Prep Cross Country: Moving On
The Benton Rangers came to win on Saturday morning when the boys and girls cross country teams raced in the IHSA Regionals held at the West Frankfort Community Park.
Both teams will advance to the sectional race in Edwardsville, but the Rangers' boys team got a little extra excitement from the competition. They earned the Regional Championship, coming in first place with a total of 34 points.
The Rangers were led by Mason Wills, who finished first place in the boys race with a time of 15:54. He teammates nipped at his heels the whole race; Kyle Sneed finished in second (16:31) and Triston Summers came in third (16:35).
"It's a great team accomplishment," Wills said after the race.
The Rangers' coach Brent McLain was happy for his boys who all ran at their best and earned the championship by sticking close together throughout the race.
"The guys stepped up," said McLain. "They were hungry and they wanted it. We've been training hard and this is a nice reward for them. We know we've got two weeks left so we're still going to work hard through it. They know they've got a bigger job ahead of them, but we're going to walk away today with smiles on our faces."
The Rangers were followed closely by McLeansboro who scored a 41. After them, the team scores trickled into the 100s. The Harrisburg boys finished the day in sixth place (192) still in the running to advance to the sectional race.
The Bulldogs were led by Seth Thai who sprinted past a competitor into 10th place in the race with a time of 16:52.
The Harrisburg girls team found success in their regional race and ended as a team in fifth place with a score of 126; just over the Benton girls (161). Both the Bulldogs and the Rangers will advance their girls teams to the sectionals as well.
"With our injuries and sicknesses we've had, they ran well," said Chuck Ingram, Harrisburg coach. "The girls did really well… the boys, we knew they had to beat three teams and they did, so we reached our goals."
Though the Rangers' girls team did not place as high as their wanted, their front-runner, Amelia McLain, crushed the competition and finished her race in first place with a time of 16:09; over a minute faster than the second place runner.
"I was feeling pretty good," McLain said. "The weather helped today being a little cooler… I felt pretty good the whole race with no hills and the road was pretty fast.
"I thought just that I have a really good chance to win this, so go out there and give it my all."
The Bulldogs' top girl, Frachesca Laurencio, ran her best race of the season coming in fifth place with a time of 20:24.
Now both teams are looking ahead to next Saturday's IHSA Sectional race which is to be held in Edwardsville. The Bulldogs' focus for the sectional race is to improve on their times while the Rangers are going to do their best to advance their boys to state as a team.
"It's going to take some work," Wills said. "Everybody's going to have to run their best race and do their best three miles."
"A few weeks ago we thought we were outside looking in," Brent McLain added. "Now we feel like we put our foot in the door. We think we just put ourselves in a position for no one to underestimate us. We think we have a shot to advance, but that's all you want every year."
Ingram said he is unsure if the Bulldogs will be able to advance anyone out of the sectional race, but as they all had their best times in West Frankfort, they are going to continue getting better and see where that gets them.