IESA Headlines

Pederson, Parkside Normal Standouts in State Cross-Country Meet

Things remained normal in the 2007 Illinois Elementary School (IESA) State Cross-Country Meet Saturday at Maxwell Park in Normal.

The Normal Parkside boys team defended its Class AA Boys team title and seventh grader Carly Pederson of Normal Chiddix defended her Class AA Girls individual crown in two of the four races run on the 3,200-meter course.

Pederson won her second straight individual title by 19 seconds in the all-time best Class AA time of 11:20. The old standard was 11:29 by Amber Stack of Prospect Hts. MacArthur, which she ran in 2002. Stack won back-to-back races in 2002-03 after Meghan Braffet of Normal Parkside won the first two Class AA girls races in 1997-98. Pederson became the third two-time Class AA girls winner. She won in 2006 in a time of 11:44 as a sixth grader. Brooke Wolfe of Mt. Prospect Lincoln finished second to Pederson Saturday in a time of 11:39.

Six of the seven Normal Parkside boys team runners finished in the top 15 in team points. Logan Degroot led the way with a time of 10:48, which was the seventh best time individually and sixth in team scoring. Teammate Logan Abeling ran 10:53 and was seventh in team scoring. Peyton Scheuermann was 11th in team scoring with a time of 10:57, Caleb Wiebenga was 12th in team scoring in 10:58, Taylor Hallatt was 13th in team scoring in 10:58 and Eric Gordon was 15th in team scoring in 11:01. The other runner for the Pythons was River Gordon who finished 37th in team scoring in 11:30.

Petersburg PORTA JHS won its fourth Class A girls team championship with a 21-point margin over runner-up Peoria St. Philomena. Petersburg PORTA JHS scored 120 team points to 141 for Peoria St. Philomena.

Amy Yeoman led the way for the PORTA team with a sixth place finish in the individual race and the No. 3 place in team scoring with a time of 122. Her teammates were MacKenzie Griffin 5th in team points in 12:21, Heather Brooks 27th in 13:01, Sierra O�Connor 56th in 13:33, Rachael Sampson 63rd in 13:39 and Madison Scaggs 103rd in 14:10.

Haley Briggs of Argenta-Oreana won the Class A girls individual race in a time of 11:56. Defending champion Kristin Rauh of Metamora GS finished No. 4 in a time of 12:07. Runner-up was Sallie Doak of Rick Island Jordan Catholic in a time of 12:00. Julie James of El Paso-Gridley was third in 12:06.

Tremont won the Class A boys team title with 137 points. It was the first time that Tremont has ever placed in Class A boys competition. Leading the way for Tremont was Cole Dill with a time of 11:20. Following him for Tremont were Sam Stuber in 11:37, Taylor Schweigert in 11:58, Connor Ehnle in 12:04, Caleb Imig in 12:17, Caleb Pflederer in 12:21 and Bryan Green in 13:20.

Michael Simon of Springfield Lincoln won the Class A boys individual race in a time of 10:56, nipping Michael Clevenger of Decatur Johns Hill, who ran 10:58.

Perennial power Chatham Glenwood won its first team title, but it was the seventh time in the 11-year history of Class AA girls cross-country that Chatham Glenwood took home a team trophy. Chatham Glenwood was runner-up in 2006, has finished third three times and fourth twice. Chatham Glenwood scored 90 points to finish 43 points ahead of No. 2 team Oak Park Julian.

Two Chatham Glenwood runners finished among the top 10 individually. Rachel Kobayashi ran 11:57 to place No. 7 and teammate Lauren Mueller placed No. 8 in 11:58. The other Chatham Glenwood runners and their places individually were Katherine Short No. 29 at 12:17, Nicole Joerger No. 30 at 12:19, Kirsten Aydt No. 33 at 12:23, Lindsay Rogers No. 66 at 12:42 and Brittany Peterburs No. 89 at 12:58.

Lukas Verzbickas of New Lenox Liberty won the Class AA boys individual race in a time of 10:10. He finished 13 seconds ahead of runner-up Jereme Atchison of Buffalo Grove Cooper. Finishing third also in 10:23 was Garrett Sweatt of Edwardsville Lincoln. Computer chip timing was used for the first time in IESA history Saturday. Ties in times are broken by video replay.