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GRANITE CITY - Edwardsville sophomore runner Riley Knoyle finished third in the race as the Tigers received solid performances from everyone in the lineup to finish third in the IHSA Class 3A regional cross country meet Saturday morning at Wilson Park in Granite City.
Normal Community won the team title with a score of 44 points, with O'Fallon coming in second with 70 points, the Tigers third at 76 points, and Quincy got the last team qualifying spot for next week's sectional meet hosted by Normal Community at Maxwell Park with 97 points. Pekin came in fifth with 105 points, Normal Community West was sixth with 153 points, Belleville West was seventh at 205 points, and the host Warriors were eighth with 207 points. Alton and Collinsville entered runners as individuals but didn't have enough to record a team score.
Although the Tigers ran a bit shorthanded on the day, it was still a good day for the team, as Knoyle had a great day as the team's top runner.
"We were a little shorthanded today," said Edwardsville head coach George Patrylak. "We sat Dylan Peel, who's been our number three runner for us in recent meets, just to make sure she's ready for the sectional. But upfront, Riley ran a fantastic race. She ran 17:19, which is just off of what she ran last year to be All-State. She ran really well, and we give credit to (O'Fallon's Peyton) Scheippe and (Normal Community's Ali) Ince. They had amazing races today, and in all the years I've been coaching, that was the best upfront race in a regional that I've ever seen."
Ince took the individual title with a time of 16:58.19, with Scheippe coming in second at 17:03.97, and Knoyle third with a time of 17:19.05. Alyssa Elliott of West was fourth at 17:29.79, with the Blue Devils' Anna Schuering fifth at 17:48.22, sixth place went to Normal Community's Lauren Sanderson, who had a time of 18:17.97, the Panthers' Julia Monson was seventh at 18:20.79, coming in eighth was the Iron's Olivia Hartke at 18:35.63, Addysen Clark of Normal Community West was ninth at 18:48.68, and rounding out the top ten was Lauren Filarski of Pekin, who had a time of 18:49.18.
In addition to Knoyle, the Tigers' Maya Lueking had a time of 18:53.07, while Whitney Dyckman came in at 19:00.96, Kaitlyn Loyet was clocked in 19:08.59, Olivia Coll had a time of 19:08.59, Madison Strotheide was clocked in 19:19.25, and Makenna Lueking had a time of 19:31.19. Lacey Kunz was the leading runner for Granite, with a time of 19:45.17, with Lauryn Fenoglio coming in at 20:44.60, Shannon Roustio was in at 20:57.29, Lillian Harris was timed in 21:05.16, Claire Sykes came in at 21:36.17, and Madison Tanksley was in at 23:47.67. Another Warrior runner, Rowan Wallace, was disqualified.
Alayna Rabozzi was the top runner for the Redbirds, coming in at 20:39.48, with Sophia Paschal having a time of 21:36.24, and Eva Schwaab had a time of 23:16.37. Two runners represented the Kahoks, with Maggie Fitzgerald coming in at 21:33.93, and Kassidy Rea was timed in 22:14.96.
There were many positive takeaways in the race for the Tigers, which included four personal records set on the day, and good performances all around.
"Our girls who were in the second race today, Whitney, Olivia and Madison, all ran well today," Patrylak said. "The girls finished third, and qualified for the sectional, but we'll have to be better next week."
It'll be the final meet of the season, as the state meet, traditionally run at Detweiler Park in Peoria, was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Patrylak is very sympathetic to all the runners who won't be able to go on to state, especially the seniors.
"I really feel bad for the seniors, because they've worked so hard over the years," Patrylak said. "And between our boys and girls, I'm pretty confident that we would have had a few All-Staters."
Still, though there are goals to be set and hopefully made at the sectional next Saturday morning. And there's a happy, yet sad, part that the sectional will be the season finale for both cross country and the IHSA fall sports season.
"The way I'm viewing this is that our goal is to be in the top six of each race," Patrylak said. "If we do that, then we know we could have qualified for state if there was one. I'm excited for next week, but I know that it'll be very bittersweet, too."Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.
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