Indians place 16th overall at state cross country meet
PEORIA — With conditions not conducive to stellar results, Pontiac cross country coach Mike Lucas couldn't have been disappointed with the boys' team at the Class 1A state meet on Saturday.
Hoping to finish in the top 15, the Indians settled for 16th overall in the team standings. Led by Aidan Lee, the Tribe scored 416 points. The team placement was a couple spots better than Lucas projected earlier in the week.
Wind and rain hindered the competitors who took to the Detweiller Park course in Peoria, especially for the Class 1A portion of the meet. Lee was the top finisher for the Indians with a time of 16 minutes, 26.77 seconds. This was good for 36th overall. Fernando Daily was next for the Tribe as he also finished among the top 100. Daily's time of 16:58.92 was good for 87th overall.
Cam Fenton was third for PTHS and 133rd overall with a mark of 17:22.19. Freshman Logan McCabe was 15 spots behind in 148th place, but he was only about five seconds behind with his finishing time of 17:27.11. The fifth scorer for Pontiac was Tyler Hansen, who crossed through the chute at 17:46.16 for 170th. Jaxen Paine was right behind in 172nd place with his time of 17:47.69. Jake Dewald also braved to conditions and finished 219th at 18:30.51.
Gavin Genisio of Benton won the race in 14:57.51. DePaul Prep of Chicago won the team title with 113 points. Port Byron (Riverdale) was second at 130. El Paso-Gridley placed 10th overall at 297.
Sam Bushert paced the Titans with a time of 16:13.54, which was good for 26th overall. He missed all-state honors by one place. Isaac Poselius was next for EPG at 16:46.38 for 63rd place. He was followed by Dean Witzig (69thplace, 16:51.95), Lukas Holderby (109th, 17:07.54), Payton Romersberger (137th, 17:23.28), Pierson Romersberger (152nd, 17:31.82) and Nicholas Harston (158th, 17:38.14).
It was an Illini Prairie Conference party in the girls' race as the state champion team and individual represented IPC schools. Among the competitors was Pontiac's Jaden Lucas.
Lucas placed 73rd overall with a time of 19:43.28.
Winning the race was Mabry Bruhn of Monticello, who finished with a mark of 17:08.43. There were nine runners from the Illini Prairie who finished among the top 43 runners.
Tolono (Unity) steamrolled the field in winning the team with 84 points. Second place went to DePaul Prep with 185, a difference of 101 points.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Pontiac Indians place 16th overall at state cross country meet
