Northern Illinois Bragging Rights
Marquette boys sweep top spots, Rock Falls girls, Mosbach also victorious ...
By Cody Cutter
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
OREGON – Small school cross country teams from all different corners of the area
converged upon Oregon's Park West on Saturday morning. Who would filter down to the
IHSA State Meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria depended on an up-and-down three-mile
challenge.
The slopes were almost enough to derail Marquette's “J-Train.” James Weissensel, with “J-
Train” on his headband, was almost derailed about 600 feet in with a small slip. However,
the senior wouldn't let his high school cross country career slip away.
Weissensel recovered well and ultimately took first place by four-tenths of a second in the
boys race with a time of 16:04.50. The top finish, as well as a fifth-place finish by junior
teammate Lucas Hill (16:22.50), were good enough for Marquette boys' second straight
sectional championship. The Crusaders finished with 136 points, edging Harvard by one
point.
“If I hadn't slipped, I would have probably been ten seconds faster,” Weissensel said. “The
adrenaline got me going. I knew in my mind that I had to win this. I was out there to persue
that; all for the benefit of the team, to get the least amount of points possible.”
The Crusaders also had a top fifteen finish from freshman Mark Spika and a top 50 finish
from Quinn Crowley.
“We came out of a hard Regional at Seneca, which is just rugged,” Marquette coach Dan
Cheatham said. “You can compare this to the Regional over there. This is a little bit
easier. James has been a leader all year long as well as Luke Hill. They've been a spark
and getting the rest of the guys to climb onboard.”
Weissensel narrowly beat Alleman's Ethan Adlfinger for the top spot of the sectional.
Adlfinger steadily worked his way up toward the top but fell just short of No. 1. But to him
all that mattered was helping get his team to State.
“Today was all about place,” Adlfinger said. “I wanted to get the team there so I wanted to
get toward the top. When it came down to it, finishing whatever it was (individually), yeah
that's kind of a dissapointment because there's a point (missing), but at the same time it
was all for the team.”
“I did feel him coming," Weissensel said of a charging Adlfinger. "After that last turn, I tried
to tell myself to stop looking back. Now I know that I can't do that going into the State Meet
because with something like that it can cost me a lot more."
Alleman eventually made the State cutoff, placing fourth (172) behind third-place Byron
and ahead of fifth-place Erie/Prophetstown (172). Timmy Wiltshire led Harvard with a 14th
place finish, while Charles Sievers led Byron with a tenth-place showing and Devin
Johnson led the Panthers with a 12th. Bureau Valley's Derrick Johnson (16:10.60) and
Amboy's Colt Shaw (16:19.5) took third- and fourth-place respectively.
Just like last year's Marquette sectional title, the Rock Falls girls made history with its first
sectional title. The top six Rockets all kept within sight of each other, placing from 15th to
33rd to add up the least amount of points for the championship. Aubree Johnson led the
Rockets with a 20:05.2, with Katie Anderson not too far behind in 17th.
Jessica Wind was third within the Rocket group in 21st, followed by Savanah Davis (28th),
Paige Davis (32nd) and Sandra Gomez (33rd).
“It's school history. The girls are excited. I'm excited,” Rock Falls coach Mark Truesdell
said. “There's always room for improvement. If we can get some consistency downstate I
think we can really do something special.”
The Rockets scored 113 points, besting second-place Lutheran's 140 points. Big
Northern teams swept the top five spots with Lutheran's 140 points good enough for
second place, followed by Byron's 154, Winnebago's 179 and Oregon's 208.
Hall senior Liz Mosbach led most of the second half of the race in crossing first with a time
of 19:18. Mosbach outdistanced Fieldcrest sophomore Maria Baldwin by nearly five
seconds.
“I didn't want to try to go out way too soon, but I tried to stay with the pack most of the time
and toward the end that's when I really tried to pull away,” Mosbach said. “The last meet
at Detweiler (Oct. 1) I started my kick way too soon. So I was hoping it wasn't too soon this
time. I felt pretty confident as I crossed the finish line.”
Somonauk senior Megan Costanzo was the area's second-best female runner, with a third-
place time of 19:24.4.
“It's my senior year, and all of the motivation of my last race ever made me put it all on the
line,” Costanzo said. “I knew I had to help out my team and get them to go. The
competition was good and it was a fun race.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat (at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about what's written on our
Message Boards!
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
OREGON – Small school cross country teams from all different corners of the area
converged upon Oregon's Park West on Saturday morning. Who would filter down to the
IHSA State Meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria depended on an up-and-down three-mile
challenge.
The slopes were almost enough to derail Marquette's “J-Train.” James Weissensel, with “J-
Train” on his headband, was almost derailed about 600 feet in with a small slip. However,
the senior wouldn't let his high school cross country career slip away.
Weissensel recovered well and ultimately took first place by four-tenths of a second in the
boys race with a time of 16:04.50. The top finish, as well as a fifth-place finish by junior
teammate Lucas Hill (16:22.50), were good enough for Marquette boys' second straight
sectional championship. The Crusaders finished with 136 points, edging Harvard by one
point.
“If I hadn't slipped, I would have probably been ten seconds faster,” Weissensel said. “The
adrenaline got me going. I knew in my mind that I had to win this. I was out there to persue
that; all for the benefit of the team, to get the least amount of points possible.”
The Crusaders also had a top fifteen finish from freshman Mark Spika and a top 50 finish
from Quinn Crowley.
“We came out of a hard Regional at Seneca, which is just rugged,” Marquette coach Dan
Cheatham said. “You can compare this to the Regional over there. This is a little bit
easier. James has been a leader all year long as well as Luke Hill. They've been a spark
and getting the rest of the guys to climb onboard.”
Weissensel narrowly beat Alleman's Ethan Adlfinger for the top spot of the sectional.
Adlfinger steadily worked his way up toward the top but fell just short of No. 1. But to him
all that mattered was helping get his team to State.
“Today was all about place,” Adlfinger said. “I wanted to get the team there so I wanted to
get toward the top. When it came down to it, finishing whatever it was (individually), yeah
that's kind of a dissapointment because there's a point (missing), but at the same time it
was all for the team.”
“I did feel him coming," Weissensel said of a charging Adlfinger. "After that last turn, I tried
to tell myself to stop looking back. Now I know that I can't do that going into the State Meet
because with something like that it can cost me a lot more."
Alleman eventually made the State cutoff, placing fourth (172) behind third-place Byron
and ahead of fifth-place Erie/Prophetstown (172). Timmy Wiltshire led Harvard with a 14th
place finish, while Charles Sievers led Byron with a tenth-place showing and Devin
Johnson led the Panthers with a 12th. Bureau Valley's Derrick Johnson (16:10.60) and
Amboy's Colt Shaw (16:19.5) took third- and fourth-place respectively.
Just like last year's Marquette sectional title, the Rock Falls girls made history with its first
sectional title. The top six Rockets all kept within sight of each other, placing from 15th to
33rd to add up the least amount of points for the championship. Aubree Johnson led the
Rockets with a 20:05.2, with Katie Anderson not too far behind in 17th.
Jessica Wind was third within the Rocket group in 21st, followed by Savanah Davis (28th),
Paige Davis (32nd) and Sandra Gomez (33rd).
“It's school history. The girls are excited. I'm excited,” Rock Falls coach Mark Truesdell
said. “There's always room for improvement. If we can get some consistency downstate I
think we can really do something special.”
The Rockets scored 113 points, besting second-place Lutheran's 140 points. Big
Northern teams swept the top five spots with Lutheran's 140 points good enough for
second place, followed by Byron's 154, Winnebago's 179 and Oregon's 208.
Hall senior Liz Mosbach led most of the second half of the race in crossing first with a time
of 19:18. Mosbach outdistanced Fieldcrest sophomore Maria Baldwin by nearly five
seconds.
“I didn't want to try to go out way too soon, but I tried to stay with the pack most of the time
and toward the end that's when I really tried to pull away,” Mosbach said. “The last meet
at Detweiler (Oct. 1) I started my kick way too soon. So I was hoping it wasn't too soon this
time. I felt pretty confident as I crossed the finish line.”
Somonauk senior Megan Costanzo was the area's second-best female runner, with a third-
place time of 19:24.4.
“It's my senior year, and all of the motivation of my last race ever made me put it all on the
line,” Costanzo said. “I knew I had to help out my team and get them to go. The
competition was good and it was a fun race.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat (at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about what's written on our
Message Boards!
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at Park West, Oregon
IHSA Class 1A Sectional
Boys Team Standings (top
five advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. Marquette 136, 2.
Harvard 137, 3. Byron 168,
4. Alleman 170, 5.
Erie/Prophetstown 172, 6.
Winnebago 180, 7. Bureau
Valley 180, 8. Newman
188, 9. Oregon 214, 10.
Annawan/Wethersfield 311.
Top 10 Runners (all
advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. James Weissensel
(Marquette) 16:04.5, 2.
Ethan Adlfinger (Alleman)
16:04.9, 3. Derrick
Johnson (BV) 16:10.6, 4.
Colt Shaw (Amboy)
16:19.5, 5. Lucas Hill
(Marquette) 16:22.5, 6.
Brandt Cole (RF) 16:24.9,
7. Ryan Taylor (BV)
16:31.2, 8. Trevor Lay
(A/W) 16:31.4, 9. Nick
Jones (Oregon) 16:36.2,
10. Michael Cook (A/W)
16:37.0.
Girls Team Standings (top
five advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. Rock Falls 113, 2.
Lutheran 140, 3. Byron
154, 4. Winnebago 179, 5.
Oregon 208, 6.
Henry-Senachwine/Midland
209, 7. Marquette 221, 8.
Woodstock Marian 223, 9.
Somonauk 239, 10.
Rockford Christian 258,
11. Annawan/Wethersfield
269, 12. Bureau Valley 280.
Top 10 Runners (all
advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. Liz Mosbach (Hall)
19:18.0, 2. Maria Baldwin
(Fieldcrest) 19:22.7, 3.
Megan Costanzo
(Somonauk) 19:24.4, 4.
Erin McCarey (Byron)
19:26.4, 5. Joy Hittenmiller
(RCL) 19:28.2, 6. Nicole
Wager (A/W) 19:30.4, 7.
Julie Buzzard (Lutheran)
19:31.5, 8. Regan Weidner
(BV) 19:31.9, 9. Kimi
Sanden (BV) 19:45.0, 10.
Cheyenne Moore
(Winnebago) 19:53.8.
IHSA Class 1A Sectional
Boys Team Standings (top
five advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. Marquette 136, 2.
Harvard 137, 3. Byron 168,
4. Alleman 170, 5.
Erie/Prophetstown 172, 6.
Winnebago 180, 7. Bureau
Valley 180, 8. Newman
188, 9. Oregon 214, 10.
Annawan/Wethersfield 311.
Top 10 Runners (all
advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. James Weissensel
(Marquette) 16:04.5, 2.
Ethan Adlfinger (Alleman)
16:04.9, 3. Derrick
Johnson (BV) 16:10.6, 4.
Colt Shaw (Amboy)
16:19.5, 5. Lucas Hill
(Marquette) 16:22.5, 6.
Brandt Cole (RF) 16:24.9,
7. Ryan Taylor (BV)
16:31.2, 8. Trevor Lay
(A/W) 16:31.4, 9. Nick
Jones (Oregon) 16:36.2,
10. Michael Cook (A/W)
16:37.0.
Girls Team Standings (top
five advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. Rock Falls 113, 2.
Lutheran 140, 3. Byron
154, 4. Winnebago 179, 5.
Oregon 208, 6.
Henry-Senachwine/Midland
209, 7. Marquette 221, 8.
Woodstock Marian 223, 9.
Somonauk 239, 10.
Rockford Christian 258,
11. Annawan/Wethersfield
269, 12. Bureau Valley 280.
Top 10 Runners (all
advance to IHSA State
Meet)
1. Liz Mosbach (Hall)
19:18.0, 2. Maria Baldwin
(Fieldcrest) 19:22.7, 3.
Megan Costanzo
(Somonauk) 19:24.4, 4.
Erin McCarey (Byron)
19:26.4, 5. Joy Hittenmiller
(RCL) 19:28.2, 6. Nicole
Wager (A/W) 19:30.4, 7.
Julie Buzzard (Lutheran)
19:31.5, 8. Regan Weidner
(BV) 19:31.9, 9. Kimi
Sanden (BV) 19:45.0, 10.
Cheyenne Moore
(Winnebago) 19:53.8.
Photo by Cody Cutter
Marquette's James Weissensel leads the pack past the halfway mark of the Oregon Sectional
course at Park West on Saturday. Weissensel held on to win the boys race, and led his team to a
Sectional title.
Marquette's James Weissensel leads the pack past the halfway mark of the Oregon Sectional
course at Park West on Saturday. Weissensel held on to win the boys race, and led his team to a
Sectional title.
Photo by Cody Cutter
Somonauk's Megan Costanzo and Hall's Liz Mosbach surround Fieldcrest's Maria Baldwin at the
halfway point of the Oregon Sectional course at Park West on Saturday. Mosbach led all runners to
the finish line with Baldwin second and Costanzo third.
Somonauk's Megan Costanzo and Hall's Liz Mosbach surround Fieldcrest's Maria Baldwin at the
halfway point of the Oregon Sectional course at Park West on Saturday. Mosbach led all runners to
the finish line with Baldwin second and Costanzo third.