Panthers place fourth at IESA State meet

By FRED KRONER

fred@Mahometnews.com

The St. Joseph Panthers Middle School boys’ cross-country team placed fourth out of the 24 schools that qualified for the IESA Class 2A state meet at Normal Parkside.

St. Joseph had a team score of 168 points.

The top three teams in 2A were El Paso/Gridley (68 points), Elmhurst Visitation (106 points) and Chillicothe (159 points).

The Panthers had one athlete receive all-state laurels.

Eighth-grader Eli Franklin ran 15^th in the 199-runner field. His 2-mile time was 11 minutes, 26.40 seconds.

Teammates following him were sixth-grader Camden Fisher (29^th in 11:50.60), seventh-grader Adam Bello (34^th in 12:01.00), seventh-grader Brady Johnson (78^th in 12:31.10), eighth-grader Henry McCannon (94^th in 12:40.10), eighth-grader Nathan Hinkel (109^th in 12:45.60) and eighth-grader Sam Zadeh (120^th in 12:49.60).

St. Joseph Middle School Girls’ Cross-Country

All-state runner Tessa Walker helped the St. Joseph Middle School girls’ cross-country team to a sixth-place state finish on Saturday (Oct. 14) in the IESA Class 2A state meet at Normal Parkside.

Walker, an eighth-grader, finished 11^th in the 199-runner race with a 2-mile time of 12:27.30.

The Panthers’ other state runners were seventh-grader Tabby Brown (32^nd in 12:53.60), seventh-grader Kennedi Dean (48^th in 13:13.40), seventh-grader Ava Overstreet (82^nd in 13:35.90), sixth-grader Claire Dirksmeyer (88^th in 13:40.00), seventh-grader Charlene Barbee (90^th in 13:41.40) and eighth-grader Avarie Dietiker (135^th in 14:12.40).

Team champion Brimfield totaled 83 points. Runner-up Chicago S. Benedict ended with 106 points. Sixth-place St. Joseph collected 186 points.