Sixth-ranked Bulldogs finish second at l Runnin’ Red Invitational

By Fred Kroner

The sixth-ranked (Class 2A) Mahomet-Seymour boys’ cross-country team finished second to (Class 3A) Palatine on Saturday (Oct. 9) in the 22-school Runnin’ Red Invitational at Black Partridge Park, in Metamora.

Palatine had a team composite of 48 points. M-S was next at 105 points. Third-place Oswego East had 120 points.

The Bulldogs entered all 22 of their runners in the 279-runner varsity race.

The top five finishers counted toward the team score on the 2.94-mile layout. Those five finished the race within 78 seconds of one another.

Leading the way for the Bulldogs was senior Joseph Scheele. His time of 15 minutes, 37.3 seconds placed him fifth overall.

Teammates in the lead pack were Kyle Nofziger (eighth in 15:50.2), Jonah Singer (ninth in 15:53.6), Taylor Fan (40^th in 16:44.4) and Karsten Waisath (49^th in 16:55.0).

Each of the top five are seniors.

The first underclassman Bulldog was No 6 runner, junior Hayden Grotelueschen (63^rd in 17:05.5).

Five other M-S competitors finished in the top half of the field: John Tender (91^st in 17:31.8), Gabe Wisnasky (109^th in 17:55.7), Ben Wallace (115^th in 18:01.2), Lukas Nykaza (121^st in 18:07.3), Gage Williams (127^th in 18:15.8) and Grant Smysor (128^th in 15:15.9).

Smysor was the first sophomore finisher for the Bulldogs and Nykaza was the team’s top freshman.

The other M-S participants were: Blake Dillman (144^th in 18:50.1), Avery Seaman (147^th in 18:53.2), Gabe Difanis (156^th in 19:01.6), Jaxon Themanson (206^th in 20:42.8), Zach Wilcoski (207^th in 20:45.9), Kaleb Kasper (208^th in 20:46.0), Will Slezak (237^th in 22:02.9), Alex Carpenter (258^th in 23:46.3) and Manny Salinas (272^nd in 27:31.0).

M-S returns to action on Tuesday (Oct. 12) in the Apollo Conference meet at Effingham. The boys’ team has won three of the last four Apollo Conference meets, including two in a row.