MSJHS boys’ cross country wins Champaign County Championship
By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour’s junior high boys’ cross-country team captured the Champaign County championship on Thursday (Sept. 27) at Tolono Unity.
The Bulldogs’ first four runners completed the 2-mile course within 34.7 seconds of one another.
The M-S team leader was Adam Smigielski. He ran third in 11 minutes, 4.9 seconds.
The Bulldogs’ other top-10 placers were Caleb Zulauf (fifth in 11:25.7), Noah Crane (sixth in 11:30.1) and Liam Burwell (eighth in 11:39.6).
The team’s other entries in the 91-runner race were Abdel Abdo (15th in 12:04.5), Henry Welch (16th in 12:06.8) and Grant Morphew (26th in 12:24.8).
In the team standings, M-S stood atop the 13-school field with 32 points. Second-place St. Joseph had 99 points and was followed by Urbana (102).
“We decided that taking a risk worked for the girls’ varsity team, so we continued this as our theme for the rest of the races,” M-S coach Lisa Martin said. “The boys’ varsity gained some invaluable information from taking risks.
“We are focusing on learning before the postseason so today was a great day to do that. This course is pretty open, so the athletes can see each other for much of the course.
“Adam Smigielski pushed himself to be with the front runner a little longer than usual and still found the speed to have a strong finish. Teammates Caleb Zulauf and Noah Crane were not too far behind him as they tried the new strategy of pushing early in the meet. They both ran at or beyond their fastest times this season.”
In the open race, the top six placers and 11 of the top 14 were wearing M-S uniforms.
Elijah Beyer was the winner, touring the 2-mile layout in 12:28.6.
Other M-S runners among the top-10 were Kiptyn Fan (second in 12:37.1), William Bednar (third in 12:39.1), Graham Smolich (fourth in 12:45.5), Gavin Vanskike (fifth in 12:45.6), Greyson Grotelueschen (sixth in 12:59.4), Hunter Shingleton (eighth in 13:11.9) and Caleb Atteberry (ninth in 13:13.0).
Also finishing among the top 15 were Gavin McMinn (12th in 13:16.1), Jake McCoy (13th in 13:19.2) and Garen Johnson-Farkhoyan (14th in 13:23.6).
M-S’ cumulative team score was 15 points. Runner-up Urbana totaled 82 points and third-place St. Joseph scored 83 points.
“As in similar fashion to the girls’ open, we saw groups of orange and blue pushing each other through the race,” Martin said. “Varsity-level runners, Elijah Beyer, Kip Fan and Will Bednar led the Bulldogs in.
“Sixth-grade runners Graham Smolich and Gavin Vanskike benefit from our front pack leadership.
“Greyson Grotelueschen, Hunter Shingleton and Caleb Atteberry rounded out the top 10 in the race. Greyson has been a consistent runner for us all season.
“Our boys’ open team members proved that our team is going to be strong for many years to come.”
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The M-S boys’ varsity squad annexed another invitational title on Saturday (Sept. 30) at Lodge Park, in Monticello.
In a meet with 23 teams, M-S captured first place with a composite team score of 50 points. Runner-up Clinton had 120 points and third-place Urbana came in at 123 points.
Individually, there were 160 finishers. All seven M-S entries entered the finish chute among the top 30.
Smigielski led the way, placing fourth in 11:27.9, just ahead of teammate Crane, who ran fifth in 11:28.1.
Trailing them were Zulauf (12th in 11:46.5), Burwell (14th in 11:53.1), Welch (23rd in 12:12.1), Fan (27th in 12:17.5) and Carter Alderks (28th in 12:19.8).
“The boys’ varsity team continues to learn and grow,” Lisa Martin said. “Adam Smigielski has been strong as our leader this season. He is a very poised leader, always focused and zeroed in on what his goals are.
“Noah Crane found his racing legs and ran with Adam. These two are tough to beat when running together. Right there with them was Caleb Zulauf once again. Liam Burwell has been a strong, silent, runner for us. He is laser focused at each meet and powers through each race course with confidence. He is such a solid runner.
“We next saw Henry Welch breeze through the finish line. Henry is such an inspiration to our young runners, as he has moved up on the team each year and now is a varsity runner. He is a true success story, evident of what working hard in the off season can do for a runner.
“Kiptyn Fan found his way into the varsity lineup for the first time this season and proved he deserved to be in the race, running his best time. Kiptyn and Carter Alderks ran strongly together and rounded out our varsity lineup.
“Carter is coming off of a nagging ache in his leg, but he is still strong and we anticipate seeing him right back where he left off after we have a good week of practice.”
In the open race, the Bulldogs not only had the individual winner, but also 14 of the top 20 placers in a race that attracted 206 runners.
Abdel Abdo (12:21.1) took top honors, beating teammate and runner-up Morphew to the finish line. Morphew was timed in 12:24.0.
The other team leaders were Beyer (third in 12:28.1), Bednar (fourth in 12:30.0), Vanskike (fifth in 12:40.5), Smolich (sixth in 12:43.6), Grotelueschen (eighth in 13:09.5), Shingleton (ninth in 13:11.1), McMinn (10th in 13:20.2), Atteberry (12th in 13:23.8), McCoy (16th in 13:28.1), Johnson-Farkhoyan (17th in 13:28.5), Dominic Bruns (18th in 13:31.2) and Kylar Nargelenas (20th in 13:46.2).
Overall, M-S had 14 eighth-graders this season. They were: Carter Alderks, Bernardo Allan Pinto, Elijah Beyer, Dominic Bruns, Liam Burwell, Noah Crane, Wyatt Day, Kiptyn Fan, Garen Johnson-Farkhoyan, Jake McCoy, Adam Smigielski, Lucas Vanderstraeten, Henry Welch and Zacharia Woods.
M-S will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 7) in a 14-school IESA Class 4A regional at Lake of the Woods. The boys’ race will follow the girls, which is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
