Sophomore cross country runner Riley Doyle

ROXANA - Sophomore cross country runner Riley Doyle became of the area's top small-school girls runners during the recently completed 2020 season. a season which featured consistent top ten performances, and climaxed by a third-place finish in the IHSA Class 1A Carlinville regional, with a time of 19:17.49, a 15th-place finish at the Decatur St. Teresa Catholic sectional, coming in at 19:31.5, and running the course at the 2020 Illinois XC Championships, which was the unofficial state meet, in 21:18.99 in helping the Shells to advance to both the sectional and XC Championship meets.

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For her accomplishments during the season, Doyle has been named Roxana High School's Riverbender.com female Athlete of the Month for November, 2020.

Doyle, who ran for coaches Scott Edwards and Juli Akal, improved on her performances from her freshman year in 2019, and also set a personal goal she was aiming for during the 2020 season.

"I placed third at regionals, improving from my fourth-place finish last year," Doyle said, "and I placed 15th at sectionals, repeating my 15th place finish from last year. I also ran an unofficial time of 18:59 for three miles, according to my watch, which was huge for me, since my goal has been to break 19 minutes in the three-mile this year."

Athlete of the Month is sponsored by

Doyle thanked her parents, coaches and teammates for all of her success that she enjoyed during the season.

"I thank my parents for getting up and driving me to early practices during the summer, and encouraging me," Doyle said. "I thank my coaches for knowing how to motivate me and keep me running. I also thank my team for being supportive of me and being a family for me."

Doyle has been running cross country for a total of five years, starting in sixth grade at Roxana Middle School, and has run for the Shells in her first two years of high school. She enjoys both the physical and mental aspects of the sport.

"I like that cross country builds both physical and mental strength," Doyle said.

Doyle is also very musically inclined, being a member of the school's concert, marching and jazz bands.

Riverbender.com's Athlete of the Month program is made possible by the generosity of our sponsors and the cooperation of our area high schools. This is a great accomplishment and one to be very proud of. Please join us in congratulating this young athlete. We at Riverbender.com wish you continued success in your future!

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