Effingham H.S. Girls C.C. Team Headed To State

Effingham High  School will compete at the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet after finishing seventh.

JACKSONVILLE -- Effingham High School is headed to the Illinois High School Association Class 2A State meet in girls cross country after competing in the Jacksonville Sectional Saturday.

Chatham Glenwood won the team championship with 40 points followed by Mount Zion 121, Waterloo 133, Normal University 151, Champaign Centennial 176, Rochester 191 and Effingham 217 as the top seven teams advance. The top seven were followed by Mahomet-Seymour 221, Carterville 247, Champaign Centrl a256, Richland County (Olney) 265, Mascoutah 266, Urbana 282, Highland 315, Troy Triad 355, Carbondale 416 and Taylorville 454.

Lincoln's Becca Heitzig won the individual title with a time of 16:26.90.

Effingham's top finisher was Jessica Larsen 25th in 18:00.60. Also competing for the Hearts were Baylee Summers 29th in 18:14.40, Drew Weis 47th in 18:53.30, Morgan Springer 66th in 19:32.70,  Audrey Wagoner 73rd in 19:39.30, Kyra Hazelton 82nd in 19:50.00 and Haddie Hill 93rd in 20:02.50.

The top seven teams and top 10 runners not members of those teams, advance to the Class 2A State Meet scheduled for Saturday, November 4 at Detweiller Park in Peoria. the girls will run at 11 a.m.

The other 10 runners advancing along with the teams are Heitzig, Ava Boyd of Mahomet-Seymour, Molly Robertson of Carterville, Kara Odum of Marion, Klaire Eighner of Maroa-Forsyth, Aleigha Garrison of Champaign Central, Marley Yau of Urbana, Ella Goodman (Taylorville), Taylor Mills of Mahomet-Seymour and Abigail Fairbanks of Urbana.

"Our girls squad made history by being the first team from EHS to make a state cross country appearance," said EHS Coach Jennifer Kirk. "And, congratulations to Alex and Adam on a great season. Both boys finished the year with a personal record. It was great day to be a Heart."

Two Hearts competed in the Class 2A Jacksonville boys sectional.. Alex Gordon finished 31st with a time of 15:12.80  and Adam Flack was 124th in 17:06.00.

The top seven teams advancing were Normal University 70, Marion 78, Bethalto Civic Memorial 152, Mount Zion 156, Mount Vernon 162, Taylorville 185 and Mascoutah 203. They were followed by Troy Triad 231, Waterloo 241, Champaign Central 249, Chatham Glenwood 262, Mahomet-Seymour 265, Highland 289, Urbana 332, Carbondale 368, Herrin 391, Lincoln 427 and Salem 460.

Dylon Nailey of Marion finished in first place in 13:37.10.

Advancing as individuals were Caleb Mathias (Champaign Central) third in 14:31.90, Drew Twyman (Troy Triad) seventh in 14:44.00, Van Schneider (Chatham Glenwood) 10th in 14:49.50, Augustus Gaudio (Mahomet-Seymour) 11th in 14:49.50, Christian Knobloch (Highland) 12th in 14:54.60, Austin Corey (Waterloo) 16th in 14:59.10, Kyle Kern (Waterloo) 17th in 14:59.80, Zion Wilkins (Carbondale) 18th in 15:03.20, Hudson Coady (Urbana) 21st in 15:05.60 and Dallas Mancinas (Highland) 26th in 15:08.80.