Macie Russell qualifies for Class 1A State meet

By Fred Kroner

One Oakwood/Salt Fork runner secured a berth at state on Saturday (Oct. 28) by her performance at the St. Joseph-Ogden Class 1A IHSA Sectional meet, held at Dodds Park, in Champaign.

Junior Macie Russell – the lone girls’ entry for the Comets – placed 16^th overall in a field of 149 participants and qualified for state.

Her time for the 2.95-mile layout was 19 minutes, 15.72 seconds.

The state meet will be held on Saturday (Nov. 5) at Detweiller Park, in Peoria. Russell will be in the 9 a.m. race.

To qualify for state, a school needed to be among the top six finishers, or individuals needed to be among the top 10 runners not on an advancing team.

In the boys’ sectional race, Oakwood/Salt Fork finished in 20^th place with a team composite score of 496.

Meet champion Decatur St. Teresa logged a final score of 77 points.

The O/SF competitors were Thomas Wells (78^th in 17:30.34), Saul Carrillo (105^th in 18.19.89), Logan Henthorn (114^th in 18:38.15), Bryson Capansky (125^th in 19:04.74), Brayden Edwards (133^rd in 19:17.79) and Ben Darling (151^st in20:16.63).

The Comets’ lineup consisted of three freshmen, two sophomores and one junior.