BY FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Mahomet-Seymour Girls’ Cross Country
The Bulldogs ran second to Bloomington in Saturday’s Class 2A Metamora Regional and earned a team berth in the sectional at Bloomington on Saturday, Nov. 2.
Bloomington finished with a team score of 48 points. M-S totaled 59 points. Third-place Urbana had 77 points.
“We had a great day and beat the rain during the girls’ race,” M-S coach Kristin Allen said.
The M-S leader was sophomore Elizabeth Sims. Her 3-mile time was 18 minutes, 12.51 seconds.
Sims was running second, but made a wrong turn and had to retrace her steps, costing her precious seconds.
“She recovered with a solid third-place finish,” Allen said.
Sims finished 19 seconds in front of the fourth-place runner.
The next four Bulldogs finished within 33 seconds of one another.
Sophomore Klein Powell was seventh in 18:58.17, sophomore Grace Lietz was 14th in 19:20.37, junior Olivia Bunting was 16th in 19:21.62 and freshman Callie Jansen was 22nd in 19:31.63.
Powell, Bunting and Jansen all ran personal-best times.
The other M-S regional entrants were sophomore Emily Bednar (28th in 19:56.35) and freshman Ella Scott (31st in 2004.72).
There were eight teams and 57 runners at the regional.
The Bloomington Sectional will start with the girls’ race at 9 a.m. The race will be held at Maxwell Park, in Normal.
“I’m excited for next week with this young gritty team,” Allen said.
The girls’ will be chasing the program’s 17th all-time state berth and fifth in a row.
Mahomet-Seymour Boys’ cross-country
With two top-10 runners, M-S secured third-place in Saturday’s 11-school Metamora Class 2A Regional and earned a berth in the upcoming Bloomington Sectional.
It will be the 17th consecutive year that the school has sent its entire team to the sectional.
The boys’ sectional race will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. The race will be held at Maxwell Park, in Normal.
Sophomore Kyle Nofziger and junior Nick Mies were the Bulldogs’ leaders at Black Patridge State Park.
Nofziger was fourth, covering the 3-mile course in 15 minutes, 19.16 seconds. Mies was eighth in 15:45.52.
Nofziger earned all-regional status. His time was the quickest by a Bulldog sophomore ever at a regional meet. Mies broke the 16-minute barrier for the first time in his prep career and posted the 10th-best time ever by an M-S junior at a regional competition.
“We’ve had some tremendous juniors over the years, so this was quite an accomplishment,” Garrison said.
The other M-S scoring runners in the 75-person field were sophomore Joseph Scheele (11th in 15:53.89), sophomore Jonah Singer (24th in 16:26.34) and sophomore Josh Wilcoski (49th in 17:5.86).
Scheele and Singer etched their names in the school’s record books, posting the fourth-best and 16th-best regional times, respectively, ever by M-S sophomores.
Other regional competitors for the Bulldogs were junior Caleb Dowers (56th in 17:28.67) and senior David Wilcoski (60th in 17:44.61).
Josh Wilcoski, Dowers and David Wilcoski all registered personal-best times.
“I was super pleased with their performances,” M-S coach Neal Garrison said. “They gave everything they had to their teammates.
“Caleb had a big breakthrough at the right time. Caleb improved 27 seconds from his best time. He helped pull his teammates to the places we needed at the right times in the race. He showed a lot of team spirit by running with such intensity under such high pressure.”
Four Bulldogs were running in their first regional meet: Mies, Scheele, Singer and Dowers.
At sectional, the M-S boys will be seeking their 17th state berth as a team and eighth in the past nine years.
Metamora totaled 60 points and earned the regional title.
The next four teams were within 11 points of one another. Bloomington had 90 points, M-S had 96 points, Normal University High had 97 points and Washington had 101 points.
All five schools advanced to the sectional, along with sixth-place Centennial, which had 122 points.
The regional was loaded with state-ranked teams, including No. 5 Metamora, No. 7 Bloomington, No. 10 Normal University High and No. 19 Centennial.
“Our team knew they had to race right at their best to have a chance to qualify for the sectional meet,” Garrison said. “Our regional had the most state-ranked teams in it.
“Many of the teams were very comparable to our team, which made it a real possibility that we might not qualify for the sectional meet despite having a solid team. This put a lot of emotional pressure on the runners. They handled the pressure very well and were able to place higher than each individual was predicted to.”
Though schools were limited to entering seven runners at the regional, Garrison said the other Bulldog squad members made their presence felt.
“I was also very appreciative and proud of our runners that weren’t running that made sure they were super supportive to their teammates during the race,” Garrison said. “They ran all over the course to make sure to cheer on and encourage their teammates in the high-stakes race.
“It made a big difference as four of our runners ran lifetime bests and the other three were close to their bests. They care deeply about their teammates and it showed at the regional meet.”
