NORMAL – Madison Popelar and Willow Jackson finished in sixth and seventh, respectively, and helped Edwardsville to a second place finish, while O’Fallon qualified fifth in the team standings at the IHSA Class 3A girls Normal Community sectional cross country meet, ran Saturday at Parkside Junior High School. The girls will compete this weekend in Peoria.
Minnoka won the team tile with 51 points, while the Tigers were second with 81 points, in third place was Plainfield North with 91 points, fourth place went to Yorkville with 110 points, the Panthers were fifth with 166 points, \Ne New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central was sixth with 174 points, and Frankfort Lincoln-Way East finished seventh, getting the last team spot with 187 points, edging out eight place Lockport Township, who had 198 points, Normal Community West was ninth with 200 points, and Quincy rounded out the top ten with 260 points, Belleville West finished in 18th place with 538 points
The individual winner was Maya Ledesma of Minooka at 17:01.94, with Elsie Czarniewski of Plainfield North at 17:58.09. teammate Marlie Czarniewski was third at 17:59.73, fourth place went to Peyton Kuhl of the Blue Devils at 18:02.51, and rounding out the top five was Ellie Bush of O’Fallon at 18:03.66.
Brooke Stubbs was the leading runner for the Maroons, coming in at 21:13.42, while Lucy Seneczyn had a time of 21:51.49, Angie Sanchez came in at 22:43.06, Eleanor Schmitz came in at 23:33,40, and Denutrua Thomas was in at 24:53.33. Madison Popelar finished sixth for the Tigers at 18:04.80, while Jackson came in seventh at 18L06.56, Morgan Popelar had a time of 18:19,83, Reagan Jumper came home at 18:40.01, Ella Thompson was in at 19:18.28, Antonella DeAvila’s time was 19:31.54, and Ava Horsfall was home at 19:30.32.
In addition to Bush’s fifth place time, the Panthers had Mae Naveira in at 18:55.69. Madelyn Lane was in at 18:58.25, Kiah Mix was home at 19:27.03, Kayla Kalmer had clocking of 19:50.30, Alexis Donohue was home at 20:30.76, and Sophia Shattis came in at 21:05.63.
Among the individuals in the field, Alton had Monica Klockemper in at 20:29.76, Aliyah Rehling came in at 21:13.00, and Sophia Helfrich had a time of 22:08.82. Meagan Pratt of Belleville East came in at 21:44.99, and Collinsville’s Catalina Jiminez-Magana had a time of 21:30.92. None were able to qualify for state.
The qualifying teams and individuals add aldvvanced to the state meet next Saturday, Nov. 9, at Detweiler Park in Peoria.
Popelar Sisters Finish Second And Fifth Respectively, Helps Tigers Win Quincy Class 3A Regional Meet, Panthers Second, Maroons Sixth
Edwardsville sisters Madison and Morgan Popelar finished second and fifth in the race, respectively, and it went a long way in helping Edwardsville to win the team title in the IHSA Class 3A girls Quincy regional meet on Oct. 26, 2024, at Bob Mays Park in Quincy.
The Tigers won the team title with 33 points, with O’Fallon coming in second with 52 points, the host Blue Devils finished third with 75 points, Pekin came in fourth with 90 points, Springfield was fifth with 158 points, and Belleville West won the sixth and final team berth into the sectional next week with 159 points. Belleville East was seventh with 201 points, while Alton, Collinsville. Decatur Eisenhower/MacArthur, and Granite City also had runners who competed, but didn’t have enough for a team score.
Peyton Kuhl of Quincy was the individual champion, wining the race at 18:11.97, while Madison Popelar was second at 18:15.24, Pekin’s Morgan Coker was third at 18:19.85, Ellie Bush of O’Fallon finished fourth at 18:26.07. and Morgan Popelar rounded out the top five with a time of 18:32.48.
The Redbirds had three of their four runners go through to the sectional, with Monica Klcokemper leading the way at 20:31.08, while Aliyah Rehling came in at 20:49.59, and Sophia Helfrich was in at 21:12.03. Jessica Gabriel was in at 27:21.85, and missed out on qualifying. Megan Pratt was the Lancers’ only qualifier, coming in at 21:40.49, while Aziza Walker came in at 23:40.19, Gabrielle Ortega was in at 25:26.89. Emma Rutledge had a time of 27:33.07, and Damiyah Griffin had a time of 28:10.00.
Brooke Stubbs led the way for the Maroons, coming in at 21:01.40, while Lucy Seneczyn was home at 21:27.88, Angie Sanchez’s time was 22:28.33, Kailee Williams came home at 23:13.38, Eleanor Schmitz was timed in 23:14.79, and Demetria Thomas was in at 25:11.07. Collinsville had only four runners, but also had a qualifier in Catalina Jimenez-Magana, who was in at 21:04.92, Claire Garkie had a time of 23:18.44. while Danielle Cary was in at 24:08.83, and Morgan Laing was in at 25:19.37.
To go along with the Popelar sisters, the Tigers saw Willow Jackson finish in sixth at 18:40.31, Reagan Jumper was ninth at 19:00.04, Antonella DeAvila was clocked in 19:13.69, and Ava Horsfall came in at 19:39.02. The Warriors had three runners, with Elizabeth Genis leading the way at 22:55.71, with Itzel Villalba coming in at 23:18.88, and Zullikey Galindo having a time of 24:43.78. None of the Granite runners advanced to the sectional.
In addition to Bush, the Panthers saw Madelyn Lane finish seventh at 18:51.52, Mae Naviera was eighth at 18:53.20, Kiah Mix came in 10th at 19:56.71, Kayla Kalmer was home at 20:13.39, Alexia Donohue was in at 20:19.87, and Ava Thunig was timed in 20:20.05.
The team and individual qualifiers advance to the Normal Community sectional meet next Saturday, Nov. 2, with the state meet slated for Nov. 9 at its traditional home of Detweiler Park in Peoria.
