17:24, Zane Romero rushed to 35th in 18:02, and Aidan Jepson secured 44th for the Panthers in 18:36. Wyatt Beck and Tyson Skinner came in 50th and 54th for E-P, clocking times of 18:50 and 18:59.

The Amboy boys came in seventh with 139. Kyler McNinch led the group with a 12th-place finish in 16:45, Charlie Dickinson nabbed 21st in 17:22, and Atticus Horner took 30th in 17:56. Garrett Pertell ran an 18:16 for 36th, Kelton Schwamberger clocked an 18:40 for 47th, and Jaden Healy ran a 19:04 for 55th for the Clippers.

The eighth-place Polo boys missed the sectional cut as a team with 189 points, but Carson Jones qualified individually, placing eighth with a 16:38.

“I felt pretty good. Our coach does some stats, he crunches numbers and stuff, and I was ranked second as an individual, and we were ranked eighth as a team,” Jones said. “The first seven teams make it, so we were trying to make a run for the last place as a team to get in and go to the sectional. But I think placed better than what I was ranked from our coach’s doing, so I think I did pretty well and I was happy with it.”

Other local individual sectional qualifiers were Morrison’s Evan Scott in 26th place overall (17:36), and West Carroll’s Roscoe Davies in 32nd (18:00).

The Eastland boys came in 10th with 294, led by 31st-place finisher Hudson Groezinger’s 17:58.

Aidan Guida led the way for the 11th-place Oregon boys (317), clocking a 19:22 for 60th.