MSJHS girls’ cross county wins County championship
By FRED KRONER
Led by six top-10 runners in an 85-runner field, Mahomet-Seymour’s junior high girls’ cross-country team won the Champaign County championship on Thursday (Sept. 27) at Tolono Unity.
Paige Jansen, posting a personal-best by 40 seconds, was the meet runner-up with a 2-mile time of 12 minutes, 25.8 seconds.
The next six M-S finishers crossed the finish line within 37.2 seconds of one another.
Ashley Martin was the sixth-place finisher (13:03.0), followed by Cecily Smith (seventh in 13:04.9), Finley Smith (eighth in 13:05.7), Ava Cvengros (ninth in 13:06.4), Kennedy Ashby (10th in 13:13.3) and Chandler Mills (14th in 13:40.2).
In the team race, M-S had a cumulative score of 32 points. Runner-up St. Joseph totaled 50 points and third-place Champaign St. Matthew had 99 points. Twelve schools fielded full teams.
“This group of (varsity) athletes were encouraged to take risks,” M-S head coach Lisa Martin said, “try a different race strategy that would push them out of their comfort zone.
“This might have meant going out quicker, running with someone that is usually hard to keep up with, or it could have been working on changing form at a different time.
“Whatever the case, it worked. They answered the challenge of pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. To sum up this race, each varsity girl clocked a lifetime best time. Sometimes this isn’t an accurate measure of success, but since we run this course twice in a season, it does give us insight into our growth.
“All of these runners ran their best times, but more importantly competed well. It was a breakout day for our young runners, led by some standout veteran runners.”
In the open division, the Bulldog runners matched the accomplishments of the varsity squad.
M-S posted a cumulative score of 15 points, followed by St. Joseph (52 points) and Tolono Unity (79).
The first eight finishers in the 122-runner field were from M-S as were 13 of the top 20.
The individual winner was Roya Beere, who was clocked in 13:58.9.
Trailing her were Emma Dewitt (second in 14:01.0), Yuna Kim (third in 14:04.4), Rilynn Nelson (fourth in 14:06.7), Cicely Brokish (fifth in 14:10.0), Brooke Patrick (sixth in 14:14.4), Jilyan Clark (seventh in 14:15.4), Brinley Hillard (eighth in 14:17.1), Kennedy Wallace (11th in 14:25.5), Jane Hartman (12th in 14:28.8), Kaitelyn Waisath (13th in 14:36.4), Emerson Grindley (17th in 15:00.6) and Kebe Kellenberger (20th in 15:11.9).
“Once again, the risk of taking the race out quicker paid off for some,” Lisa Martin said. “We saw some lead changes within the Bulldog group which makes this a team effort.
“Roya Beere ended up crossing the finish line first, with a strong kick at the end. She was followed closely by veteran Bulldog runner Emma Dewitt. Yuna Kim crossed the finish line in third. She and Emma have been strong runners for us all season.
“Many of these (open) runners found themselves running lifetime bests. So many wonderful things happened during the girls’ open. One experience that sticks out for me is a conversation I had with Emily Christensen on the way to the meet. Emily asked what she could do to reach a goal she had set. The coaches brainstormed with her and then she implemented those strategies.
“Form, posture and running with teammates were part of that planning. Emily was determined to reach that goal- and she did. She hit a personal record by about 40 seconds. While she didn’t earn a medal, she is the perfect example of seeing a student-athlete grow through determination, grit and goal setting.”
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On Saturday (Sept. 30), the Bulldogs placed second in the 16-school Monticello Invitational at Lodge Park.
Shelbyville scored 47 points to edge M-S, which was second with 54 points. Mount Zion (85 points) took third.
Jansen was the Bulldogs’ leader, taking third, with a time of 11:29.
Other team leaders in a race with 127 competitors were Martin (10th), Cecily Smith (11th), Cvengros (14th), Finley Smith (16th), Ashby (19th) and Mills (30th).
“This group continues to get stronger under the eighth-grade leadership of Finley Smith, Cecily Smith and Kennedy Ashby,” Lisa Martin said. “These are three athletes that have provided the foundation for the season.
“Each one brings something to the race that helps our young runners. Kennedy’s starts are powerful which helps lead our whole team to a great start. Cecily has some powerful foot speed in the middle of the race that both Ava Cvengros and Ashley Martin benefit from and Finley is one of the strongest, most consistent runners we have coached.
“We can always count on her to set the tone for the race. Chandler is a powerful sixth-grader who is gaining a lot of great knowledge from these older runners to benefit our varsity level team. To have two sixth-graders consistently in the varsity lineup is an anomaly for our team. The group has been led by Paige Jansen, who is just now realizing her true potential. She is setting goals and working hard to reach them.”
In the girls’ open race, 10 Bulldog runners secured spots among the top 20 finishers. There were 193 participants in the race.
Phoebe Graham led a trio of M-S runners among the top four. She was second in 14:06.2. Beere (third in 14:08.6) and Nelson (fourth 14:08.9) followed closely.
Seven of the next 12 placers were wearing M-S jerseys: Brokish (sixth in 14:12.7), Dewitt (seventh in 14:14.4), Kim (10th in 14:18.4), Patrick (11th in 14:29.6), Clark (15th in 14:41.6), Hillard (16th in 14:51.1) and Hartman (17thin 14:52.2)
In all, M-S had seven eighth-graders this season. They are: Ruby Anderson, Kennedy Ashby, Lilly Jurkowski, Mia Saba, Cecily Smith, Finley Smith and Elaina Webb.
Of that group, Lisa Martin said: “They will be missed. They were kind to each other, supportive and great leaders for our program. Thankful that our sixth-graders got to learn from them. We have no doubt that the future will continue to be strong in culture because of their contribution.”
In both the girls’ and boys’ open races, the M-S lineup featured numerous runners with varsity experience.
“It was Bulldog orange and blue blitzing the finish line in the open races,” Lisa Martin said. “It was a really great sight to see as our runners packed it up and ran together.
“With Phoebe Graham, Emma Dewitt, Yuna Kim, Grant Morphew, Abdel Abdo, Elijah Beyer and William Bednar all having strong varsity experience, we were definitely turning heads as we powered up the finish hill and into the chute.
“We are so deep in talent. We have no doubt that on most other teams, this group would be leading the way. Our strength comes from the fact that our athletes train with the best. But it is what also keeps them from getting to see the starting line in the varsity race as often as we would like.”
M-S will return to action at 10 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 7) in a 14-school IESA Class 4A regional at Lake of the Woods.
Covering all races this season, the Bulldogs have faced more than 70 schools and lost to just three, including state-ranked Shelbyville twice.
