Cross Country: Warriors Compete at Galesburg Invite

The SHS Girls’ and Boys Cross Country teams competed at the Galesburg Invitational Saturday. The girls placed 14th, with Dixon winning the team championship. On the boys side, Sterling was 10th, with United Township claiming the team title.

According to SHS Coach Nancy Gehrke, here are some of the top performances turned in by SHS runners:
-Josh Landis, as he bettered his time significantly from last year and moved from 34th up to 22nd during the 2nd and 3rd mile of the race. (Last year he was number 46 at 18:39)
-Keaton Dir for his first ever cross country meet and he packed with his teammates (Ethan, Zach, & Dakota) to mile one and then took off to finish in 12th place.
-Mary Franque gained places throughout the race to end up as our 2nd runner with only one runner between her and Emily Crossley (our first runner for varsity). This was Mary's 4th cross meet ever.
-Mercedes Sanchez (who placed second overall in the girls frosh-soph race) had a grueling race, as she placed herself in first place right after the first mile and a Dixon runner chased her all the way to the last 100, when she passed Mercedes. Mercedes showed her quickness and desire to win.

Varsity Girls Results: (Varsity Girls had 146 runners and 15 teams)
Emily Crossley (junior) was #68 (23.43)
Mary Franque (junior) was #70 (23.51)
Alayna Wolfe (junior) was #79 (24.14)
Yessenia Cano (junior) was #95
Shawna Anderson (senior) was # 106
Paola Castro (junior) was #130
Charmisma Martinez (senior) was #144

Varsity Boys Results (Varsity Boys had 167 runners and 13 teams)
Dylan Harkness (senior) placed #9 earning a medal (17.08)
Josh Landis (senior) placed #22 earning a medal (17.50)
Matt Dirks (senior) placed # 62 (19.21)
Doug Mikan (senior) placed #109
Chandler Allen (junior) placed #164

Frosh-Soph Girls Results (race shortened to 2.2 miles because of extreme heat)
Mercedes Sanchez (freshman) was the second runner in 15.49 (1st place was
15.44)
Sarah Gunderson (sophomore) was runner #59.

Frosh-Soph Boys Results (race shortened to 2.2 miles because of extreme heat)
109 runners
Keaton Dir (sophomore) was #12 earning a medal (13.53)
Ethan Rocha (freshman) was #20 earning a medal (14.05)
Zach  Alston (freshman) was #29 (14.23)
Dakota Trancoso (sophomore) was #32 (14.47)
Zach DePuy (sophomore) was # 65 (16.05)
The team placed #5 of 11 teams.

Next Up: Both squads host LaSalle-Peru Tuesday (9/6) at Hoover Park with action beginning at 4:30 p.m.