A total of 140 local runners raced across the campus of Kankakee Community College and along the banks of the Kankakee River in Wednesday’s All-Area cross country meet.

On the boys side, it was Kyler Savini (16:05.43) leading Bradley-Bourbonais (36) to a narrow win over defending champion Herscher (40).

For the girls, Manteno’s Klarke Goranson (18:02.69) won her second straight All-Area title to begin her high school career, leading a balanced Panther team to 36 points. Herscher, also the defending girls champs, finished second with 53.

Manteno sophomore Lyla Nevel, who qualified for state last year alongside Goranson, placed third overall. Herscher had seniors Kelly O’Connor and Sophie Venckauskas place second and sixth, respectively, but Manteno’s DeLanie Monroe was eighth and Olivia Zwirkowski was 10th to seal the Panthers’ win.

“We have a pretty strong team this year, which is really nice, and I think we can do well in the postseason,” Goranson said. “I’m excited for that, and we’ve all just been training hard at practice. So it was really fun to be able to not only compete well at the individual level, but also at the team level.”

Beecher and Bradley-Bourbonnais joined Manteno and Herscher as the only girls teams to field full teams, with the Bobcats placing third with 55 points and the Boilermakers placing fourth with 72.

On the boys side, it was Tri-Point (82) placing third behind Bradley-Bourbonnais and Herscher while Kankakee and Bishop McNamara (115 points each) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Beecher (133) was sixth and Clifton Central (204) was seventh.

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All-Area Cross Country Herscher and Bradley-Bourbonnais runners make their way to the lead of the pack on the first stretch in the boys 3-mile race during All-Area Cross Country meet on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, at Kankakee Community College. (Tiffany Blanchette/Tiffany Blanchette)

Bradley-Bourbonnais was a little shorthanded for All-Area with several runners, including last year’s individual All-Area champion Sully Westover and freshman phenom Brayden Domont, getting the afternoon off.

Head coach Kyle Eastman said he was giving some of the team’s upperclassmen and top runners a break, but fielding a team of almost all underclassmen did not hamper the Boilermakers’ chances all that much.

Savini earned a 20-second win over Herscher’s Jeremy Szepelak. Herscher had freshman Evan Benoit in third and Jackson Kruse in sixth, but Bradley-Bourbonnais’ pack of Luca Nims (seventh), Mathias Barmann (eighth), Caden Weimer (ninth) and Trey Lawrence (12th) gave the Boilermakers the edge.

“It was a nice day to come out here and run and represent my team, and it was a good race overall,” Savini said. “It’s nice that we have depth in our team. We’ve all just been trusting out coaches’ process and trusting the training.”

The Boilermakers also picked up a delayed All-City title on the girls side Wednesday. Confusion over the track limits in the race with Bishop McNamara and Kankakee on Sept. 17 led to the teams deciding to use All-Area to re-score All-City.

Bradley-Bourbonnais was the only city school with a full team on the track Wednesday, giving them the edge on the Fightin’ Irish and Kays.

“I’m really proud of our girls team,” Eastman said. “We’ve been a really tight and small group for this season. They’ve been battling some small injuries here and there, but they’ve really come out and come together. They’re really fighting and pushing through.”

Bishop McNamara’s Ana Franceschini placed 13th to take the individual All-City title while teammate Izzy Wilkey placed 23rd. Bradley-Bourbonnais was led by Nora Hyma in 14th, Grace Johnson in 16th, Makenzie Goodman in 17th and Sarah Bouferrache in 18th. Kankakee’s top finishers were Juliana Gomez in 20th and Alison Marin in 21st.

Franceschini was the first to cross the finish line, albeit unofficially, back at All-City. She said she was determined to back that up officially on Wednesday.

“The last mile, that’s where I had to pass the most girls,” she said. “I felt really proud of myself. I just had the motivation. I wouldn’t let myself not get first after knowing that I could do it.”