Gusty winds were among the running conditions that members of the Rochelle Township High School varsity cross country team pushed through on Saturday afternoon, when the purple and white laced up for the IHSA 2A Regional at Belvidere North High School.
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BELVIDERE — Gusty winds were among the running conditions that members of the Rochelle Township High School varsity cross country team pushed through on Saturday afternoon, when the purple and white laced up for the IHSA 2A Regional at Belvidere North High School.
Competing against a stacked field of opponents, Rochelle’s boys finished 11th out of 11 schools with 275 points and Rochelle’s girls finished 12th out of 12 schools with 278 points. The team will send a pair of individuals to sectionals, however, as freshman Tyler Johnson became a first-time qualifier and junior Annaliese Koziol clinched a sectional bid for the second time.
“We trained for them to be at the front of the pack,” head coach Dale Bergeson said. “We thought that they would have a chance to qualify for sectionals if they finished in the top 15 or the top 20. It was a very tough regional and we knew that going into the race, but we made a plan for which runners to hang with and we did that. The kids executed that plan really well.”
Koziol took 15th out of 80 girls on Saturday afternoon, clocking in with a time of 19:51.24 to lead the Lady Hubs in the 3-mile race. Despite an overly strong start to the race, Koziol managed to find her running pace and handle the regional course to stay near the front of the pack. She’ll be one of two Rochelle runners competing in the IHSA 2A Kaneland Sectional this weekend.
“It feels pretty good and I’m glad that I was able to make it back,” Koziol said. “I wanted to keep up with the front pack and try not to fall back too much so I wouldn’t have to gain a bunch of ground as the race went on. I thought I accomplished that pretty well, but I started off too fast. It was really windy and there were a lot of slight inclines and declines. My previous experience at sectionals will help me get out faster because I got trapped in a slower group last year.”
Johnson ran the fastest race for the Hubs, taking 20th out of 79 boys with a time of 16:20.39. Junior Declan McGee fell just short of earning an at-large bid to sectionals, finishing 48th with a time of 17:02.88. While Johnson admitted he’s struggled with keeping his pace over the last few meets, the talented freshman said a change in his race strategy allowed him to finish strong.
“I decided that, whenever I see someone pass me, I have to push through the pain and I’ll feel better afterwards,” Johnson said. “The wind wasn’t great and there were a bunch of ups and downs and some little dips. I knew I had to run hard up the hills and hide behind people when the wind came. The Kaneland course is really flat, but it’s also really skinny, so I have to get ahead quickly and keep myself there. I know I have to drop quite a few seconds to make state.”
Sophomore Hunter Bivins finished 70th in 18:28.30, while juniors Elijah Mayen and Johnny Morales placed 71st and 72nd with respective times of 18:31.69 and 19:03.17 to round out the top five scoring runners for the Hubs. Sophomore Vivian Worthington and senior Evileth Mendez took 62nd and 65th with respective times of 23:32.08 and 23:57.31 for the Lady Hubs. Juniors Rose Luxton and Mary Chadwick followed with respective times of 24:14.74 and 24:28.28.
“We’ll have almost all of our runners coming back next year and we have some eighth-graders who look very promising,” Bergeson said. “It’s been a successful year for us and we know our returning runners are going to be even stronger next year. I’d rather see us set tough goals and work toward achieving those goals. I thought this was our best season in 10-to-15 years.”
