Emily Anand and Cecily Smith Lead Mahomet-Seymour Girls’ Cross-Country to Regional Championship Victory

By Fred Kroner

All-Regional runners Emily Anand and Cecily Smith paced the Mahomet-Seymour girls’ cross-country team to a Class 2A regional championship on Saturday (Oct. 26) at Mattoon.

The Bulldogs won the 10-school event with a composite score of 64 points. Runner-up Centennial had 81 points and third-place Olney finished with 95 points.

Anand, a junior, ran the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 59.49 seconds. She placed third.

Smith, a freshman, took fifth in 1912.78.

The top five runners earned all-Regional accolades.

Other M-S leaders were sophomore Taylor Mills (14th in 20:05.15), freshman Kennedy Ashby (21st in 20:27.60), senior Chloe Bundren (24th in 20:46.79), freshman Finley Smith (40th in 21:30.27) and senior Morgan Waisath (50th in 22:23.68).

There were 73 runners in the race.

The regional title was the 17th overall for M-S in girls’ cross-country and the first since 2020-21.

M-S will return to action on Saturday (Nov. 2) in the Olney Sectional.