By Fred Kroner
The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ cross-country team stepped up its challenge on Saturday in the First to the Finish cross-country meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.
The Spartans are ranked second in Class 1A in the latest poll by milesplit.com, trailing only Chicago Latin.
The First to Finish meet is conducted in three separate races, one for the 1A schools, another for 2A schools and a third for the large-school 3A division.
SJ-O entered the 3A portion of the meet and placed 16th in the 41-school event which had 366 runners.
The 3A winner was New Trier (125 points) followed by Hinsdale Central (135) and Downers Grove North (136). SJ-O’s score was 460 points.
All five of the Spartans’ scoring runners wound up among the top half of the individual field.
Luke Stegall ran the 3-mile course in 16 minutes, 16.3 seconds and was 65th.
Charlie Mabry was 78th in 16:22.8, Elijah Mock was 92nd in 16.33.1, Carson Maroon was 102nd in 16:40.2) and Peyton Wendell was 153rd in 17:03.9.
Stegall, Mabry and Mock are seniors.
The other competitors were Ethan Blackburn (175th in 17:19.7) and Aden Armstrong (237th in 18:00.4).
There was also an open race that combined entries for the 1A, 2A, and 3A schools. runners. Fifty-six teams participated in a race that featured 933 runners.
Neuqua Valley was the open champion with 71 points. Lyons and Naperville Central were next, each with 79 points. SJ-O was 38th with 1176 points.
Holden Jones ran 174th in 18:50.0. Mason Guido was 268th in 19:33.5.
The school’s other participants were Jack Fisher (378th in 20:20.7), Joe Griebat (415th in 20:45.2) and E.J. Beckett (912th in 30:20.6).
SJ-O will return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 14) against Monticello at Kickapoo State Park.
