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Cross country
Boys – Ottawa 28, Seneca 48, Mendota 55; Girls – Seneca 15, Ottawa 40, Somonauk 79: At Catlin Park in Ottawa, the Pirates opened their 2023 season with a home victory Tuesday scored by running to five of the top 11 individual finishes.
Lucas Farabaugh (2nd, 19:26), Malachi Setchell (4th, 19:57), Oliver Ruvalcaba (5th, 20:29), Grant Smithmeyer (8th, 21:23) and Kasey Dose (11th, 22:05) led victorious Ottawa.
For runner-up Seneca, Logan Pasakarnis (6th, 20:37), Sebastian Deering (9th, 21:37) and Jaxson Finch (10th, 21:48) scored top-10 finishes.
Mendota’s Anthony Kelson was the individual winner in 17:57.
The Fighting Irish girls team opened its season with a perfect score by capturing the top-five spots — Evelyn O’Connor (first, 20:06), Natalie Misener (second, 22:45), Julie Mueller (third, 23:04), Lily Mueller (fourth, 23:17) and Gracie Steffes (fifth, 24:00).
Ottawa had the next five finishers to round out the top 10. They were Addyson Miller (sixth, 25:22), Shaylen Quinn (seventh, 26:12), Makenzie Blazys (eighth, 26:36), Madison Towne (ninth, 27:12) and Kindley Moore (10th, 27:20).
Somonauk’s top placer was Junia Johnson (12th, 27:56).
Bulldogs run at Pontiac: At Pontiac, Streator opened its season with the girls placing second, while the boys team came in fourth.
Top finishers for Streator’s girls included Lily Kupec (10th), Katie Monaghan (11th), Giselle Guadarrama (12th), Lily Graham (13th) and Iliana Gomez (14th).
Streator’s boys were paced by Chase Lane (18th), Leon Ramirez (21st) and Wyatt McMullen (29th) in the top 30.
Girls volleyball
Streator def. Herscher 23-25, 25-23, 25-22: At Pops Dale Gymnasium, the host Bulldogs Spikers (5-2-1 overall, 1-0 ICE) won their conference opener in a thriller, led by 10-kill performances from both Devin Elias and Sonia Proksa along with Emma Rambo’s 26 assists and Rilee Talty’s 17 digs.
Proksa added five digs, Rambo six digs, Mya Zavada four kills and Sophia Pence four kills and seven digs for the Spikers.
Serena def. Hiawatha 25-17, 25-22: At Kirkland, the visiting Huskers pocketed the Little Ten triumph. Macy Mahler (12 assists), Hannah McNelis (eight digs), Lanee Cole (eight digs), Paisley Twait (five digs, three kills), Makayla McNally (five kills) and Kendall Whiteaker (four kills, two blocks) led Serena.
Newark def. Hinckley-Big Rock 22-25, 25-9, 25-20: At Newark, the Norsemen (4-0 overall, 1-0 Little Ten) remained undefeated.
Lauren Ulrich tallied 28 assists and eight kills for Newark, with Kiara Wesseh putting down 16 kills to go with 10 digs. Adrianna Larsen added five kills and four aces, while Elle Norquist hit the floor for eight digs.
Girls tennis
Coal City 3, Streator 2: At Streator, the host Bulldogs suffered a close defeat. The Bulldogs won at No. 1 doubles behind Mina James and Maddie Wahl (6-4, 6-1) and at No. 2 with Alex Mahan and Joyce Walkling (6-2, 6-3), and lost a close one (7-5, 7-5) at No. 3 doubles.
Boys soccer
IVC 2, Ottawa 2: At Chilicothe, the visiting Pirates tied the Grey Ghosts in the nonconference meeting.
Serena 5, Princeton 2: At Serena, the host Huskers (3-1) received four goals from Tanner Faivre along with a goal and an assist courtesy of Eduardo Moncada.
Beau Raikes pitched in a pair of assists.
JV girls tennis
Sycamore 4, Ottawa 1: At Sycamore, the No. 1 doubles team of Rylee Harsted and Yaquelin Hernandez-Solis recorded the Corsairs’ victory.
Sophomore girls volleyball
Streator def. Herscher 25-12, 22-25, 15-13: At Pops Dale Gymnasium, Sophia Snow (four kills, three aces), Alexa Barr (four kills), Aubrey Jacobs (eight assists, five blocks) and Maiya Landford (14 digs) led Streator.
Freshman girls volleyball
Herscher def. Streator 25-14, 25-14: At Bloomington Street Gym, Jayda Webb had four kills and Raegan Morgan three digs for the Bullpup Spikers.
JV boys golf
Ottawa 191, Sandwich 207: Rylee Houge (42) and Jax Addis (48) led the Corsairs.
The previous day, Ottawa fell 180-195 to Kaneland despite a 42 from Houge.
JV football
Aurora Christian 21, Marquette 18: On Monday, Koby Clark totaled 150 yards from scrimmage and three TD catches, Beau Thompson threw two TD passes, Marcus Baker rushed for 70 yards, and Reily Leifheit and Beau Thompson added seven tackles each.