BETHALTO – Peyton Frey of Highland won the girls individual race, as three of her teammates finished in the top ten, and it was enough to give the Bulldogs the team championship of the area’s first cross country meet of the season, the Civic Memorial Twilight Invitational, Saturday evening at the Bethalto Sports Complex.
Highland won the meet with 31 points, while Alton placed three runners in the top five to finish second with 61 points, Metro-East Lutheran came in third with 96 points, Jersey was fourth at 102 points, placing fifth were the host Eagles with 104 points, Granite City was sixth with 146 points, and Marquette Catholic came in seventh with 151 points.
Frey won the race with a time of 19:58.00, with the Redbirds’ Sophia Helfrich second at 20:44.90, and teammate Monica Klockemper third at 20.56.30. Fourth place went to Izzy McLeod of Metro-East at 21:45.70, and Alton’s Aliyah Rehling was fifth at 21:54.40. Highland runners swept sixth through eighth, as Ava McPherson came in at 22:00.20, Brooklyn Giffhorn was in at 22:01.30, and Elley Seger was next at 22:04.00. In ninth place was the Bulldogs’ Josie Kircher at 22:08.10, and Lola Schlarmann’s 10th place spot allowed Highland to sweep the second five at 22:13.70.
In addition to Highland’s top six, Layna Powers came in at 23:10.70. In addition to the top three runners for Alton, Allison Pruitt came in at 23:37.70, and Jessica Gabriel was in at 31:39.90.Along with McLeod’s fourth place time, the Knights saw Lucy Doyle in at 22:29.80, Marion Hemmer had a time of 25:52.40, Lily Wallach came home at 27:13,80, Abigail Packer had a time of 27:22.40, and Rachel Probasco was in at 30:19.40.
The Panthers were led by Brinley Kelly’s time of 22:50.90, while Taylor Woodring was in at 24:14.40, Belle Peterbaugh was home at 25:08,60. Jerra Vanausdoll had a time of 25L42,80, Reese Lorton came in at 26L16.00, Rory Speidel was in at 32:19,40, and Lillie Benedict had a time of 37L38,70. The Eagles were led by Mya Walker, who was in at 23:18.00, Lillie Wood’s time was 24:26.40, Taylor Brooks came home at 24:30.90, Olivia Wiley had a time of 24:43.70, Josie Davis had a time of 28:00.80, Calista Webb’s time was 32:35.20, and Ada Quick was in at 32:40.30.
Elizabeth Genis led the Warriors with a time of 23:49.60, while Itzei Villaba came in at 24:04.30, Zulikey Galindo had a time of 30:20.70, Leilynn Kelly came in at 33:37.00, and Zoey Hodge had a time of 36:25.90. Sabrina Eccles led the Explorers with a time of 25:22.10,while Cassidy Eccles’ time was 27:16.40, Grace Fischer was in at 28:32.80,Isabel Downey came in at 30:56.70, Riley Clarkin had a time of 31:25.90, and Ruby Zawodniak was in at 38:45.90.
In addition to the teams, Callie Field of Carrolton had a time of 31:35.70.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
