July 05, 2025
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Cross Country: Manteno freshman Goranson leads local state runners

By Mike Clark - Special to the Daily Journal
Manteno's Klarke Goranson competes in the Class 2A State Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Manteno's Klarke Goranson competes in the Class 2A State Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 at Detweiller Park in Peoria. (Sandy Bressner)

On a perfect day for racing, Manteno freshman Klarke Goranson took full advantage.

Goranson exceeded her own expectations at the IHSA state cross country meet Saturday in Peoria, finishing sixth in the Class 2A girls race with a personal-best time of 17 minutes, 8.16 seconds.

“My goal was top 25,” Goranson said, referring to the cutoff for all-state status. “I was trusting my training. I had a great year.

“I was trying to get a PR or as close as possible to 17 (minutes) as I could.”

With pleasant temperatures and a dry course early in the day at Detweiller Park, conditions were prime for fast times. Even when the rain hit for the 3A races, it was a record-breaking day with Barrington’s Mia Sirois setting an all-time girls mark of 15:53.4 and Downers Grove North’s boys running the fastest team race ever.

Goranson was able to stay on plan in the girls 2A race.

“I was just trying to get out (fast) so I didn’t get sucked into the group,” she said.

After that, it was just a matter of maintaining in her first state final at the high-school level.

“I wasn’t too nervous because I knew that I had put in the work,” Goranson said. “It was the last race (of the high-school season). I was just trying to have fun and a great experience.”

Goranson’s teammate, freshman Lyla Nevel, also had a PR and finished 116th in 19:20.46.

Herscher’s boys and girls finished strong in their Class 1A races, taking 11th with 338 points and 23rd with 522 points, respectively.

“Very excited, very happy,” Tigers coach Rob Grosso said.

Herscher’s boys beat one of the teams (Harvest Christian) they finished behind a week earlier at the Lisle Sectional. The other three teams all finished in the top seven, led by champ Northridge Prep.

“We talked at [the] regional and sectional, when you see those schools early and know they’ll be the top ones you try to go out early and mark those guys the first mile,” Grosso said,

Four of the top five Herscher boys had PRs: sophomore Jackson Kruse (47th, 15:39.84), junior Jeremy Szepelak (58th, 15:46.39) and seniors Matthew Benoit (88th, 16:30.56) and Joshua Thorson (152nd, 16:38.65). Senior Brayden Shepard (95th, 16:04.47) was the other scorer for the Tigers.

Senior Kelly O’Connor wrapped up her career for the Herscher girls by running a PR of 18:27.00 to finish 38th. Also in the Tigers’ top five were junior Stephanie Venckauskas (154th, 20:14.60), sophomore Lily Tucek (162nd, 20:29.30), freshman Laylah Kent (175th, 20:35.30) and sophomore Gianna High (189th, 21:05.80).

“Our seniors are really going to leave a mark on what commitment looks like with the amount of work they put in in the summer,” Grosso said.

Also in the 1A girls race, Beecher senior Brooklynn Burdick was 33rd with a PR of 18:30.33 and Wilmington senior Brooklyn Flores finished 83rd in 19:04.60.

Other local 1A boys runners were Watseka senior Drew McTaggart (83rd, 15:59.72) and Bishop McNamara senior David Quigley (190th, 17:02.92).

https://daily-journal.com/sports/cross-country-manteno-freshman-goranson-leads-local-state-runners/article_2ab63a32-a058-11ef-968a-7718999da6c9.html