Boyd wins Apollo Conference championship

By FRED KRONER

fred@mahometnews.com

Senior Ava Boyd added another highlight to her season of accomplishments on Tuesday (Oct. 10) when she outkicked Mount Zion senior Renee Ballard to the finish line to win the Apollo Conference girls’ cross-country championship.

Boyd ran the 3-mile course in Taylorville at the Christian County Fairgrounds in 18 minutes, 9.1 seconds. Her margin of victory was a slender margin of 1.1 seconds for the three-time all-conference runner.

For Boyd, Tuesday’s performance continued her ascent up the charts in the Apollo Conference. As a sophomore, she was third. As a junior, she was second. Her time as a senior was 42 seconds quicker than she ran at the conference meet in 2022.

Boyd and two other Bulldogs received all-conference accolades this year for placing among the top 10 runners in a field of 70 participants.

Freshman Taylor Mills was fourth in 18:55.9 and freshman Jaci  Kellenberger was 10^th in 19:43.5.

“They all raced incredibly well,” M-S coach Jama Grotelueschen said.

In the team chase, M-S finished behind conference champion Mount Zion. Mount Zion had 30 points. M-S totaled 47 points and third-place Effingham had 52 points in a meet with six full teams.

Three other Bulldogs ended among the top 20 individuals.

Hadley Grotelueschen was 14^th in 20:49.2, Ava Jansen was 18^th in 21:27.2 and Emma Frazier was 19^th in 21:30.3.

In all, 21 M-S runners competed in the conference meet.

The team’s other placers were Zoey Wallace (21^st in 21:38.6), Emmaline Culp (24^th in 21:55.9), Chloe Bundren (26^th in 22:08.1), Jinan Abdo (27^th in 22:15.3), Morgan Waisath (31^st in 22:37.8), Caroline Allen (37^th in 23:20.7), Emily Ramirez (39^th in 23:37.9), Camryn Nelson (42^nd in 23:51.1), Blaire Gabel (43^rd in 24:10.9), Alyssa Gray (44^th in 24:15.4), Selma Tilton (45^th in 24:20.1), Meg Turner (47^th in 24:29.0), Lauren Bednar (51^st in 24:58.6), Mollie Schifo (53^rd in 26:15.9) and Grace Bednar (55^th in 26:34.6).

“We had a great group of 21 athletes who showed tremendous perseverance and determination to better themselves throughout the season,” Jama Grotelueschen added.

M-S returns to action on Saturday (Oct. 21) in the Normal U-High Class 2A Regional at Maxwell Park.