Despite having two of the first four finishers, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ cross-country squad was edged out for team honors by Tolono Unity on Saturday (Oct. 16) in the 28-team Peoria Heights Invitational at Detweiller Park.

Tolono Unity had a team composite score of 81 points. SJ-O, ranked sixth in the latest Class 1A girls’ state poll by milesplit.com, had a score of 88 points.

Third-place Monticello ended with 95 points and was followed by Robinson (184).

Spartan freshman Savanna Franzen was the individual runner-up, completing the 3-mile course in 18 minutes and 18 seconds.

Senior teammate Ava Knap placed fourth in 18:28.3.

Rounding out the list of SJ-O competitors was senior Kailyn Ingram (14^th in 19:08.5), sophomore Chloe Burkhalter (33^rd in 20:14.0), senior Addie Allen (36^th in 20:23.7), senior Taryn Sexton (50^th in 20:43.5) and junior Kaytlyn Baker (112^th in 22:33.1).

SJ-O had one entry in the open race. Sophomore Chloe Allen was 24^th in 25:26.9.

SJ-O returns to action on Saturday (Oct. 23) in the 15-school Chrisman Class 1A regional.

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Freshman Savanna Franzen and senior Ava Knap were the individual leaders on Tuesday (Oct. 5) in the Illini Prairie Conference girls’ cross-country meet at Stanford Olympia.

Franzen was the individual champion in the 58-runner field, completing the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 16.4 seconds.

Knap was the runner-up and was less than four seconds behind at 18:20.3.

The Spartans’ other competitors were: senior Kailyn Ingram (13^th in 20:04.6), sophomore Chloe Burkhalter (25^th in 21:00.0), senior Taryn Sexton (26^th in 21:08.9), senior Addie Allen (28^th in 21:18.6) and junior Kaytlyn Baker (48^th in 23:21.5).

In the team race, Monticello (ranked third in the state in Class 1A by milesplit.com) was the winner with 48 points. Tolono Unity (ranked second in the state in Class 1A) was next with 51 points and SJ-O (ranked sixth in the state in Class 1A) was third with 64 points.

The Spartans had one entrant in the open race. Sophomore Chloe Allen was 23^rd in 27:51.3.

SJ-O returns to action on Saturday (Oct. 16) in the Peoria Heights Patroit Invitational.

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Senior Ava Knap was the front-runner for the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ cross-country team on Saturday (Oct. 2) in Indiana’s Nike XC Town Twilight Meet.

She ran the 5,000-meter course in 19 minutes, 25.6 seconds and ended 17^th in a field of 149 competitors.

Rounding out the Spartans’ contingent were: Kailyn Ingram (57^th in 21:08.5), Addie Allen (95^th in 22:06.2), Taryn Sexton (103^rd in 22:19.4) and Kaytlyn Baker (143^rd in 25:00.5).

SJ-O finished with a 357 score and placed 13^th. Eighteen schools fielded full teams.

The meet winner was Columbus North (56 points) followed by Carmel (60 points).

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday (Oct. 5) in the Illini Prairie Conference meet at Stanford Olympia. In the most recent set of Illinois state rankings, compiled by milesplit.com, SJ-O was rated sixth in Class 1A.

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Three of the state’s top six-ranked Class 1A cross-country teams competed in the Saturday (Sept. 25) Spartan Classic at St. Joseph, with team honors going to third-ranked Unity (56 points), ahead of No. 2 Monticello (66 points) and the sixth-ranked SJ-O squad (87 points).

Nineteen schools entered full teams.

In a field of 147 competitors, the Spartans had two of the first four finishers.

Freshman Savanna Franzen placed third, running the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 57.82 seconds. Senior Ava Knap was next, closing in fourth place (18:02.03).

SJ-O’s other participants were: Kailyn Ingram (16^th in 19:00.26), Taryn Sexton (31^st in 19:51.22), Chloe Burkhalter (38^th in 20:24.32) and Addie Allen (44^th in 20:37.90).

The state rankings are compiled by milesplit.com.

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday (Oct. 5) in the Illini Prairie Conference meet at Stanford Olympia.

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Eight St. Joseph-Ogden athletes competed in the Richard Spring Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 18), but they were scattered among three races so the state-ranked Spartans weren’t scored as a team in any of the races.

In the varsity race, featuring 63 full teams and 463 runners, SJ-O senior Ava Knap was 34^th with a 3-mile time of 18 minutes, and 7 seconds.

Teammates in that race were: Kailyn Ingram (159^th in 19:48.7), Taryn Sexton (248^th in 20:39.2) and Addie Allen (281^st in 20:58.7).

In the open race, the lone SJ-O representative was Kaytlyn Baker (180^th in 23:27.3). That race included 32 full teams and 438 runners.

Three Spartans participated in the freshmen-sophomore race, including ninth-grader Savanna Franzen, who was third in that division with a time of 18:29.1.

For the three girls’ races on Saturday, there were a total of 1,175 competitors. Franzen’s time was the 53^rd best for the day among all girls.

The other SJ-O athletes in the freshmen-sophomore race were Chloe Burkhalter (98^th in 21:36.5) and Chloe Allen (274^th in 27:57.2).

In all, there were 41 full teams and 301 runners in the freshmen-sophomore segment of the meet.

St. Joseph-Ogden, ranked eighth in the state in Class 1A by milesplit.com, returns to action on Saturday (Sept. 25) in the Spartan Classic.

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In a Tuesday (Sept. 14) dual meet at Lodge Park, in Monticello, the top seven St. Joseph-Ogden runners crossed the finish line within 15 seconds of one another in the girls’ 2-mile race.

Leading the way was Kaytlyn Baker, who was third overall in 15 minutes and 56 seconds.

Following her were Savanna Franzen (fourth in 15:59), Ava Knap (fifth in 15:59), Taryn Sexton (sixth in 16:00), Kailyn Ingram (seventh in 16:00), Chloe Burkhalter (eighth in 16:11) and Addie Allen (ninth in 16:11).

The Spartans’ other entrant, Chloe Allen, was 12^th in 21:15.

SJ-O had a team score of 25 points. Monticello did not have enough runners to be scored as a team.

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s state-ranked girls’ cross-country team had two runners place among the top 30 individuals on Saturday (Sept. 11) in the First to the Finish Invitational at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Ranked seventh in Class 1A by milesplit.com, SJ-O elected to compete in the Class 3A race at Peoria. The meet had separate races for the 1A, 2A and 3A schools.

Against the 304 runners in the 3A race, SJ-O’s Ava Knap was 26^th, finishing the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 43.5 seconds.

Teammate Savanna Franzen was 29^th in 18:50.9.

The Spartans’ other competitors were Kailyn Ingram (112^th in 20:16.7), Chloe Burkhalter (164^th in 21:26.7), Taryn Sexton (169^th in 21:32.0), Addie Allen (177^th in 21:36.5) and Maddison Clampitt (201^st in 22:10.1).

Team honors were captured by Naperville North (100 points), followed by Minooka (115) and Naperville Central (134). SJ-O placed 15^th among the 35 teams with 453 points.

In a combined open race for runners in 1A, 2A and 3A, SJ-O had two entries.

Kaytlyn Baker was 190^th in a field of 595 runners with a time of 24:03.1. Chloe Allen was 489^th with a final time of 29:38.7.

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday (Sept. 14) at Kickapoo State Park against Monticello.

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The Spartans had the individual runner-up in three of the seven flighted races on Saturday (Sept. 4) at the Chrisman Cowchip cross-country invitational.

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 second-place finishers for SJ-O were Savanna Franzen (19 minutes, 50.3 seconds in the No. 2 race), Kailyn Ingram (20:31.4 in the No. 3 race) and Chloe Burkhalter (21:49.9 in the No. 5 race).

Franzen’s 3-mile time was the school’s best for the day.

Other Spartan participants were: Ava Knap (third in the No. 1 race at 19:55.8), Maddison Clampitt (fourth in the No. 4 race at 22:29.9), Addie Allen (fourth in the No. 6 race at 22:09.9) and Taryn Sexton (fourth in the No. 7 race at 22:24.6).

In the team chase, Tolono Unity was the meet champion with 96 points. Runner-up Monticello had 116 points and third-place SJ-O finished with 145 points.

In the preseason state rankings compiled by milesplit.com, Monticello was rated second in Class 1A, Tolono Unity was rated third and SJ-O was rated seventh.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday (Sept. 7) at Oakwood.

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A St. Joseph-Ogden senior and a freshman from the school were the top two runners on Saturday (Aug. 28), helping the Spartans to the team title in the girls’ division of the Doc Acklin Memorial cross-country invitational in Paris.

The meet is named in honor of the father of Jim Acklin, a former SJ-O head coach who is now an assistant coach in cross-country.

Senior Ava Knap was the leader in the 59-runner field. Her winning 3-mile time was 20 minutes, 0.8 seconds.

The runner-up was SJ-O freshman Savanna Franzen. She was timed in 20:11.6.

The Spartans had one other top-10 placer.

Kailyn Ingram was ninth in 22:00.7.

Maddison Clampitt and Chloe Burkhalter finished within seconds of each other. Clampitt was 12^th in 22:24.9. Burkhalter was 13^th in 22:37.6.

Other SJ-O participants were: Malorie Sarnecki (15^th in 23:17.6), Addie Allen (20^th in 23:32.0) and Kaytlyn Baker (39^th in 27:24.1).

SJ-O had a team score of 31 points. Runner-up Marshall finished with 44 points. Third-place Newton had 80 points and was followed by Effingham (90 points).

SJ-O will return to action on Saturday (Sept. 4) in the Chrisman Cowchip Classic.

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SJ-O Football

The gains made by St. Joseph-Ogden’s football team Friday night were not enough.

The Spartans’ offense was stymied by Unity’s defense and the Rockets made SJ-O its third successive shutout victim with a 20-0 win for homecoming at Hicks Field.

“Their defensive players are fast to the football,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said.

SJ-O was only able to generate 44 second-half yards on 20 plays.

The game was scoreless until the final 40 seconds of the first half.

Unity gained possession on the SJ-O 29-yard line with 1 minute, 59 seconds left in the second quarter following an 11-yard punt.

The Rockets had no timeouts remaining, but moved quickly, scoring on a 6-yard pass from Nate Reinhart to Nate Drennan with 38 seconds left in the period.

For the Spartans, there was a lot to like from the first two quarters. SJ-O matched Unity on first downs (6-6), had no penalties and no turnovers.

“I like how we played with effort,” Skinner said. “There wasn’t a lot I didn’t like other than the lack of scoring on our part. Everything had gone about as we wanted until that last possession when we gave them good field position.”

SJ-O took the ball to start the third quarter, but had to punt 57 seconds later.

Crayton Burnett sailed a punt 45 yards, but the Rockets completed a 64-yard scoring march thanks to three third-down conversions.

Again, Drennan hauled in a scoring strike from Reinhart, who converted his second extra point.

“They are very good, but we feel that we left some plays on the field,” Skinner said. “We’ll lick our wounds, but we will watch film and learn from this.

“Our guys were not satisfied. I liked the look in their eyes after the game. Our guys were ready to keep playing.”

Overall, SJ-O had 64 yards rushing on 25 carries.

Coby Miller and Keaton Nolan each gained 23 yards. Burnett finished with 15 yards rushing. He also completed 10 of 20 passes, for 66 yards.

Ty Pence hauled in four receptions for 21 yards. Chance Izard had 16 yards on two catches.

Izard’s 12-yard catch in the second half was the Spartans’ only play from scrimmage the last two quarters to generate more than eight yards.

In all, six Spartans had pass receptions.

Unity (3-1) finished with a 262-130 edge in total yards.

SJ-O’s four first-half possessions started on their own 18-, 15-, 3- and 17-yard lines.

The Spartans’ first possession of the third period began on their own 13-yard line.

“We made them have to drive the length of the field and we think it’s tough to do that against our defense,” Unity coach Scott Hamilton said. “Defensively, we’ve got a hungry group.”

SJ-O (3-1) returns to action on Friday in its homecoming game against Pontiac (1-3).

SJ-O Girls’ cross-country

The Spartans finished seventh on Saturday in the freshmen-sophomore division of the Richard Spring Invitational at Detweiler Park, in Peoria,

Leading the way for SJ-O were Kailyn Ingram (52nd in 20 minute, 29.7 seconds for 3 miles), Addie Allen (64th in 20:43.4), Malorie Sarnecki (70th in 20:48.2), Kendra Riddle (136th in 21:45.5) and Sidney Davis (188th in 23:09.8).

There were 278 runners in the freshmen-sophomore race.

Meet champion Elmhurst York had 30 points. SJ-O totaled 190.

In the varsity race, SJ-O had three competitors and was not scored as a team.

Jillian Plotner was 101st in a 454-runner field with a time of 19:15.0.

Trailing her were Hanna Eastin (212th in 20:23.8) and Ally Monk (252nd in 20:50.9).

In the open race, the Spartans ended in 40th place with a score of 1194. Meet champion York had 60 points.

The top SJ-O runners were: Kaytlyn Baker (252nd in 23:35.2), Taryn Sexton (362nd in 24:55.9), Teagan Miller (477th in 26:45.9), Izzy Sexton (533rd in 28:32.0), Mary Hinrichs (554th in 29:56.2) and Lili Wentzloff (579th in 34:53.2).

SJ-O returns to action on Saturday when it hosts the Spartan Classic.

SJ-O Boys’ cross-country

Brandon Mattsey and Eric Poe placed among the top half on Saturday in the varsity division of the Richard Spring Classic at Detweiler Park, in Peoria.

Mattsey ran the 3-mile course in 16 minutes, 42.7 seconds and took 188th in a field of 446 competitors. Poe was 198th in 16:46.1.

Other Spartan placers were Logan Wolfersberger (340th in 17:56.0), Lukas Hutcherson (358th in 18:05.9), Taddy Pettit (409th in 19:26.9) and Joshua Sexton (439th in 22:3.1).

In the team standings, SJ-O was 54th with a score of 1426. Meet champion St. Charles East had a score of 57.

SJ-O captured 27th in the 53-school freshmen-sophomore team chase with a score of 777. Meet champion Deerfield had a score of 88.

The Spartans’ leaders were Charlie Mabry (84th in 17:09.8), Elijah Mock (86th in 17:10.3), Luke Stegall (167th in 17:59.1), Braden Clampitt (200th in 18:17.6), Ethan Blackburn (247th in 18:55.3) and Zach Dahman (331st in 21:17.1).

SJ-O did not have any participants in the open race.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they host their own Spartan Classic.

SJ-O Golf

Medalist Payton Grimsley carded a 36 to lead the Spartans past Okaw Valley in a three-school meet on Thursday at Tri-City Country Cub. The Spartans carded a team composite of 170 and earned a team win by 23 strokes.

Following Grimsley were teammates Joe Acton (40), Riley Myren (44), Maddux Carter (50), Jack Robertson (52), Jacob Kern (54) and McGuire Atwood (55).

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday at the Illini Prairie Conference meet in El Paso.

SJ-O Soccer

For the third match in a row, SJ-O was held scoreless on Thursday and dropped a 7-0 Illini Prairie Conference decision to St. Thomas More in Champaign.

SJ-O rebounded on Saturday with a 3-3 draw against Chillicothe IVC.

Freshman Emily Eisbernd scored the first goal for the Spartans, giving the team a 1-0 lead at halftime.

She was assisted by Luke Cohen, who hit a second-half goal as did teammate Garrett Siems.

Siems also had one assist.

The Spartans (2-9-2) return to action on Tuesday at Rantoul.

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