Urbana's Julio Angrave runs in the Class 2A Cross Country State Finals on Saturday, November 6, 2021. The senior led the Tigers' harrier squad to the finish line turning in a time of 16:10.05 on the same course last Saturday at the Peoria Cross Country Invitational. PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)
This year's 1A/2A race was won by Marion with 136 points. Normal University placed second with 152 points, and Mather High School was third, edging-out Champaign Central for the bronze medal position by 32 points with 172. Tigers' Hudson Coady, Michael Allison, Cordaro Sims, and Brian Allison contributed toward their final team score of 443. Coady finished 78th at 16:32.34, Michael Allison crossed over at 16:39.00, and Cordaro Sims was next to finish a second later behind his teammate at 16:40.60. Brian Allison rounded out the top five runners in 133rd place with a time of 17:05.37. The Urbana boys program also had strong finishes from sophomores Mohammed Amrani and Dereje Jahiel, who clocked times of 17:07.76 and 17:33.98, respectively. The Tigers will run again on Tuesday on the University of Illinois Cross Country Course at the annual Twin City Meet and then again on Saturday for the Big 12 Conference title back at Detweiller Park.
Senior Maya Stori led the Tigers' squad to the finish line circumventing the course at Detweiller Park in 20 minutes and 6.49 seconds in the Class 1A/2A race. 80th overall, she finished behing Bloomington's Alexandra Noona and ahead of Morton's Cali Fitzgerald.
Later, Stori was followed into the chute by teammate Abby Fairbanks, who stopped the clock at 20:10.80 for best time in the 3-mile distance this season. Prior to Saturday's race, Fairbanks' top finish this season was 21:09.70.
Also scoring points for UHS were Ellie Scully, Noam Kramer, and Kaleigh Bell. Scully finish 158th at 21:50.16, Kramer 180th at 22:34.20, and Kaleigh Bell finished out the top-five runners with a time of 22:37.05, good for 182nd overall.
Lavie Maisha and Brianne Wefel finished the race with times of 22:55.61 and 23:18.61 respectively.
The 1A/2A title was won by Crystal Lake South with 88 points. Dunlap tallied 105 points to take second, and Glenwood finished third in the team standings with 148 points.
The Tigers will run again this Tuesday on the University of Illinois Cross Country Course at the annual Twin City Meet and then again on Saturday for the Big 12 Conference title back at Detweiller Park.