The Sentinel

Cross-Country: Jack Fisher lead SJO's sectional cross country effort

by Daniel L. Chamness
Special to The Sentinel

CHAMPAIGN --The St. Joseph-Ogden boys' cross country team destiny to compete at this year's Illinois High School Association Class 1A State Finals was confirmed at the sectional meet. Hosted by SJO on October 29 at Dodds Park in Champaign, the Spartans dashed to a fourth-place finish in what was arguably the toughest Class 1A Sectional in the state.

SJO finished with 164 points behind Decatur St. Teresa, who finished with 77 points.

While every cross-country athlete would like to make the state finals, it is highly-unlikely the current Spartan program will miss any in the forseeable future. Three juniors, two sophomores, one freshman, and one senior made up the SJO's top seven runners on the roster.

"We have been running in competitive meets all season to get to this point," said Jason Retz, SJO's head coach. "It will be great for them to have the state experience."

The team was led by sophomore Jack Fisher, who crossed 26th after he toured the three-mile course in 16 minutes, 29.38 seconds. Freshman Lance Retz finished immediately behind Fisher 28th in 16 minutes and 29.98 seconds.

The other Spartan athletes that finished within a second of each other were sophomore Mason Guido (17:02.61) and senior Ethan Blackburn (17:02.88). They were 50th and 51st, respectively.

Two juniors served as the third and fourth runners. Carson Maroon and Aden Armstrong took 37th and 41st, respectively. Maroon ran the three-mile course in 16:45.99, while Armstrong finished in 16:52.05.

The Spartans have competed in every state final except for two in 2012 and 2018. There was no state championship in 2020. In the seven times they advanced as a team, they were in the top 10 six times. They earned a team trophy in 2015, taking third in the state.

"We want to take advantage of every opportunity we are given," said Retz. "I want to see them show up and compete. We are excited to be here, but the athletes need to have a sense of urgency and purpose."

The Tolono Unity boys finished 10th in the sectional, scoring 260 points. Like their arch-rivals at SJO, the had a very young lineup, with only one senior. Four freshmen ran in the varsity race. One sophomore and one junior were also in the lineup.

Eli Crowe, one of the freshmen, took 25th in the SJO Class 1A Sectional. He finished the race at 16:28.91. The rest of the scoring top five were within a minute of each other. Camden Fairbanks took 44th in 16:53.75. On his heels was the lone senior on the team, Brendan Graven, who finished in 17:00.32, good for 47th place.

Isaac Ruggieri (85th) and Alex Mowrer (91st) rounded out the top five. Ruggieri crossed the finish line at 17:39.59, while Mowrer finished at 17:52.0.

Two freshmen served as the sixth and seventh runners. Carter Tiemann (93rd, 17:57.59) and Collin Graven (155th, 20:44.56), respectively.

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Guest Commentary: Billions spent on the election while Americans continue to struggle

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

Total cost of 2022 state and federal midterm elections may have exceeded $16 billion according to a OpenSecrets analysis. Federal candidates and political committees spent over $8 billion while state candidates, party committees, and ballot measure committees spent close to $8 billion.

Here are the five most expensive Senate races this year according to OpenSecrets. This includes both general election and primary candidates together with the outside groups supporting them, such as the national parties and Super PACs:

Pennsylvania: $373.6 million

Georgia: $271.4 million (Georgia’s is growing)

Arizona: $234.6 million

Wisconsin: $205.8 million

Ohio: $202.1 million

Pennsylvania’s crucial U.S. Senate race has been the most expensive in the country this year — and it wasn’t even close. Georgia may end up close to $300 million. Who in Georgia is happy about this? The television stations. If you own a television station during a highly contested election season, in a lucrative market, you’ll never have to work again when the election is over.

Democrat John Fetterman, Republican Mehmet Oz and their political allies have spent a combined $312 million on a race that ended up not even close. According to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics, money poured into Pennsylvania for Fetterman as he had over $15 million dollars more to work with than Oz.

Many are wondering how Fetterman, a recuperating sick man with the worst debate performance ever on national television, beat Oz? The answer is not a simple sentence. The bottom line was they didn’t want Oz.

Oz was seen as an outsider. Someone who moved to the state to further his career in politics. He is well known. That should have helped but it didn’t help him that much. He was well known for being rich, famous and still relatively good looking for an old guy. Fetterman on the other hand is the local state guy. He doesn’t look so good. They know who he is whether that is good or bad. He has been very sick and trying to rehabilitate. A lot of people feel sorry for him and didn’t see him as a rich, affluent personality but rather a down to earth guy they can relate to.

People often cheer for the underdog. If you post something on social media saying you are sick, bad off, down and out you’ll get many more “likes” or responses than if you post you have just received a career advance and a $50,000 bonus.

Rand Paul of Kentucky raised $26,410,677 and reportedly spent $20 million. I hope he will use the remaining $6 million to rebuild homes in East, Kentucky recently devastated by flooding. Or, even West, Kentucky that is still trying to rebuild from tornadoes that flattened that part of the state.

The money spent on this election and all national elections is insane. People all over America can’t afford to go the grocery store, fill up the gas tank or take care of their children’s school needs. Yet politicians, interest groups, political parties, and Political Action Committees are raising and spending mega millions trying to keep or gain a political seat. You can’t do anything about it either. We have so very little to say about anything in our country.

We have to depend on the people spending millions to get their seat. If the seat is worth millions to them and the special interest groups then do you really think they care about we think?

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Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of Grandpa's Store, American Issues, and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

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