By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Mahomet-Seymour senior Mathias Powell was the individual winner in Saturday’s East Peoria Invitational at Illinois Central College.
Powell covered the 3-mile course in 15 minutes, 5.8 seconds and had a margin of victory of 4.8 seconds in a race with 254 finishers.
Mathias’ win was the third at the East Peoria meet. He was the freshmen-sophomore champion in both 2015 and 2016.
The Bulldogs had four athletes place among the top 25 and placed third in the team chase. Twenty full teams were scored.
State-ranked Bloomington (66 points) won the meet followed by Normal University High (69) and M-S (106).
Other team leaders were Bryson Keeble (14th in 16:15.1), Kyle Nofziger (21st in 16:32.5) and Joseph Scheele (22nd in 16:34.1).
Finishing out the top seven for the Bulldogs were Jonah Singer (48th in 17:08.7), David Wilcoski (63rd in 17:22.1) and Gaven Williams (107th in 19:14.8).
Runners among the team’s top seven who posted season-best times were Keeble (by 39 seconds), Scheele (by 16 seconds) and Wilcoski (by 33 seconds).
In the freshmen-sophomore race, M-S finished fourth in a 13-team field.
The top Bulldog runner was Joe Taylor (seventh in 17:18,8).
The team will return to action on Oct. 6 in the Metamora Invitational.
Girls’ cross-country
The Bulldogs had two top 10 placers and were the runner-up in the 18-team East Peoria Invitational at Illinois Central College.
Eureka (85 points) edged M-S (97).
Setting the pace for Mahomet-Seymour were Elizabeth Sims (fifth in 18:26.9 for 3 miles) and Brisa McGrath (eighth in 18:40.5).
The next five M-S runners crossed the finish line within 18 seconds of one another and between 26th and 34th place.
Other leaders were Madi Balbach (26th in 19:36.5), Olivia Bunting (27th in 19:39.5), Grace Lietz (32nd in 19:53.8), Chloe Allen (33rd in 9:54,1) and Klein Powell (34th in 19:54.7).
In the freshmen-sophomore race, Fiona Taylor was 18th in 22:54.2.
The Bulldogs did not have enough runners to be scored as a team in the frosh-soph event.
The squad will return to action on Saturday at the Wheaton North Falcon Classic.
Boys’ soccer
M-S (9-2-3) posted shutouts in its final two matches of the week, extending its winning streak to five matches.
In those matches, the Bulldogs have shut out three opponents and allowed three total goals.
In a 5-0 win over Danville on Saturday, Austin Carr scored twice and had one assist. Kadyn Jones had one goal and two assists. Ethan Mansfield had one goal and one assist.
The other M-S goal was by Cole Brunner.
Goalkeeper Sam Knight made his first varsity start.
For the season, Carr (11), Mansfield (7), Joah Moore (6) and Jones (5) all have at least five goals.
Jones has a team-high six assists.
In an 8-0 Thursday win over Taylorville, Mansfield netted two goals while Jones and Jacob Peterson each had one goal and one assist. Marc Majeres had two assists.
Other Bulldog goals were scored by Carter Osman, Colten Brunner, Grant Odle and Corey Cebulski.
Other assists were by Moore, Carr, Luke Creel and Logan Woodward.
Overall, 13 Bulldogs have scored goals this season and 12 squad members have assists.
M-S is 4-0-2 in Apollo Conference matches.
The Bulldogs play host to Urbana today at Middletown Field.
Football
The Bulldogs (1-4) dropped a three-point decision, 31-28, at Mattoon despite a standout effort from senior Jordan Veldman.
Veldman scored three of the team’s four touchdowns and amassed 272 all-purpose yards, counting returns.
He rushed for a team-high 80 yards on nine carries and turned seven pass receptions into gains of 132 yards.
He was the primary receiving target for quarterback Dawson Finch, who completed 11 of 20 passes for 204 yards.
Connor Thomason — who intercepted a pass — also hauled in two passes for 52 yards.
Clay Hubble, who scored the team’s other TD, had 39 rushing yards. Soccer kicker Joah Moore converted four extra points.
The Bulldogs had 355 total yards from scrimmage.
Defensively, three squad members reached double figures in tackling, led by Daunte Roberts with 16.
Ethan Carlson and Dallas Carnell each had 11 stops. Nathan McFall and Zach Travis finished with seven tackles apiece.
The Bulldogs return home for Friday’s homecoming game against Effingham (3-2), needing wins in all of their final four games in order to become playoff eligible.
The game will start at 7 p.m., following a 6:30 ceremony honoring six members of the second M-S Education Foundation Hall of Fame class.
Volleyball
The Bulldogs (11-9) improved to 4-2 in Apollo Conference matches with a two-set sweep at Charleston, 25-12, 25-23.
Lauren Minick (nine kills) and Savannah Matthews (eight kills) were the offensive leaders.
Kayin Garner distributed 20 assists and also had a team-high three service aces.
Josie Hess (14 digs) and Matthews (11 digs) were the defensive catalysts. Matthews had two aces and Brooklyn Houser had a block.
For the season, Matthews has a team-high 199 kills. Hess (256) leads in digs and Garner has the most assists (323) and aces (28). Amber Yeakel has the most blocks (32).
The Bulldogs return to action on Tuesday at Lincoln.
Girls’ tennis
The Bulldogs (2-3 in dual meets) registered a 6-3 win at Lincoln on Thursday as Zoe Doehring and Lauren Henderson won singles matches and then teamed up for a win in doubles.
The other M-S triumphs came in singles and were recorded by Mrinali Kesavadas, Annie Bao and Amalie Fried.
The team returns to action on Thursday at Urbana.
Junior High baseball
M-S’ season and unbeaten record came to an end by the host school on Saturday in a 7-0 loss to Normal Parkside.
The Class 3A sectional setback prevented the Bulldogs from advancing to state.
M-S was limited to two hits, singles by Blake Wolters and Alex McHale. Tyler Bell and Carter Selk each reached base with walks.
Parkside (17-5) will face Chatham Glenwood (15-3) in a state quarterfinal game on Friday.
M-S finishes the season with a 13-1 record.
“Very proud of our boys and our great season,” head coach Nic DiFilippo said. “We ran into a great pitcher.
“He threw hard and was able to keep us off-balance. He did a great job.”
Wolters was the starting pitcher for M-S in the sectional game. He struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings.
