Strong St. Joseph Cross Country teams place at IESA State, Ruwe finishes fourth in Class 1A
By FRED KRONER
The St. Joseph Junior High boys’ cross-country team hit its stride for Saturday’s 237-runner Class 2A IESA state meet at Normal’s Maxwell Park.
In a competition that featured the state’s top 27 teams, St. Joseph earned a third-place finish with 166 points. Meet champion Tolono Unity had 135 points.
The showing was the school’s best in 16 years (since the 2003 team placed second) and the second-best state finish ever by a junior high boys’ cross-country team at St. Joseph.
The Panthers’ top six runners completed the 2-mile course within 57 seconds of one another and were all in the upper half of the individual finishers.
Carson Maroon was the team leader, covering the course in 11 minutes, 9.2 seconds and placing 18th. He was timed at 5:33 for his first mile.
He was followed in quick succession by teammates Kendrick Johnson (32nd in 11:25.1), Spencer Wilson (54th in 11:38.5), Holden Brazelton (69th in 11:47.5), Rowan Musselman (85th in 11:55.1), Drew Thompson (112th in 12:07.7) and Zach Harper (134th in 12:15.3).
This year was the 18th time in the past 30 years that St. Joseph has qualified a full team for the IESA finals and the 12th time in securing a top 10 finish.
The group of state runners included four eighth-graders – Maroon, Wilson, Musselman and Thurman – along with seventh-graders Johnson and Brazelton and sixth-grader Harper.
St. Joseph Middle School Girls’ cross-country
The first four St. Joseph state finishers were timed within 29 seconds of one another on Saturday at Maxwell Park, in Normal, helping the Panthers to a seventh-place finish in the elite Class 2A meet with 27 schools.
Team state champion Tolono Unity had 50 points. St. Joseph ended with 237.
The state performance was the school’s best in more than a decade, since the 2007 team took sixth at state.
Overall, this was the 19th time in the past 31 years that the St. Joseph girls’ program has secured a top 10 team state finish.
Leading the way were seventh-grader Savanna Franzen (27th in 12 minutes, 22.1 seconds), eighth-grader Helene Jones (32nd in 12:28.9), seventh-grader Madison Clampitt (46th in 12:44.6) and eighth-grader Chloe Burkhalter (54th in 12:51.1).
The Panthers’ other state-meet competitors were fifth-grader Jaci Kellenberger (128th in 13:32.1), eighth-grader Maya Chahine (157th in 13:49.0) and eighth-grader Chloe Allen (182nd in 14:13.0).
Among fifth-graders who ran at state, Kellenberger was fifth.
St. Joseph girls’ teams have advanced to state 21 times in the past 31 years.
Homer Heritage boys’ cross-country
Zach Ruwe improved his finish 29 positions from last fall and placed fourth in Saturday’s IESA Class 1A state meet at Normal’s Maxwell Park.
The Heritage eighth-grader clocked a 2-mile time of 10 minutes, 51.4 seconds. After running a 5:27 opening mile, Ruwe dropped three seconds off that time during the final mile.
Heritage placed 13th in the 24-school state field with 319 points. Team champion Chicago Old St. Mary’s totaled 82 points.
Other Heritage state-participants were eighth-grader Ethan Meneely (75th in 11:58.4), eighth-grader Aidan Ashbrook (82nd in 12:03.3), eighth-grader Lukas Carey (87th in 12:04.9), seventh-grader Hunter Montgomery (201st in 13:11.9), eighth-grader Cohen Sands (204th in 13:17.4) and sixth-grader Anthony Happ (213th in 13:24.5).
Homer Heritage girls’ cross-country
Eighth-grader Lillian Montgomery placed 61st in the IESA Class 1A state finals on Saturday at Maxwell Park, in Normal.
Her 2-mile time was 13 minutes, 12.6 seconds, including a 6:29 split in her opening mile.
There were 228 runners in Montgomery’s race.
Villa Grove Boys’ cross-country
Seventh-grader Lukas Shadwick finished among the top 100 in a field of 230 runners in Saturday’s IESA Class 1A state meet at Maxwell Park, in Normal.
Shadwick’s 2-mile time of 12 minutes, 10 seconds enabled him to finish in 98th place.
The school’s other state-qualifier, seventh-grader Kurt Zimmerman, was timed in 12:25.2 and ended in 134th place.
Villa Grove Girls’ cross-country
Sixth-grader Hayden Thomas and fifth-grader Evalice Callison completed their 2-mile runs in Saturday’s IESA Class 1A state meet at Normal’s Maxwell Park within six seconds of one another.
Callison finished in 139th place with a clocking of 14 minutes, 3.8 seconds.
Thomas ran 14:09.0 and was 154th.
Heritage Girls’ basketball
The Hawks’ eighth-grade team has a 3-7 record after a recent series of games, which includes a forfeit win from Schlarman Academy.
Leah Black scored seven points in a 30-11 loss to Georgetown. In a 29-6 loss to Arcola, Riley Miller hit a team-high four points.
Black scored 12 points in a 24-22 setback against Hoopeston and then hooped six points in a 14-8 win over Chrisman.
Lillian Montgomery was the leader in a 45-12 loss to Shiloh with seven points.
