By Fred Kroner
Five Mahomet-Seymour athletes crossed the finish line within 26.9 seconds of one another on Friday (Sept. 24), helping the Bulldogs to a third-place finish in the 39-team Dunlap Junior High girls’ cross-country invitational at Detweiller Park, in Peoria.
Madalyn Marx (28th in 13 minutes, 34.9 seconds) and Taylor Mills (34th in 13:37.2) set the pace for M-S.
Completing the team’s top five were Hadley Grotelueschen (44th in 13:50.3), Anniston Huff (51st in 13:52.5) and Jaci Kellenberger (62nd in 14:01.8).
The split between the top five runners was the day’s best in the girls’ varsity division.
The remainder of the lineup consisted of Kennedy Ashby (89th in 14:23.0) and Hannah Martin (120th in 14:47.6).
There were 289 runners in the girls’ 2.1-mile varsity race.
“This group found their stride during the race,” M-S coach Lisa Martin said. “At the start, I think we all were feeling a little stressed about what this meet would hold for us.
“We had never been to this meet and also knew that the competition was fierce. Our Bulldog runners dug deep and put themselves in position to where they were one of those noteworthy teams by placing third out of the 39 full teams. We ran packed-up and it was a lovely site.”
In the team chase, Chatham Glenwood was first with 57 points. Washington Central was the runner-up with 64 points and M-S was third with a composite score of 212.
In a 381-runner open race, Bulldogs Ella Walk and Isabel Lietz secured top-10 finishes.
Walk was sixth (14:37.3) and Lietz was eighth (14:38.1).
Eight M-S athletes finished among the top 35.
The others were: Marley Cloward (21st in 14:49.8), Abi King (22nd in 14:52.7), Emma Busch (25th in 15:03.9), Claire Waggoner (31st in 15:22.3), Cecily Smith (32nd in 15:23.2) and Annaleise Ruzich (34th in 15:29.4).
“It was a great day for this group of runners,” Martin said. “Walk and Lietz ran well together.”
Team honors were captured by Chatham Glenwood (34 points), followed by M-S (82) and Morton (87).
In a three-school meet on Thursday (Sept. 23) at Monticello, Evie Hillard made her season debut after recovering from an injury and was the leader of the M-S pack at Monticello’s Lodge Park.
Hillard covered the 2-mile course in 14 minutes and 34 seconds and ended in third place.
“It was great to see her back in action on the race course,” Martin said.
Teammates joining her among the top 10 were Zoey Wallace (sixth in 15:01), Ayla Finfrock (ninth in 15:14) and Jinan Abdo (10th in 15:17).
Six other squad members wound up in the top 20.
Lainey Howard was 11th in 15:17. Other Bulldog leaders were Emery Parker (12th in 15:21), Emily Ramirez (15th in 15:26), Adella Bird (16th in 15:27), Camryn Nelson (18th in 15:30) and Caroline Mercer (20th in 15:33).
Clinton also had runners participating in the meet.
“Zoey Wallace continues to improve and she will definitely be one to watch as she trains for her eighth-grade season,” Martin said. “Our eighth-grade leaders will be missed: Jinan Abdo, Lainey Howard, Adella Bird and Camryn Nelson are all eighth-graders that have been the glue of this race squad.
“We will miss them next year, but we are thankful for their leadership. So many great things are happening with our runners right now. Excited to go into our last week with confidence.”
The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 2) at Monticello’s Lodge Park.
