By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Mahomet-Seymour’s state-ranked girls’ cross-country team had eight runners place among the top 50 in Saturday’s 224-runner invitational at Metamora.
The Bulldogs, ranked fourth in Class 2A, won the 21-school meet with 96 points.
The individual leaders were runner-up Elizabeth Sims, who covered the 2.94-mile course in 17 minutes, 45.4 seconds and Brisa McGrath, who placed seventh in 18:03.4.
M-S’ next six placers entered the chute within 42 seconds of one another.
They were: Olivia Bunting (26th in 19:02.3), Delaney King (30th in 19:05.3), Madi Balbach (40th in 19:20.7), Grace Lietz (41st in 19:23.3), Klein Powell (46th in 19:44.3) and Chloe Allen (47th in 19:44.6).
In rankings compiled by milesplitIL.com, M-S is fourth, trailing Vernon Hills, Belvidere and Dixon.
In the freshmen-sophomore division, Fiona Taylor ended 36th in 22:11.9.
M-S returns to action on Tuesday in the Apollo Conference meet at Scovill Golf Course, in Decatur.
Boys’ cross-country
Individual champion Mathias Powell helped M-S — ranked 10th in Class 2A — finish fourth among 24 teams in the Metamora Invitational on Saturday.
Normal University High (72 points) was the meet winner, followed by Bloomington (99), Pekin (125) and the Bulldogs (127).
Powell’s winning time for the 2.94-mile course was 14:55.2. He finished 31.5 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
The other top 10 placer for M-S was Bryson Keeble (10th in 15:58.7).
Five teammates completed the course among the top 90 on a day 301 runners finished.
Kyle Nofziger was 14th in 16:08.3, Jonah Singer was 34th in 16:40.1, Joseph Scheele was 77th in 17:23.5, David Wilcoski was 81st in 17:27.7, and Joe Taylor was 87th in 17:30.0.
The Bulldogs return to action on Tuesday in the Apollo Conference meet at Scovill Golf Course, in Decatur.
Volleyball
Savannah Matthews posted a double-double, but the Bulldogs (14-10) had their four-match winning streak ended on Thursday with a 25-20, 25-16 loss at Taylorville.
Matthews had 10 kills and 12 digs.
Ellie Beach had a team-high 15 digs and Lauren Minick chipped in with five kills.
Kayin Garner led M-S with 19 assists. She had one service ace as did Matthews and Josie Hess.
Amber Yeakel and Brooklyn Houser each had one block.
The Bulldogs are 7-3 in Apollo Conference matches.
M-S is back on the court Tuesday with a home match against Clinton.
In Saturday’s junior varsity tournament at Mahomet, the Bulldogs ended fourth.
M-S swept Bloomington Central Catholic 25-16, 25-21 and Chicago Roosevelt 25-11, 25-18. In pool play, eventual runner-up Olympia handed the Bulldogs a 25-20, 25-20 loss.
In the third-place match, M-S fell to Pontiac, 25-21, 18-25, 15-7.
Boys’ soccer
Mahomet-Seymour and Mount Zion engaged in a scoreless battle until the final 20 seconds on Thursday, when the Braves scored after a free kick and earned a 1-0 victory at home.
The loss was the first this season for the Bulldogs in Apollo Conference action.
M-S is 5-1-3 in league play and 11-3-5 overall.
M-S returns to action on Monday at home against Lincoln for a Senior Night match which was postponed from Saturday.
Girls’ tennis
The Bulldogs fell to 2-5 in dual meets with a 5-4 loss to St. Thomas More on Thursday at the Atkins Tennis Center.
The schools each won three singles matches.
M-S’ singles wins were in the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 positions, starting with Lauren Henderson and continuing with Zoe Doehring and Amalie Fried.
All three have above-.500 records for the season.
The No. 1 doubles team of Doehring and Henderson prevailed, 8-6.
The team will play on Friday and Saturday in the sectional at Champaign’s Lindsay Courts.
Football
The Bulldogs (1-6) went on the road and dropped a 27-12 Apollo Conference decision to Mount Zion (5-2) on Friday.
Jordan Veldman scored the first touchdown for M-S, which will try to stop a five-game losing streak on Friday when it plays at Lincoln (2-5).
Dawson Finch passed for 154 yards and is just six yards shy of reaching 1,000 for the season.
Dylan Gates and Clay Hubble each hauled in three passes. Gates was the top receiver with 74 yards, including one touchdown reception.
Connor Thomason had two catches for 48 yards.
Hubble was the Bulldogs’ top rusher with 33 yards. Veldman gained 29 yards on the ground.
Overall, M-S had 265 all-purpose yards, including a total of 71 via rushing.
Mount Zion amassed 546 all-purpose yards and had at least 230 yards both through rushing and passing.
Gates had 82 all-purpose yards to lead the Bulldogs. Veldman ended with 80 and Hubble had 46.
Defensively, Thomason intercepted his team-high fourth pass.
Dallas Carnell had a team-high 12 tackles. Finishing with nine stops apiece were Ethan Carlson, Daunte Roberts and Thomason.
Marching Band
The Mahomet-Seymour Marching band traveled to Limestone High School with their show Outbreak Saturday.
The band captured several first place awards including in auxiliary, percussion and winds. They placed first in the 4A category and won Grand Champion overall.
