Boyd records personal-best time at Richard Spring Invitational

By Fred Kroner

For the second week in a row, Mahomet-Seymour senior Ava Boyd recorded a lifetime best in a major cross-country meet.

Boyd dropped nearly 19 seconds from her previous best on Saturday (Sept. 16), finishing 23^rd in a 500-runner field at the Richard Spring Invitational at Detweiller Park, in Peoria.

She was timed in 17 minutes, 43.20 seconds. Her previous top time was 18:02.

M-S finished 24^th in a predominantly Class 3A meet, with 758 points. Meet champion Downers Grove North amassed 66 points. There were 61 full teams in the race.

Other M-S entries were Taylor Mills (112^th in 18:59.70), Jaci Kellenberger (173^rd in 19:34.30), Chloe Bundren (183^rd in 19:45.00), Emma Frazier (320^th in 21:02.30), Hadley Grotelueschen (330^th in 21:07.40), Zoey Wallace (341^st in 21:18.40), Ava Jansen (353^rd in 21:23.90) and Morgan Waisath (385^th in 21:50.70).

The Bulldogs also had seven entries in the open race and were led by Emily Ramirez (135^th in 22:29.4).

Other M-S competitors were Jinan Abdo (148^th in 22:48.2), Selma Tilton (154^th in 22:55.0), Camryn Nelson (165^th in 23:04.9), Blaire Gabel (192^nd in 23:36.2), Meg Turner (247^th in 24:35.2) and Mollie Schifo (320^th in 26:22.1).

All 16 M-S runners who competed at Peoria registered each season-best or career-best times.

“This group keeps raising the bar,” M-S coach Jama Grotelueschen said.

In the open division, M-S ended in 22^nd place with 604 points. Meet champion Elmhurst York had a composite score of 46 points.