Photo: Middle School Cross Country Runners Qualify for State

cross country head coach Derek Miller provided the following news release and photograph:

Last week the Yorkville Middle School Cross Country team ran in two important meets. In their first meet, the Prairie Conference Meet at Thompson in Oswego, the team took first place in all four races they participated in. For most of the team this was their last meet of the season. In addition, Cody Hornyak, Erin Reynolds, and Gianna Salzbrunn took home medals for top three finishes.

Last Saturday was the IESA Sectional at Troy Shorewood where both teams ran to try to make the IESA State Meet for the second year in a row. The boys fell a bit short by finishing in 4th place (the top 3 teams move on to State), but Cody Hornyak qualified for State as an individual with a 2-mile time of 11:26. The girls team finished in 2nd place, only 2 points behind the Sectional champion. Erin Reynolds and Gianna Salzbrunn earned All-Sectional honors for 6th and 9th place finishes. The other Sectional runners who contributed to the 2nd place finish were Rebecca Jasutis, Julia Schultz, Nicole Doles, Maddie Dearborn, and Julia Megazzini. Brooke Jensen, Clarissa Perez, and Sara Lubecke will be traveling to the State meet in Normal this Saturday as alternates. The team finished in 22nd place last year, but has much higher aspirations heading into State this year.