Oakwood/Salt Fork had three of the top seven runners on Tuesday (Oct. 12) in the Vermilion Valley Conference girls’ cross-country meet at Kickapoo State Park.

There was no team champion as none of the schools had enough runners to be scored as a team.

The Comets’ effort was led by Macie Russell (second in 20 minutes, 12.88 seconds), Allie Morris (third in 21:18.78), Alyssa Wells (seventh in 26:04.35) and Addie Wright (12^th in 31:01.57).

There were 15 runners in the girls’ meet.

In the 23-runner boys’ competition, Oakwood/Salt Fork’s Ethan Brewer finished 19^th in 23:46.26. Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin won the boys’ team title.

Oakwood/Salt Fork will return to action on Tuesday (Oct. 19) at Tuscola.

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Three of the first four finishers in the Saturday (Oct. 2) Oakwood girls’ cross-country invitational at Kickapoo State Park were members of the Oakwood/Salt Fork team.

Macie Russell was the winner of the 26-runner race, finishing the 3-mile course in 20 minutes, 12.57 seconds.

Teammate Allie Morris was the runner-up, in 20:56.55. Placing fourth was OSF’s Aubri Elliott, in 22:00.47.

The Comets’ other participants were: Alyssa Wells (12^th in 25:49.58), Rylee Wright (19^th in 28:59.79) and Addie Wright (23^rd in 30:06.17).

All of the Oakwood/Salt Fork runners are underclassmen.

St. Thomas More won the team crown and Oakwood/Salt Fork was second. Scoring was done by tabulating the times for the top five runners from each school.

STM’s team composite was 113 minutes and 26 seconds. Oakwood/Salt Fork’s cumulative time was 117.56.

Oakwood/Salt Fork returns to action on Tuesday (Oct. 5) at a four-school meet at Paris.

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Two Oakwood/Salt Fork runners finished among the top 25 on Saturday (Sept. 25) in the 147-runner Spartan Classic girls’ cross-country meet in St. Joseph.

Sophomore Macie Russell was 19^th, with a 3-mile time of 19 minutes, 2.37 seconds.

Junior Allie Morris ended in 25^th in 19:25.15.

The Comets’ other participants were: Aubri Elliott (56^th in 21:00.65), Alyssa Wells (117^th in 25:14.74), Rylee Wright (125^th in26:57.40), Brylie Smith (135^th in 28:05.35) and Addie Wright (141^st in 28:27.25).

In a field of 19 teams, Oakwood/Salt Fork placed 11^th with a composite score of 308.

Team honors were captured by Tolono Unity (56), followed by Monticello (66) and St. Joseph-Ogden (87).

Oakwood/Salt Fork returns to action on Saturday (Oct. 2) in the Oakwood Invitational at Kickapoo State Park.

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Oakwood’s Allie Morris ran sixth on Tuesday (Sept. 21) in a four-school girls’ cross-country meet at the UI Arboretum, in Urbana.

Morris ran the 3-mile course in 22 minutes, 14.69 seconds.

The Comets’ other competitors were Aubri Elliott (13^th in 23:35.94), Alyssa Wells (27^th in 27:22.26), Brylie Smith (36^th in 29:14.91) and Addie Wright (37^th in 31:33.66).

The Comets return to action on Saturday (Sept. 25) in the Spartan Classic, at SJ-O.

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Oakwood/Salt Fork had the top three runners in the Tuesday (Sept. 14) Vermilion County girls’ cross-country meet at Kickapoo State Park.

The individual champion was Macie Russell, who covered the 3-mile loop in 20 minutes and 45 seconds. She then helped the Catlin volleyball team to a two-set sweep at night.

The County runner-up was O/SF’s Allie Morris (21:30) with teammate Aubri Elliott running third (23:08).

Oakwood/Salt Fork won the team crown as no other schools had enough runners to be scored as a team.

The Comets’ other finishers were: Alyssa Wells (eighth in 27:56), Addie Wright (ninth in 30:11), Brylie Smith (10^th in 31:31) and Rylee Wright (11^th in 31:52).

Oakwood/Salt Fork will return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 21) at Urbana Uni High.

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The Oakwood Comets’ girls’ cross-country team ended third in the Saturday (Sept. 11) Paxton-Buckley-Loda Invitational.

Twelve schools entered full teams.

PBL was the team champion with 61 points. Runner-up Herscher had 65 points and was followed by Oakwood with 91 points.

The Comets had three top-10 performers in a meet with 66 runners.

Sophomore Macie Russell finished third in 20 minutes and 14 seconds for the 3-mile course. Junior Allie Morris was fourth in 20:24 and freshman Aubri Elliott was ninth in 21:57.

The team’s other competitors were Alyssa Wells (45^th in 26:55), Brylie Smith (55^th in 28:24), Addie Wright (60^th in 29:56) and Rylee Wright (64^th in 31:03).

All of the squad members posted their best times of the season and Morris registered a lifetime best.

All seven of the team’s runners are underclassmen.

The Comets return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 14) in the Vermilion County meet at Oakwood.

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The Comets didn’t have enough runners to be scored as a team at the Saturday (Sept. 4) Cowchip Classic, in Chrisman, but each of the team’s four competitors achieved season-best times in the meet with flighted races.

Allie Morris’ 3-mile time was 21 minutes and 14 seconds.  In the flight for No. 1 runners, she placed eighth.

Aubri Eliot was timed in 22:33. She took sixth (out of 17 runners) in the flight for No. 3 runners.

Brylie Smith’s time was 30:22. She finished eighth in the flight for No. 5 runners.

Addie Wright finished the course in 30:06. She was 18^th among runners in the No. 6 flight.

In all, 26 high schools sent entries.

All four Oakwood runners faced some adversity.

“It rained pretty hard during Addie and Brylie’s races.” Oakwood/Salt Fork coach Emily Mills said. “By the time Aubri and Allie ran their races, the course was pretty tore up.

“Given the conditions we are extremely happy with how each of the girls did.”

Oakwood/Salt Fork will return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 7) in a meet at Kickapoo State Park.

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Paced by two top-10 runners, the Oakwood/Salt Fork girls’ cross-country team placed seventh in the Saturday (Aug. 28) Saber Corn Classic, at St. Thomas More, in Champaign.

Junior Allie Morris was ninth individually, finishing the 3-mile course in 21 minutes, 48.2 seconds.

Just behind her was sophomore Macie Russell, 10^th in 21:51.8.

The team’s other participants were: Aubri Elliott (21^st in 23:15.0), Alyssa Wells (65^th in 30:18.9), Brylie Smith (68^th in 33:05.1), Addie Wright (69^th in 33:51.4) and Rylee Wright (70^th in 34:27.3).

The meet champion was Monticello with 32 points. Runner-up Urbana Uni High had 59 points. Oakwood/Salt Fork’s seventh-place tally was 149 points, but the team was six points away from a top-five finish.

Oakwood/Salt Fork will return to action on Saturday (Sept. 4) at the Chrisman Cowchip Classic.

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Five Comets earned postseason recognition on either the Vermilion Valley all-conference team or the Vermilion all-county team.

Senior Katelyn Young was a member of the 10-player first team on both honor squads.

Senior Aubrey Wells and junior Aaliyah Denius were members of the seven-player special mention list on both squads.

Addie Wright, who was selected to the 10-player honorable mention all-conference team, was elevated to the seven-player special mention all-county squad.

The other Oakwood player to earn recognition was sophomore Ashlynn Pinnick, an honorable mention all-county pick.

Denius and Pinnick were team scoring leaders in at least one game. Denius, Pinnick, Wells and Wright all had multiple games where they scored in double figures.

Young averaged a team-best 22.7 points per game for the 23-8 Comets.

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Oakwood’s girls’ basketball team learned a lesson that many programs, coaches and fans alike must accept this time of the year.

A season seldom ends the way those associated with a program would hope, unless it’s with a championship-game victory.

The Comets dropped a 50-47 decision to Tolono Unity on Thursday in the semifinals of the Maroa-Forsyth Class 2A Regional.

For a half, Oakwood was on fire. The Comets led 22-12 at the break and coach Stephanie Marsh said, “we played really solid, a good first half.”

With Aaliyah Denius excelling in her role as the chaser in Oakwood’s box-and-one defense – that was designed to slow down Unity’s all-time scoring leader, Elyce Knudsen – the Comets built a double-digit lead.

Knudsen was limited to one first-half field goal.

In the second half, Knudsen and Rocket teammate Maddie Reed took control. Knudsen scored all 15 of Unity’s third-quarter points, but Oakwood still carried a 39-27 lead into the last eight minutes.

“Overall, Aaliyah did a good job,” Marsh said. “They were setting more screens for her, and she is quick coming off the screens.”

Knudsen hit the final six of her game-high 27 points in the final stanza, but it took a three-point shooting spree by Reed, who drained four late three-point shots, to enable Unity to pull ahead. Reed finished with 19 points, 13 in the final frame.

Freshman Addie Wright led Oakwood with 15 points. Senior Katelyn Young added 12 points.

“I hated to see the season end,” Marsh said. “Addie was starting to figure it out.”

Young’s career-record school scoring mark concludes at 2,361 points.

“I’m excited to see her do bigger and better things next year at Murray State,” Marsh said.

The Comets (23-8) wound up winning 99 games during Young’s varsity career. Young and point guard Aubrey Wells are the lone seniors on this year’s team.

“We’ll still have a solid team next year,” Marsh said. “It’s a matter of figuring it all out.”

Denius, Wells and Karsen Rupp all scored six points against Unity (20-9), which returns to Maroa tonight to play Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin (27-5) in the championship game. The winner advances to next week’s Paris Sectional.

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