By Fred Kroner
Two Oakwood/Salt Fork girls advanced to the Class 1A cross-country sectional on the basis of their performances on Saturday (Oct. 24) in the IHSA Decatur Regional meet at Hickory Point Golf Course.
Continuing their seasons were freshman Macie Russell, who was 19th in a field of 89 runners with a 3-mile time of 20 minutes, 6 seconds, and sophomore Allie Morris (27th in 20:51.1).
Besides the top five teams, the first five individuals not on a qualifying team garnered spots in the sectional, which will also be held at the Hickory Point Golf Course.
Oakwood/Salt Fork was a near-miss in the team chase, placing sixth with a composite score of 221 points.
Four of the schools finishing ahead of the Comets were state-ranked programs, including regional champion Tolono Unity (40 points), which was rated fourth by milesplit.com, and runner-up Monticello (51 points), which was rated first.
Russell and Morris were the third and fifth runners, respectively, on teams that did not qualify for the sectional. Morris beat her closest pursuer by 3.7 seconds to reserve the final individual qualifying spot.
The squad’s other competitors were: senior Mackenzie Russell (46th in 22:14.0), senior Gracie Jessup (62nd in 24:14.8), sophomore Shelby McGee (75th in 26:22.1) and sophomore Kalie Tison (77th in 26:33.4).
The next competition of the season for Oakwood/Salt Fork will be the Tuesday (Oct. 27) rescheduled Vermilion County meet.
