Mahomet-Seymour ends season with win at Monticello Sectional
By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour ran to team honors on Saturday (Oct. 2) in a 19-school girls’ junior high cross-country invitational at Monticello’s Lodge Park that marked the end of the regular season.
The top five placers for M-S finished the course within 41.1 seconds of another. The school’s seven participants were packed within 64.3 seconds of each other.
“To have all seven runners cross the finish line within approximately 1 minute of each other is a feat that is rare in the world of cross-country,” M-S coach Lisa Martin said. “We are the only team that accomplished that at this meet.”
Two Bulldogs secured top-10 placements in a field with 143 competitors.
Madalyn Marx ran the 2-mile course in 13 minutes, 00 seconds and finished in sixth place. Close behind, in eighth place, was M-S’ Taylor Mills (13:01.2).
“This is a duo that has been fun to watch this season,” Martin said. “They are teammates that celebrate each other’s successes all the while pushing together to lead the rest of the team to a solid team finish.”
Rounding out the Bulldogs’ lineup were: Anniston Huff (13th in 13:21.7), Jaci Kellenberger (14th in 13:29.7), Hadley Groteluechen (19th in 13:41.1), Ella Walk (25th in 13:56.2) and Hannah Martin (14:04.3).
“Anniston Huff ran a solid race for us, keeping Marx and Mills in her sight the entire race,” Martin said. “Jaci Kellenberger and Hadley Grotelueschen once again dominated the scoring positions for the team, each showing growth with every race they run.
“Ella Walk and Hannah Martin pushed each other to bring the team in all within 1 minute and 4 seconds of each other.”
In the team chase, M-S had a composite score of 55 points. Runner-up Unity had 68 points, followed by third-place Mount Zion with 117 points.
“We knew that this would be the most highly-contested race of the day, with teams that are stacked in talent,” Martin said. “We are one of those teams, and it was evident that we showed up to race. Coaches went with a solid veteran lineup and this team put together the finishes to bring home the first-place trophy.”
In the 201-runner girls’ open race, the Bulldogs rolled up a perfect score, 15 points, by sweeping the first five positions.
Trailing M-S were runner-up Tolono Unity (84), Mount Zion (103) and Monticello (105).
“While our varsity teams opened the day up in true Bulldog fashion, it was the open races that put the exclamation mark on the 2021 season,” Martin said. “Wow, what an amazing day of true effort.
“The pre-race speech focused on the purpose of running – not always for team trophies, but for personal growth and this race group exemplifies that. We have watched this group of athletes dominate most all open races this season.
“I tell this group often that we could put together two solid varsity teams, indicating that it can be tough to not be racing varsity on our team, knowing that on most teams, they would be in that position. A lot of these athletes found themselves learning more about the sport of distance running all season.
“As with most all of our runners, they faced races that were challenging for them, not finishing where they would like to each race. However, with every new race came the opportunity to bounce back from the previous race and they did just that. As we remind them often, sometimes we can learn more from times of struggle than time of success. This group exemplifies that.”
M-S’ Abi King was the winner of the 2-mile open race, clocking a time of 13:46.1.
Four teammates finished within 20.7 seconds of her.
Meet runner-up Kennedy Ashby ended in 13:53.7, followed by Claire Waggoner (13:57.4), Annaleise Ruzich (13:58.2) and Emma Busch (14:06.8).
“Kennedy Ashby and Abi King led this race from the beginning,” Martin said. “This duo of sixth-graders has learned to run confidently and grown with every race they have run, and today was no different.
“King earned the title of race champion, but it was obvious that they both did well because they had each other for encouragement for the entire 2 miles.
“Just four seconds later, teammate Claire Waggoner pushed her way up the final hill to the finish line in her usual tenacious way. Claire is another one that truly defines what can be learned from facing adversity and then coming back with a vengeance.
“Annaleise Ruzich, another sixth-grader that has steadily improved this season, broke the 14 minute barrier with her teammates. She will definitely be one to watch after a summer of training.
“Emma Busch, one of our most consistent runners, did what she does best and ran confidently and in control for the duration of this challenging race course. Emma is one of those athletes that you know will always give it her all to be the athlete that is calm, but fierce to race with.”
Other top-10 performers for M-S were: Jinan Abdo (eighth in 14:39.5), Erika Johnson (ninth in 14:42.7)and Lainey Howard (10th in 14:46.4).
Ayla Finfrock (16th in 14:59.2), Zoey Wallace (18th in 15:03.3) and Emery Parker (20th in 15:04.7) rounded out the M-S athletes who earned top-20 finishes.
“We are so proud of all of our open race athletes,” Martin said. “This is by far one of the strongest sets of athletes we have had across all race groups.”
Three other Bulldogs made it into the top-25. Adella Bird was 22nd in 15:16.5, Camryn Nelson was 23rd in 15:16.8 and Allie Dilger was 24th in 15:17.2.
On Wednesday (Sept. 30), M-S captured the Champaign County crown, outracing meet host Tolono Unity by four points.
The M-S lineup featured Marx, Mills, Huff, Ashby, Grotelueschen, King and Kellenberger.
In the open race at the County meet, Busch was the individual winner.
M-S will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 9) in the Class 3A IESA sectional meet on its home course at Lake of the Woods, by the Swiss Valley area.
