With five of the team’s top seven runners, including three underclassmen, setting personal records at the IHSA 2A Burlington Central Regional on Saturday, Rochelle will be sending its varsity boys cross country team to a sectional meet for the first time since 2011.
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ELGIN — With five of the team’s top seven runners, including three underclassmen, setting personal records at the IHSA 2A Burlington Central Regional on Saturday, Rochelle will be sending its varsity boys cross country team to a sectional meet for the first time since 2011.
The Hubs finished sixth out of 10 schools Saturday afternoon, with junior David Wanner placing 30th overall in 17:53.88 to lead Rochelle in the 3-mile race at Plato Township Park. Senior Josue Huerta took 40th with a time of 18:35.53 to help spearhead the charge, while freshman Chris Hickey ran a personal-best time of 19:01.37 in his first postseason meet for 46th place.
“I was very excited when I found out we qualified for the sectional meet,” Huerta said. “All of our runners gave their all and it was really great seeing our young guys set personal records because it shows how much work they’re putting in. It’s really encouraging because it shows that our team has a lot of potential to grow in the future. We’ve all dropped our times from when our season started and some of our newest runners have improved their times a lot.”
Sophomore Alex Burke landed a few seconds behind Hickey, running a personal-best time of 19:08.93 for 47th place. Sophomore Parker Lenkaitis and senior Peter Forsberg rounded out Rochelle’s top six runners in the regional meet, with Lenkaitis taking 50th in 19:26.52 while Forsberg clocked in with a personal-best time of 19:29.27 for 51st place. The IHSA 2A Woodstock Sectional at Emricson Park will take place on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Lady Hubs
Junior Yuelma Ortiz qualified for the sectional as an individual, finishing 19th out of 76 runners with a time of 20:24.60. The Lady Hubs placed ninth out of 11 schools as a team. Senior Sara Johnson finished 38th with a time of 21:29.80 and landed one place short of advancing.
“I’m really excited because I haven’t gone to sectionals before,” Ortiz said. “It was disappointing that Sara wasn’t able to qualify but I’m excited to go to the sectional. I really loved the regional course and I liked how flat it was. The main challenges were all of the turns we made and some of them were pretty tight. My goal during practice this week is to keep up with the boys as much as I can and my goal for the sectional is to run under 20 minutes.
