Saturday's prep highlights: Centennial, St. Joseph-Ogden, Tuscola all win regional cross-country titles
Oct. 22—In girls' tennis
Class 1A IHSA state tournament
➜ Ramanath takes fourth. Uni High sophomore Kruthi Ramanath concluded her stay at the IHSA state tournament with a fourth-place finish. Ramanath, who won her first four matches to reach the semifinals, sustained a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Hinsdale South's Chloe Goins in Saturday's third-place match. Danville sophomore Anna Houpt did not get a chance to medal after she lost 6-3, 6-4 to Chicago University High's Sophia Holt in a consolation semifinal match on Saturday. Danville tied for seventh in the team standings, with Uni High tying for 10th.
In boys' cross-country
Class 2A Richland County Regional
➜ Maroons, Tigers move on. Champaign Central and Urbana advanced to next Saturday's Jacksonville Sectional by virue of the Maroons placing third and the Tigers finishing fourth in Olney. Caleb Mathias led Champaign Central and nearly won an individual regional title by placing second in 15 minutes, 34.17 seconds. Teammate Fynn Bright complemented Mathias by finishing fourth in 16:10.09 and Jonathan Smith added a 27th-place finish in 17:14.93. Hudson Coady paced Urbana with a ninth-place finish in 16:30.76, while Mohammed Amrani (17:02.74, 18th place), Jevan Juday (17:13.24, 24th place), Michael Allison (17:13.92, 25th place) and Brian Allison (17:14.90, 26th place) gave Urbana five runners in the top 26.
Class 2A Normal U-High Regional
➜ Bulldogs advance. Mahomet-Seymour finished fourth at Maxwell Park, sending the Bulldogs on to next Saturday's Jacksonville Sectional. Augustus Gaudio led M-S with a fourth-place finish in 16 minutes, 0.60 seconds, with teammates Henry McMurry adding an 11th-place finish in 16:40.40 and Lukas Nykaza placing 14th in 16:58.10. Lukas Carey (17:22.60, 27th place) and Zach Wilcoski (17:26.00, 28th place) rounded out the M-S efforts.
Class 1A Chrisman Regional
➜ SJ-O wins title. Carson Maroon and Aden Armstrong set the pace, helping St. Joseph-Ogden win a regional title and edge runner-up La Salette. Maroon placed first in 16 minutes, 17.80 seconds and Armstrong was second in 16:18.43 for the Spartans. Jack Fisher (16.38.11, fifth), Lance Retz (17:26.24, 11th) and Colin Burnett (17:27.26, 13th) rounded out the top-five runners for SJ-O, as the Spartans had 32 points. La Salette was second with 37 points.
"Our senior leadership of Carson and Aden came up big," SJ-O coach Jason Retz said. "It was what we needed against a good La Salette team. Colin, as a freshman and as our No. 5 runner, has had several great weeks of training. He had a great showing."
Marco Cruz (16:23.69, third) and John Brauner (16:32.10, fourth) paced La Salette. Uni High placed third, Heritage was fourth, Villa Grove was sixth and St. Thomas More was seventh to also advance as teams to next Saturday's St. Teresa Sectional. Pieter Duursma had Uni High's top time in 17:28.15 to place 14th, Clark Roland led Heritage with a sixth-place finish in 16:43.17, Kurt Zimmerman paced Villa Grove by finishing seventh in 16:55.13 and Philip Lee had STM's top time in 18:01.44 to place 21st.
Class 1A Sullivan Regional
➜ Warriors make history. Tuscola claimed the top-three spots, cruising to the program's first regional title in school history. Josiah Hortin won the race with a time of 15 minutes, 43.75 seconds, followed closely by teammates Jackson Barrett in second at 15:44.24 and another teammate, Will Foltz, in third at 15:44.32. Xander Neamtu added a 10th-place finish in 16:30.29 for Tuscola.
"It was a great day," Tuscola coach Neal Garrison said. "Their strong leadership and character have really developed our cross-country program. Xander's improvement from last year has helped take our team to a higher level."
Clinton finished second in the team chase, led by Drew Moser's fourth-place finish in 15:52.10, and Unity was third. Eli Crowe (16:53.26, 14th place) and Camden Fairbanks (16:55.31, 15th place) led the Rockets. Cerro Gordo/Bement was fifth, advancing the Broncos as a team to next Saturday's St. Teresa Sectional as Will Fuson (15:54.48, sixth place) and Dylan Howell (16:01.98, eighth place) led Cerro Gordo/Bement.
Class 1A Kankakee McNamara Regional
➜ Raiders to keep running. Iroquois West finished fourth, sending the Raiders back to Kankakee next Saturday for the McNamara Sectional. Owen Borders paced Iroquois West with a 10th-place finish in 18 minutes, 25.78 seconds, with teammate Tyler Schmidt contributing a 14th-place finish in 18:47.78.
In girls' cross-country
Class 2A Richland County Regional
➜ Chargers win title. Brooklyn Sweikar and Farah Scott set the pace in Olney, leading Centennial to a regional team championship, the first for the Chargers since 2011. Sweikar was the first runner to cross the finish line, doing so in 18 minutes, 51.78 seconds and Scott was second in 18:57.36. Brenna Hooper (20:09.45, 11th place), Molly Pate (20:10.36, 13th place) and Lauren Kleber (20:36.70, 15th place) rounded out the Chargers' top-five runners to give Centennial a score of 42, 22 points ahead of runner-up Effingham.
"Since our race at First to the Finish in September, we have felt that we are a regional championship-caliber team," Centennial coach Laura Koterba-Buss said. "To actually win the regional championship is a testament to the student-athletes' commitment to their sport and their teammates. I am extremely proud of their racing efforts on Saturday. They were patient at the start and relentless at the finish."
Champaign Central and Urbana will also race as a team at next Saturday's Jacksonville Sectional after the Maroons finished fourth and the Tigers finished fifth, respectively. Aleigha Garrison was third in 19:02.78 to lead the Maroons, with Kitty Miller adding an 18th-place finish in 20:46.40. Reese Baumann (21:02.88, 22nd place) and Keely Richmond (21:05.16, 23rd place) also chipped in for Central. Marley Yau led Urbana with a fourth-place finish in 19:05.52, while Beatrice Ebel (19:26.21, sixth place) and Abigail Fairbanks (19:34.10, eighth place) also stood out for the Tigers.
Class 2A Normal U-High Regional
➜ Bulldog advance. Mahomet-Seymour finished fifth at Maxwell Park, sending the Bulldogs on to next Saturday's Jacksonville Sectional. Ava Boyd had the best finish for M-S by placing eighth in 19 minutes, 7.40 seconds. Taylor Mills added a 14th-place finish in 19:25.30 for the Bulldogs. Rantoul just missed out on a team sectional berth, with the Eagles finishing seventh. Gigi Bevilacqua led Rantoul with a 28th-place finish in 21:20.20.
Class 1A Chrisman Regional
➜ STM earns title. St. Thomas More had five runners in the top 20, leading the Sabers to a regional title. Alex Anderson was fifth for STM in 20 minutes, 40.15 seconds, Francie Williamson was eighth in 20:55.10, Paige Stark was 12th in 21:10.32, Claire Kluesner was 19th in 21:51.38 and Skyler Anderson was 20th in 22:06.48 to help the Sabers place first. Uni High finished second, led by Cadence Scheunemann's ninth-place time of 20:58.07. Paxton-Buckley-Loda was fourth, paced by Maddison Deorneilas finishing 16th in 21:37.99 and St. Joseph-Ogden was fifth as Savanna Franzen was third in 20:04.86. Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin was sixth, led by Aleah Potter's 10th-place finish and Oakwood/Salt Fork advanced in seventh place, as Macie Russell led O/SF with a fourth-place finish in 20:10.51.
Class 1A Sullivan Regional
➜ Rockets prevail. Unity put five runners among the first eight to cross the finish line, helping the Rockets win a regional title. Mackenzie Pound placed third in 18 mintues, 19.93 seconds, Erica Woodard was fourth in 19:03.81 and Emily Decker was fifth in 19:04.70. Camryn Reedy (19:26.95, seventh place) and Olivia Shike (19:31.23, eighth place) rounded out the top five scoring runners for the Rockets. Ashlyn Denney's time of 19:35.47 was good for ninth and Raegen Stringer's time of 20:24.81 was good for 16th, even though both runners didn't factor into the team score for Unity.
"We ran really smooth and together," Unity coach Kara Leaman said. "Especially impressed with Camryn and Raegen's effort. She's been working hard to get into the groove after being out for a few weeks. We've been working hard on lowering our spread from second to sixth, and Saturday was only 32 seconds, their best yet."
Clinton placed third, with MaKayla Koeppel finishing sixth in 19:09.23 to pace the Maroons. Monticello was fourth and Tuscola was seventh to both advance their teams to next Saturday's St. Teresa Sectional. Kate Foltz of Tuscola was second with a time of 17:44.19. Sylvia Miller led Monticello with an 11th-place finish in 19:52.90.
In football
➜ St. Thomas More 20, Martinsville 14. The Sabers overcame a double-digit deficit with a second-half rally to stay undefeated going into the start of next week's 8-man state playoffs. STM (9-0) trailed 14-0 at halftime before Peace Bumba came to life in the second half, scoring all three of the Sabers' touchdowns. His 70-yard run in the fourth quarter put STM ahead for good at 20-16 after he caught a 5-yard pass from Reid Craddock to trim the Sabers' deficit to one score. Bumba rumbled for 292 rushing yards on 21 carries, starting the STM scoring off with an 86-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Craddock was 5 of 10 for 31 passing yards, with Ben Horn catching three passes for 25 yards.
In volleyball
Bulldog Invitational
➜ M-S wins own tournament. Mahomet-Seymour won all three of its pool-play matches, defeated Morris in the semifinals and then knocked off Chatham Glenwood in three sets in the championship match to win the title at its own 15-team tournament. M-S (31-4) beat Decatur MacArthur 25-10, 25-6, topped Washington 25-17, 25-27, 15-6 and won via forfeit against Peoria Richwoods in pool play. Once it advanced to the Gold bracket, M-S beat Morris 25-14, 25-19 in the semifinals and defeated Chatham Glenwood 21-25, 25-19, 15-9 in the title match. All-tournament selections Avery Allen and Ellie Barker shined for the Bulldogs, with Allen compiling 54 kills, 29 digs and nine aces on the day. Barker added 22 kills, 29 digs and nine aces, while Ellie Dallas contributed 57 assists and 18 digs. Prairie Central (23-12) placed eighth at the tournament, with the Hawks beating Hoopeston Area 25-19, 25-7 and Peotone 25-13, 25-18 in pool play before losing to St. Anthony (25-17, 25-18) and Washington (21-25, 26-24, 15-6) in the seventh-place match. Kerigan Fehr earned all-tournament honors for Prairie Central. Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (13-21) finished 11th and Hoopeston Area (11-24) finished 15th as the other area teams in the field.
East Central Illinois
Conference Tournament
➜ Tribe roll to title. Judah Christian defeated Greenview in the semifinals and then made up for its first loss of the season on Thursday, sweeping Cornerstone in the championship match to win the ECIC tournament title, hosted by Arthur Christian. The Tribe (26-1) beat Cornerstone 25-16, 25-22, relying on eight kills from Hannah Jackson, seven kills and seven digs from Rachel Divan and 21 assists from Klementine Davis. Avoni Kelly (five kills, three blocks) and Brelyn Riesberg (14 digs, two aces) also chipped in. During Judah Christian's 25-16, 25-8 win against Greenview, Jackson had six kills, Divan served six aces and Davis handed out 13 assists. Arthur Christian advanced to the semifinals after beating DeLand-Weldon 25-10, 25-12 before Cornerstone topped the Conquering Riders 25-22, 25-18 in the semifinals. Phoenix Kelmel led ACS with four kills and seven digs against DeLand-Weldon, while Addi Erwin contributed 16 assists and seven digs against Cornerstone.
Nontournament
➜ Chillicothe IVC 2, Rantoul 0. The host Eagles couldn't pull out an Illini Prairie Conference victory, with the Grey Ghosts winning 25-20, 25-16. Ashlee Freeman delivered 12 assists, seven kills and six digs for Rantoul (12-22), while Airiana Bell added six kills.
In girls' swimming & diving
➜ At Champaign. Babette Bradley is familiar with Unit 4 Pool at Centennial. It's where Champaign Central has its home meets. And it's where the Maroons won the Big 12 Conference title on Saturday. Bradley starred for Central, winning two individual races and swimming on two relay teams that placed first for the Maroons. She touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2 minutes, 0.81 seconds and also in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.30. Bradley was part of the victorious 200 medley relay with Olivia Terry, Leslie Godinez and Macy Cappa posting a time of 1:57.34 and she was on the winning 400 freestyle relay along with Stella Asse, Cappa and Olivia Dempsey that clocked a time of 3:47.55. Central also won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:44.70, with Cappa, Terry, Dempsey and Laura Taylor combining for that victory. Centennial placed fifth in the team standings, with the Chargers claiming four third-place finishes in the 100 freestyle, the 100 breaststroke the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. Brynley Wilber was third for Centennial in the 100 freestyle with a time of 57.60 and Rebekah Kim was third for Centennial in the 100 breaststroke in 1:15.01. Centennial's 200 medley relay team of Meagan Tsai, Kim, Wilber and Riti Bhosale had a time of 2:04.08, while the Chargers' 200 freestyle relay of Tsai, Bhosale, Josie Elliott and Wilber had a time of 1:48.61. Danville was eighth and Urbana was ninth at the nine-team meet.
