DECATUR - Southwestern's Laina Wilderman and Caden Bohn ended their 2018 cross country seasons strong fashion as they both turned in superb efforts on their final races of the season at the Decatur St. Teresa IHSA Class 1A Sectional Meet last Saturday at Hickory Point Golf Course.

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Southwestern Head Cross Country Coach Gary Bowker said although neither Wilderman or Bohn advanced to the state finals through this extremely tough sectional, both ran their best performance of the year on their final meet.

"Freshman Laina Wilderman started strong, maintained a position in the middle of the pack, and finished 84th in a field of 150," he said. "Her time of 21:58 shaved 2:05 off her previous time on this same course some five weeks ago."

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Bowker said he was glad to have three more years to work with Wilderman and said: "Her sectional finish was quite an improvement for a young lady with a very bright future ahead of her!"

Southwestern senior Bohn also concluded his high school cross country career in a most competitive manner.

"His goal was to run his best race of the season," Coach Bowker said. "Caden’s pace never wavered as he challenged the undulating hills of the 3.0-mile course. Crossing the finish line in 24th place, his time of 16:26 left him short of a berth in the state finals. It was, however, an improvement of nearly a minute over his previous clocking at Hickory Point."

Bowker concluded by saying: "For both Piasa Birds, it was an excellent ending to an amazing season, and reason to smile!"

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