Julio Angrave leads Urbana harriers at Peoria Invite

PEORIA -- Urbana's Julio Angrave ran a 16:10.05, finishing 54th out of a pool of 292 runners at the Peoria Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. As a team, the Tigers finished in 18th place out of the 41 competing teams.


Julio Angrave runs at the IHSA State cross country meet in 2021
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.

Tigers run at Peoria Invite, Stori top finisher for the UHS

PEORIA -- The Urbana girls' cross country team finished 23rd in the team standings out of 34 teams at the Peoria Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, October 1.

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.

Photo Gallery |
Area runners give all at state cross country meet

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
St. Joseph-Ogden's Savanna Franzen runs in the Class 1A Cross Country State Finals on Saturday. Franzen, a freshman, finished in 6th place over all at 17:51.72 to help the Spartans to a fourth-place finish in the girls Class 1A division.

Unity's Malia Fairbanks runs her second lap around Detweiler Park during the Class 1A Cross Country State Finals on Saturday. The veteran senior harrier was the fifth runner from the Rockets to cross the finish line at 19:04.82 to secure the team title with 126 points. The victory secured Unity's sixth consecutive cross country state trophy in over the past six seasons.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



University High School junior Kate Ahmari heads to the finish line on her way to a second-place Class 1A finish on Saturday. The Illineks finished in ninth-place with at team score of 320 behind #7 IC Catholic (246pts) and Wheaton Academy in 8th place with 289 points. Ahmari crossed the finished line at 17:29.24.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



SJO's Ava Knap runs the last thirty yards to the finish line in her 3-mile race at Detweiller Park. The Spartans' top finisher clocked in 17:48.51 in fifth-place.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Incoming Storm

Salt Fork runner finishes in top 25

Oakwood-Salt Fork runner Macie Russell heads to the finish line in the Class 1A race. The sophomore earned All-State status after coming in 16th place. A student at Salt Fork High School, she ran the 3-mile course in 18 minutes and 21.94 seconds.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Urbana University's Stefania Dzhaman runs to the finish line behind Eureka's Meika Bender in the Class 1A Cross Country State Finals on Saturday. Dzhaman, a senior, finished her run at 19:42.85.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Pulling away from her nearest competitor, Unity's Harper Hancock closes in on the finish line. The Rockets have won the state title two other times since the 2015 season (2015, 2017). The program was runner up in 2016 and finished in third-place in 2018 and 2019 in Class 1A. Hancock, a senior, finished in 30th place with her time at 18:39.30. Follow link to view more photos of Unity cross country runners on Saturday.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



With a few more strides to go to finish his race, St. Joseph-Ogden's Luke Stegall leans forward in preparation to cross the finish line during the boys' Class 1A race. Stegall, a senior, finished the last cross country race of his prep career at 15:52.49. The Spartans finished in sixth-place in the boys team standings.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Pushing himself the last eight yards of his race, Urbana University's Henry Laufenberg runs to a 15:58.37, placing 46th place overall.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Champaign Central's Maaike Niekerk runs in the Class 2A girls' race. The senior clocked in at 19:05.30 in 86th place on Saturday.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Urbana's Celia Barbieri and Northside's Allison Feeney runs in the Class 2A Cross Country State Finals on Saturday. The solo runner representing the Tigers at state finished 111th overall at 19:19.22.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



With about 10 yards left in their race, Urbana's Brian Allison and Julio Angrave along with Champaign Central's Nick Bonn continue their final kick to the finish line during the Class 2A race.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Urbana's Hudson Coady and Champaign Central's Enrique Bueschlein run through a shaded area of the Detweiller Park course on their second lap in the Class 2A race. Coady finished 220th oveall at 17:28.15, while Bueshlein crossed over 13 seconds later for a time of 17:41.80 in 227th place.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Urbana's Sam Lambert closes in on the finish line in the Class 2A race. The senior harrier for the Tigers finished just one place away from making All-State status in 26th place at 15:25.63. Earlier in the season, Lambert won the Big12 Conference title for UHS. See more photos of Urbana's cross country athletes here.
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks



Area runners qualify for IHSA state cross country championship on Saturday

Sixty-eight individual runners qualified for the Illinois High School Association's state meet in Peoria this Saturday.

Urbana High School's Celia Barbieri and University High School's Henry Laufenberg qualified as individual competitors. Laufenberg finished in 15th place with a time of 16:55.85 at the St. Teresa sectional last Saturday. Barbieri, a senior, made the cut running the Class 2A race on the same course in 20 minutes, 12.07 seconds.

The remaining 66 runners made of athletes from both St. Joseph-Ogden, Unity, and Urbana will represent their school programs at Detweiller Park.

Malia Fairbanks carries the team's IHSA sectional award

Unity cross country runner Malia Fairbanks carries the team 2021 cross country sectional plaque after the team was honored during halftime at Saturday's Unity home playoff game against Newton. "We're super excited about going to state," Fairbanks said. "It's crazy how fast the season has gone by." The Rockets' along with girls teams from St. Joseph-Ogden and Uni-High will race for a possible state title at 9am on Saturday at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

St. Joseph-Ogden finished in second place on the mud-soaked course at Hickory Point golf club with 87 points in the 1A race. University High came in 10th place and Unity rounded out The Sentinel area schools in 11th place with 316 points.

It was nearly a clean sweep of the top three places with the three programs The Sentinel covers. The Unity girls team won the sectional title with four runners finishing under the 19 minutes and 47 seconds. The Rockets secured the title with a 13-point advantage over St. Joseph-Ogden, who finished in second place with 75 points. University High finished fourth in the final standings just one point behind Monticello 108.

In Class 2A action, the Urbana boys' team celebrated a fourth-place finish ahead of 14 other programs. Leading the Tigers' contingent over the finish line was senior Sam Lambert who was ninth overall at 16:35.75 and Park Mitchell 15 seconds later at 16:50.51 in 16th place.

Saturday's championship race schedule starts at 9am with Class A girls running first followed by the boys' race at 10a. The Class 2A race featuring Barbieri starts at 11am and the Urbana boys squad will race for the title at noon. The awards ceremonies will occur one hour after the start of the last race for that class.

Below is a list of our area qualifiers.

Boys 1A Qualifiers

Aiden Armstrong (SJO)
EJ Beckett (SJO)
Ethan Blackburn (SJO)
Braden Clampitt (SJO)
Jack Fisher (SJO)
Joe Griebat (SJO)
Mason Guido (SJO)
Holden Jones (SJO)
Charlie Mabry (SJO)
Carson Maroon (SJO)
Isiah Mock (SJO)
Elijah Mock (SJO)
Luke Stegall (SJO)
Payton Wendell (SJO)
Henry Laufenberg (Uni-High)

Girls 1A Qualifiers

Chloe Allen (SJO)
Addie Allen (SJO)
Kaytlyn Baker (SJO)
Chloe Burkhalter (SJO)
Madison Clampitt (SJO)
Savanna Franzen (SJO)
Kailyn Ingram (SJO)
Ava Knap (SJO)
Malorie Sarnecki (SJO)
Taryn Sexton (SJO)
Josie Cler (Unity)
Krystal Crossin (Unity)
Emily Decker (Unity)
Malia Fairbanks (Unity)
Harper Hancock (Unity)
Annabelle Jokisch (Unity)
Caelyn Kleparski (Unity)
Arianna Pruitt-LeFaivre (Unity)
Camryn Reedy (Unity)
Audrey Remole (Unity)
Olivia Shike (Unity)
Sophia Stierwalt (Unity)
Reagen Stringer (Unity)
Erica Woodard (Unity)
Kate Ahmari (Uni-High )
Marina Bowers-Wong (Uni-High)
Stefania Dzhaman (Uni-High)
Edie Hoganson (Uni-High)
Cadi Hu (Uni-High)
Madeleine Keenan (Uni-High)
Bridget Lu (Uni-High)
Kara Mathias (Uni-High)
Erin Smith (Uni-High)
Jeana To (Uni-High)
Grace To (Uni-High)
Maxine Van der donk (Uni-High)
Bonnie Weaver (Uni-High)
Clara Wood (Uni-High)

Boys 1A Qualifiers

Michael Allison (Urbana)
Brian Allison (Urbana)
Julio Angrave (Urbana)
Christian Berry (Urbana)
Hudson Coady (Urbana)
Feras Hamayel (Urbana)
Dereje Jahiel (Urbana)
Sam Lambert (Urbana)
Emmanuel Lokango (Urbana)
Asaph Lokango (Urbana)
Patrick Lyon (Urbana)
Park Mitchell (Urbana)
Jonathan Sanchez-Huanca (Urbana)
Parker Schroeder (Urbana)

Girls 2A Qualifiers

Celia Barbieri (Urbana)

Urbana girls cross country team competes at big race

The Urbana cross country team finished the Richard Spring Invitational with 1,453 points in the 63-team invitational meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria on September 18.

Celia Barbieri led the Tigers to a 53rd overall team finish completing the course in 20 minutes and 2.4 seconds. The senior finished 185th overall.

Ten runners later Urbana's Abby Fairbanks crossed the finish at 20:11.1 followed by freshman Mia Nicholson 142 runners later at 21:46.6. Ellie Scully and Brianne Wefel rounded out the top five finishers with times of 23:51.6 and 24:10 respectively.

The three-mile varsity race was won by York with 93 points. Prospect finished in second place and Hinsdale Central in third.




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Recipe-of-the-week: 3 Layer Arkansas Possum Pie

The star of your next spread can be hidden away in the refrigerator for a surprise delight for your guests. It's topped with chocolate syrup and chopped pecans, and your loved ones just may vote it to be their favorite dish.

It's an Arkansas Possum Pie, made with three delicious layers and crunchy toppings for a show-stopping dessert.




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