ALHAMBRA - Civic Memorial placed three runners in the top ten in the boys race, while Triad and Jersey advanced two runners each as individuals, while the Knights were fourth, the Eagles came in fifth and the Panthers put one runner through to next week's sectional in the IHSA Class 2A Highland regional cross country meets Saturday at the Alhambra Fireman's Park.
Marion won the boys team championship with 64 points, while CM was second with 87 points, the host Bulldogs were third at 94 points, Mascoutah was fourth with 99 points, Carbondale came in fifth with 116 points and Waterloo was sixth, claiming the last team berth in the sectional with 124 points. Triad was seventh with 134 points, the Panthers were eighth with 217 points, Herrin was ninth with 237 points and East St. Louis came in 10th with 281 points. Centralia also had runners in the race, but didn't have a team score.
In the girls race, Mascoutah came out on top with 46 points, edging out Waterloo, who had 49 points for second place, Highland was third with 80 points, Triad came in fourth with 92 points, the Eagles were fifth with 120 points and Carbondale took the last team spot in sixth place with 161 points. Jersey was seventh with 205 points, and Centralia was eighth with 221 points. Cahokia, East St. Louis and Herrin had runners in the race as well, but not enough to keep a team score.
Civic Memorial head girls cross country coach Jacob Peal had these comments about the regional: "I am very pleased with how both races turned out. It’s always a great feeling knowing that both teams extended their seasons one more week to qualify for the sectional.
"Hannah and Alyssa did a fantastic job leading the girls to our 5th place finish to get through. Hannah had a fantastic race finishing 2nd with her best time of the season, Alyssa being just outside of the top 10 looked super controlled and strong the entire time. The rest of our girls all ran faster today than when we ran at the Highland Invite on 9/18.
"It was a pleasant surprise that the boys finished 2nd at the regional today. We placed 3 in the top 10 that really sparked a day full of season bests. Jackson’s 3rd place and All-Region plus Justice 8th and Luke 10th were the keys to us finishing 2nd in the Regional. This may either tie or beat our previous best finish at a regional in school history, so we seem to be peaking at the right time."
Alex Partlow of Carbondale won the boys race with a time of 15:18.6, with Waterloo's Joe Schwartz coming in second at 15:55.8, CM's Jackson Collman was third with a time of 16:08.2, Dallas Mancinas of Highland was fourth at 16:09.1, in fifth place was Triad's Andrew Pace, the number one individual qualifier into the sectional, in at 16:11.7, Marion's Logan Morgan was sixth at 16:15.9, Jersey's Cole Martinez finished seventh and was the number two individual qualifier with a time of 16:25.6, in eighth place was CM's Justice Eldridge, coming in at 16:29.1, Sam Lajoye of the Indians was ninth at 16:33.5 and Lucas Naugle of the Eagles rounded out the top ten at 16:39.7.
Also going through as individuals were Griffin Williams of the Panthers at 17:01,0 and the Knights' Drew Twyman at 17:04.4.
Outside of the top three for the Eagles, Gabe Roberts had a time of 17:32.0, Trevor Kroeschel was in at 17:53.0, Aslan Henderson had a time of 18:40.5 and Deacon Anderson was in at 19:41.3. Jaylin Moore led the Flyers with a time of 19:14.8, Ladruis Estes was clocked in 19:16.1, Quinten Stepney had a time of 19:22.7, Cortez Sanders came in at 20:20.6, Devonte Ellard's time was 20:52.2 and John Redmond came in at 22:33.6.
Along with Martinez and Williams, Dax Goetten had a time of 20:44.8, Zane Peterbaugh was home in 20:52,9, Adam Kribs had a time of 22:43.1 and Drake Wilson's time was 22:50,8. In addition to Pace and Twyman, the Knights had Sam Kuckuck in at 17:32.9, Dalton Mersinger was in at 17:56.0, Ben WInslow had a time of 18:04.1, Dillon Henderson had a time of 18:33.1 and Louis Yohannes came in at 18:40.5.
In the girls race, Waterloo's Angelynn Kanyuck was the champion with a time of 18:27.4, with CM's Hannah Meiser second at 18:39.2, Waterloo's Danielle Mudd was third at 18:47.8, teammate Cameron Crump came in fourth at 18:48.3, fifth place went to Mascoutah's Jayda Williams at 18:50.8, while teammate Addison Heard was sixth at 19:40.6, Triad's Blaire Cunningham was seventh with a time of 19:47.4, eighth place went to Anna Schurz of Carbondale at 19:48.8, Tarryn Keeney of Highland was ninth at 19:49.4 and rounding out the top ten was the Indians' Amelia Martin at 19:52.9.
Advancing to the sectional as individuals are Jersey's Morgan Johnson, who came in at 21:37.9 and East Side's Leinkei Burns, with a time of 21:59.3.
Along with Meiser, Alyssa Mann of the Eagles had a time of 19:55.1, Katelyn Hallstead was in at 22:03.0, Allison Hallstead's time was 22:35.6, Eliza Donaldson came in at 22:40.4 and Shelby Quick was in at 23:23.6. Along with Burns' qualifying time, the Flyers had Ambrasha Lampley in at 30:09.5, Courtasja WIlliams had a time of 30:15.5 and Bailii Graham was clocked in 30:27.3.
To go along with Johnson's time, the Panthers had Hailie Carter in at 23:01.6, Grace Steinacher came in at 23:24.4, Abby Fraley had a time of 23:29.0, Reese Lorton was in at 24:41.5, Kate Heitzig's time was 25:29.4 and Chloe Kallal was in at 25:55.6. In addition to Cunningham's time, the Knights had Ana Keller in at 19:58.6, Kennedy Bowman had a time of 20:16.4, Chloe Gough's time was 20:45.1, Kailey Peterson was home at 20:58.8, Claire Schaft had a time of 21:14.8 and Mattie Noyes came in at 21:35.7.
The advancing teams and individuals will compete in the Decatur MacArthur sectional next Saturday afternoon at the Hickory Point Golf Course in Forsyth.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
