IESA Headlines

Day of Surprises in State Cross-Country Meet

NORMAL - It was a day of surprises Saturday in the individual races at the 2008 Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) State Final Cross-Country Meet at Maxwell Park, but not in the team competition.

Chatham Glenwood won its second straight Class AA Girls team title, while Normal Parkside won for the third straight year in Class AA Boys. Chatham Glenwood scored 111 points this year to edge Normal Parkside with 120.

Normal Chiddix was third with 157. Last year Chatham Glenwood won with 90 points. Normal Parkside's boys scored 84 points this year after winning with 62 in 2006 and 49 in 2007. Finishing second behind Normal Parkside was Chatham Glenwood at 173 and New Lenox Martino was third with 187.

Kirsten Aydt was the top Chatham Glenwood runner with a time of 12:10, good for No. 12 overall. Lindsay Rogers was No. 13 in a time of 12:12.

Taylor Mueller ran 12:31, Hannah Johnson 12:46, Maggie Juhlin 12:48, Delaney Dixon 13:07 and Clare Bennett 13:10.

Normal Parkside had three of the top 13 individuals and won the team title by nearly 100 points. Peyton Schuermann was the top Parkside finisher with a time of 10:42 good for fifth overall. At No. 8 overall was Taylor Hallatt in 10:56 and at No. 13 overall was River Gordon in 10:59. The other runners were Branden Lucas in 11:27, Baylor Wagehoft in 11:36, Justin Dedianous in 11:54 and J.D. Lafayette in 12:21.

Emily Brelsfoard of Normal Epiphany started the day with a six-second triumph in the Class A Girls race, winning in a time of 11:43. Runner-up Julie James of El Paso-Gridley ran 11:49 and Maddison Zimmer of Delavan took third in 11:52. A total of 207 runners competed in the race.

Liberty won the Class A Girls team title with 86 points. Springfield St. Agnes finished second at 133 and Toledo Cumberland was third with 178 points. Taylor Klingele led the Liberty runners with a time of 12:33, good for 12th in the individual race. The other runners were the pack of Jackie Graham (13:00), Katie Cook (13:00) and Adrian Siebers (13:01), Megan Obert (13:10 Olivia Hanzel 13:13 and Montanna Neisen (14:06).

Beecher's Grant Nykaza stormed to the Class A Boys individual title, winning in a time of 10:22, good for a 29-second margin over runner-up Noah Isbell of Elmwood who ran 10:51. Marc Dubrick of DeKalb St. Mary's was third in 10:59.

Rock Island Jordan Catholic won the Class A Boys team title with 131 points. Second place Eureka had 193 points and Liberty finished third with 209. Liam Otto was the lead runner for Jordan Catholic finishing 15th overall in a time of 11:23. The others were Zach Hird at 11:39, Ethan Dalfinger at 11:45, William Graham at 11:53, Pete Ruggles at 12:01, Nate Thompson at 12:27 and Axel Box at 12:30.

Brooke Wolfe of Mt. Prospect Lincoln won the Class AA Girls individual race title with a winning time of 11:23, just three hundredths of a second off the course record set last year by two-time champion Carly Pederson of Normal Chiddix. Pederson was seeking to become the first runner (boys or girls) ever to win three straight individual races. She ran 12:30 and placed 31st overall. Brooke Gordon of Normal Parkside was second in 11:36 and Jenna Weiner of Buffalo Grove Aptakisic was third in 11:44.

Sebastian Pique of Darien Eisenhower won the Class AA boys individual race in a time of 10:27. Tyler Yunk of Belvidere was second in 10:30 and Jordan Starkey of Geneseo MS was third in 10:32.