SJ-O girls’ cross country finishes third at Monticello

By Fred Kroner

The Spartans placed third on Saturday (Oct. 17) – ahead of two schools ahead of them in the milesplit.com state rankings – in a seven-team girls’ cross-country meet at Lodge Park, in Monticello.

Monticello (No. 1 in Class 1A) was the meet champion with 31 points, followed by Mahomet-Seymour (No. 25 in Class 2A) with 86 points. SJ-O (No. 20 in Class 1A) was third with 92 points. They were followed by St. Thomas More (No. 16 in Class 1A) with 105 points and Stanford Olympia (No. 11) in Class 1A with 108 points.

SJ-O’s top five runners crossed the finish line after the 3-mile race within 45 seconds of one another, led by Ava Knap (13^th in 20 minutes, 7.45 seconds).

Other team leaders were: Helene Jones (15^th in 20:17.31), Chloe Burkhalter (17^th in 20:40.22), Malorie Sarnecki (23^rd in 20:51.57) and Ashlyn Lannert (24^th in 20:52.43).

The school’s other participants were Addie Allen (31^st in 21:16.10) and Kaytlyn Baker (35^th in 21:25.26).

In an open race involving 34 runners, SJ-O placed third behind M-S (29) and Monticello (53). SJ-O’s composite score was 59 points.

Taryn Sexton was the runner-up, finishing seven seconds behind the winner. Sexton’s time was 21:05.02.

The other SJ-O placers were: Lauren Lannert (ninth in 21:59.30), Hanna Eastin (15^th in 22:55.61), Maya Chahine (16^th in 23:04.66), Chloe Allen (17^th in 23:12.83), Kelsey Martlage (19^th in 23:53.39) and Teagan Miller (24^th in 24:21.67).

The Spartans will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 24) in the 17-school Decatur St. Teresa Class 1A regional.