Junior Emma Buesing was the first Villa Grove finisher in the girls’ race. She ran 29^th with a 3-mile time of 24 minutes, 7.27 seconds.

Teammates trailing her were freshman Scarlett Howard (43^rd in 25:46.29), junior Madison Logan (45^th in 25:58.18), junior Kyleigh Price (48^th in 26:22.68) and senior Hailey Stutz (58^th in 27:25.14).

Marshall was the meet champion (25 points). Benton was the runner-up (57). Villa Grove had a team composite of 122.

Kurt Zimmerman was the front-runner for the Blue Devils in the boys’ race.

The freshman took 13^th in 17:36.86.

Other Villa Grove participants were freshman Chase White (68^th in 20:12.31), senior Caleb Wiessing (86^th in 21:21.00), sophomore Austin Zoch (100^th in 22:21.66), freshman Blake Davis (124^th in 24:59.81) and freshman Andrew Fonner (127^th in 26:38.26).

On Tuesday (Oct. 5), Zimmerman was the runner-up in a four-school meet at Sullivan.

His 3-mile time was 17:56.

White finished 13^th in 19:53. Other teammates in the chase were Wiessing (18^th in 20:54), Zoch (28^th in 23:49), Davis (29^th in 24:23) and Fonner (30^th in 24:53).

Cerro Gordo/Bement captured team accolades with 37 points. Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond was second (48 points), followed by Sullivan (56) and Villa Grove (69).

In the girls’ race, Villa Grove was the only school to field a full team and ended with a team composite of 15 points.

Buesing was the individual runner-up, clocking a 22:05.

Stutz was sixth in 24:05 and was followed by Howard (eighth in 24:12), Price (ninth in 24:26), Logan (10^th in 24:28) and Jobeth Crafton (12^th in 24:34).

The Blue Devils return to action on Tuesday (Oct. 12) at Paxton-Buckley-Loda.

The post Blue Devil cross country competes at Cumberland Invitational appeared first on .

Freshman Kurt Zimmerman was the lone top-10 placer for the Villa Grove boys’ cross-country team on Saturday (Oct. 2) in the Lincoln Prairie Conference meet in Arthur.

Zimmerman ran to a seventh-place finish with a 3-mile time of 17 minutes, 42.35 seconds.

Other teammates who competed at conference were: Chase White (24^th in 19:51.04), Caleb Wiessing (35^th in 21:37.37), Austin Zoch (43^rd in 23:42.27) and Blake Davis (44^th in 23:52.16).

Arthur-Lovington/Atwood Hammond cruised to the team title with a score of 20 points. Runner-up Heritage had 59 points. Fourth-place Villa Grove had 104 points.

The post Zimmerman finishes in top 10 at Lincoln Prairie Conference meet appeared first on .

The Villa Grove Blue Devils were led by freshman Kurt Zimmerman in the 44^th annual Tuscola Cross-Country Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 18) at Wimple Park.

Zimmerman toured the 3-mile layout in 18 minutes, 12.7 seconds. He finished 28^th in a field of 152 competitors.

Four of the six Villa Grove competitors were freshmen, including the team’s No. 2 runner, Chase White. White’s time was 19:57.10 and he finished 73^rd.

The school’s other participants were Caleb Wiessing (112^th in 22:13.68), Blake Davis (140^th in 25:01.44), Austin Zoch (144^th in 26:07.99) and Andrew Fonner (145^th in 26:10.79).

The team crown was earned by Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond with 44 points. Shelbyville was second with 86 points. Villa Grove ended 16^th with 393 points.

In a four-school meet at Tuscola on Tuesday (Sept. 14), Zimmerman was the Blue Devils’ leader, entering the chute in 20:41.57 and placing 11^th in a field of 34 runners.

Teammates following him were White (19^th in 21:52.4), Wiessing (27^th in 25:18.8), Fonner (30^th in 28:09.09), Zoch (31^st in 28:17.97) and Davis (32^nd in 29:30.68).

In the team chase, Tuscola edged Heritage, 29-34. Villa Grove was fourth with a score of 97.

Villa Grove returns to action on Tuesday (Sept. 21) at Urbana Uni High.

The post Young Blue Devils compete at Tuscola Cross Country Invitational appeared first on .

The Blue Devils were led by two freshmen in the Saturday (Sept. 11) Shelbyville Trails Invitational cross-country meet.

Kurt Zimmerman was 11^th in the 98-runner field. He ran the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 50.3 seconds. Chase White was the second VG finisher, entering the chute in 19:55.7 for 37^th place.

The other Blue Devil competitors were Caleb Wiessing (56^th in 21:15.6), Blake Davis (87^th in 26:51.0) and Austin Zoch (88^th in 26:55.8).

Team honors in the meet were captured by Tuscola (64 points), followed by Shelbyville (69) and Effingham (74) in the 11-school meet. Villa Grove finished 10^th with 228 points.

Villa Grove returns to action on Tuesday (Sept. 14) at Tuscola.

The post Two Freshmen lead Villa Grove Cross Country at Shelbyville appeared first on .

Kurt Zimmerman and Chase White were top-10 finishers for Villa Grove on Wednesday (Sept. 8) in the Cumberland County boys’ cross-country invitational at Neoga.

Zimmerman was fourth in the 3-mile race in19 minutes, 24.42 seconds. White was ninth in 21:00.04.

Other VG participants were: Caleb Wiessing (14^th in 23:22.12), Andrew Fonner (19^th in 26:01.19), Blake Davis (20^th in 26:08.02) and Austin Zoch (21^st in 26:08.89).

Team honors were won by Heritage with 24 points. Runner-up Toledo Cumberland had 44 points and Villa Grove totaled 57 points.

The post Zimmerman, White lead Blue Devils at Cumberland appeared first on .

Five Blue Devils – three of whom were freshmen – participated in the Chrisman Cowchip Classic cross-country invitational on Saturday (Sept. 4).

The 26-school event was a flighted race where the No. 1 runners from each school ran only against each other, with other races held for the second through seventh runners from each school.

The top Villa Grove time was registered by freshman Kurt Zimmerman. In the race for No. 2 runners, his 3-mile time was 19 minutes, 10.8 seconds. He placed 10^th.

Other Blue Devil competitors were: Chase White (12^th in No. 3 race at 20:33.9), Calen Wiessing (20^th in race for No. 4 runner at 23:24.5), Blake Davis (19^th in race for No. 6 runners at 26:43.8) and Austin Zoch (20^th in race for No. 7 runners at 25:35.3.)

White and Davis are also freshmen.

Villa Grove returns to action on Wednesday (Sept. 8) against Neoga at Mattoon’s Lake Land College.

The post Zimmerman leads Villa Grove runners at Cowchip Classic appeared first on .