Morris girls win first conference cross country title

For the first time in school history, the Morris girls cross country team won a conference title Saturday, taking first place at the Interstate Eight Conference meet.

Freshman Kensi Martin led the way for Morris, winning the individual title. She trailed the leader from Sycamore by 35 meters with 300 meters to go and won by a scant 0.1 second. It was the second straight individual conference title for Morris, as Joy Dudley won the individual title last year.

Freshman Dani Martin took third for Morris, with Dudley, a junior, taking fifth and freshman Jadyn Bertram finishing 11th. All four were named all-conference. Junior Moriah Mayberry finished 24th to round out the Morris scoring, with freshman Leah Ortiz taking 29th and senior Maddie Noon was 36th.

Morris finished with 44 points, defeating second-place Sycamore (54) and third-place Kaneland (69).

“I thought we potentially had the most talent of any school in the conference, but I wasn’t sure we were heathy enough to finish on top this week,” Morris coach Joe Blumberg said. “We have had to be creative in training the last month and had to simply rest some key girls this week. All credit to our varsity seven. At less than our best, five ran their fastest time of the year and did enough to make some school history.

“I’m not sure Kensi and Dani know how good they can be. They remind me former runner Mya Shannon, athletic and unbelievably competitive. If you tell them to win the race, they are going to give everything they have and are, more often than not, going to accomplish the lofty goal. Kensi’s refusal to quit and finish line kick was inspiring. And I think it showed her she still has more in the tank. Joy and Jadyn were not at 100%, yet still were able to gut out all-conference performances. I think it speaks to their level of fitness, summer commitment, and heart.”

In the varsity boys race, senior Matt Clark finished third, earning all-conference honors for the second straight year. Overall, Morris took fourth place.

“I believe Matt is the first two-time all-conference male at Morris,” Blumberg said. “We were missing number two runner Kaden Welch [who was playing in a regional soccer game]. We weren’t sure what to expect team-wise. The focus was simply on each guy dropping as much time as possible, and all seven ran their fastest times of the year on a windy day. To finish in the top half of the conference is a testament to the daily hard work and buy-in the guys are showing.”

Both varsity teams will run in the IHSA Class 2A Regional hosted by LaSalle-Peru High School at Baker Park in LaSalle on Saturday.

“One of our program goals is to encourage distance running as a life-long healthy habit,” Blumberg said. “Another is to set goals and pursue them relentlessly. And I wouldn’t feel right not mentioning some of our runners who aren’t on the varsity, but bought in to our program goals and ran their last race of the season or high school career.

“Four year runner Olivia Preuss set her career PR (personal record). So did Addison Murphy, Danny Davy, and Nick Russell. Savannah Hernandez and Alexxis McKerrow also turn in their cross uniforms after great efforts today and will be missed.”