Mendota High School’s cross country runners traveled to Chillicothe for a race against Princeton, Erie-Prophetstown, Rock Falls and host IVC on Sept. 23.

Victoria Castenada from Rock Falls won the girls’ event, pacing the 2.94 mile course in 18:43. She was followed by Haley Sack of Mendota, who ran the course in 19:34.

The Rock Falls ladies won the team scoring with 19 points, followed by IVC (63), Mendota (78), E-P (87) and Princeton (113).

In addition to Sack, the MHS top seven included Justine McDowell (21:33, 11th), Jessica Barr (22:15, 17th), Erica Seno (24:30, 30th), Lauren Becker (24:31, 31st), Hannah Morris (24:35, 32nd) and Abby Morris (24:50, 33rd).

Other participants for Mendota were Cera Donahue (25:03, 35th), Laura Phalen (26:16, 41st), Grace McConville (27:48, 44th), Lauren Brunoehler (28:04, 45th), Emily Byrne (28:25, 47th) and Taylor McLaughlin (35:58, 50th).

In the boys' run, Jake Barr completed the course in 15:38 to take top honors.

Team scoring showed Rock Falls first with 47, followed by Erie-Prophetstown (60), Mendota (66), Princeton (70) and IVC (84).

Joining Barr in the top seven for MHS runners were Tim Smith (18:07, 9th), Adam Weeks (18:11, 13th), Bobby Clayton (18:47, 20th), Jacob Weeks (18:54, 23rd), Carl Clement (19:05, 25th) and Collin Reeder (19:09, 26th).

Also competing for the Trojans were Ian Richardson (19:15, 27th), Garrett Wise (20:12, 37th), Nolan Schuhler (21:03, 45th), Griffin Anderson (21:34, 47th), Alex Mancilla (22:27, 52nd), Grant Bodmer (22:33, 54th), Isaac Piller (25:01, 58th), Evan Wixom (25:47, 60th) and Stephen Prescott (26:23, 62nd).

* * *

Six area high schools convened at LP's home cross country course at Baker Lake for a meet on Sept. 25.

Sack won the girls’ heat, covering the three-mile course in 20:15. She was followed by Elizabeth Mosbach of Hall (20:32) and Laurel Skorup of Sandwich (21:32).

The Mendota girls tallied 38 points for top honors, followed by Hall (53), Fieldcrest (61) and Sandwich (63). Putnam County and LP did not field a complete team.

After Sack, Mendota’s top seven finishers were McDowell (22:38, 6th), Jessica Barr (23:27, 7th), Seno (25:04, 12th), Abby Morris (25:49, 17th), Hannah Morris (26:23, 21st) and Donahue (27:11, 25th).

Other Mendota finishes: Brunoehler (27:59, 27th), Byrne (29:08, 30th), Phalen (30:19, 32nd), Simonton (31:14, 35th) and McLaughlin (35:52, 38th).

In the boys' event, Sandwich harriers Stephen Clark (16:18) and Aaron Stahl (16:32) were first through the chute before Scott Janusick of Spring Valley came in with 16:41 for third.

Jake Barr had the top performance for Mendota, finishing sixth by completing the course in 16:59.

Sandwich's 22 points easily earned it the top team finish, followed by Hall (60), Fieldcrest (71), Mendota (80) and LP (142).

Mendota’s top seven runners were Adam Weeks (18:50, 12th), Clement (19:32, 19th), Jacob Weeks (19:48, 23rd), Smith (19:55, 25th), Reeder (19:56, 26th) and Richardson (20:02, 27th).

Other Mendota finishes: Clayton (20:04, 29th), Anderson (20:48, 35th), Schuhler (20:50, 36th), Bodmer (21:00, 40th), Wise (21:57, 45th), Mancilla (23:15, 49th), VanRheenen (23:16, 50th), Wixom (25:25, 59th), Piller (26:34, 60th) and Prescott (29:26, 62nd).

* * *

Mendota enjoyed much success on all three levels at the Kewanee Invitational on Sept. 27. All three races were 3.02 miles.

In varsity girls’ action, Sack finished second overall with a time of 20:34. Only Sherrard’s Shelbie Pettie had a better time, breaking the tape first with a time of 19:57.

The rest of Mendota’s top seven runners included McDowell (12th in 23:04), Jessica Barr (20th in 23:40), Seno (30th in 24:36), Abby Morris (40th in 25:23), Hannah Morris (55th in 26:19) and Donahue (58th in 26:53).

Also racing for Mendota were Brunoehler (62nd in 27:36), Byrne (63rd in 28:26), Phalen (66th in 29:32), McConville (68th in 29:44) and Simonton (69th in 29:58).

Sherrard took the girls’ team title with 62 points, followed by Orion (73), IVC (84), Mendota (90) and Hall (106).

Nick Stromme of Marquette captured the varsity boys’ event with a time of 16:45. Jake Barr was the first Trojan runner to cross the finish line in fourth place with a clocking of 17:10.

Completing Mendota’s top seven were Adam Weeks (18th in 18:51), Clayton (29th in 19:50), Smith (30th in 19:50); Clement (34th in 20:23), Richardson (36th in 20:28) and Van Rheenen (48th in 23:06).

Other Trojan competitors were Piller (56th in 25:27), Wixom (57th in 25:43) and Prescott (59th in 28:41).

Marquette finished on top of the team standings with 39 points. The rest of the top five included Knoxville (56), Hall (62), Mendota (94) and IVC (112).

Mendota’s freshman-sophomore boys’ squad won the team title with 15 points. The individual champion was Jason Henkins of Kewanee with a time of 18:23.

Finishing first for the Trojans was Jacobs Weeks in fourth place with a time of 19:31. Also running for MHS were Reeder (11th in 20:17), Schuhler (14th in 21:33), Wise (16th in 21:49), Anderson (21:51), Mancilla (26th in 23:26) and Bodmer (30th in 24:31).