Cross country: Dixon girls, Amboy boys run to regional titles

Sauk Valley sports roundup

The Dixon girls cross country team won the title at the Class 2A Burlington Central Regional on Saturday morning, placing three runners in the top six to defeat Chicago Northside 53-56.

Emma Smith was second in 18:24.17 for the Duchesses, finishing behind only Northside’s Lucia Ton-That (17:56.15). Emily Conderman finished fourth in 19:14.50, and Keeley Mick placed sixth in 19:36.37. Emily Smith (18th, 20:21.01) and Kait Knipple (23rd, 22:16.45) rounded out Dixon’s team score.

Sterling took sixth with 170 points. Rhylee Wade led the way in 24th place (20:54.01), with Megan Gingrich (21:10.18) and Sarah Navarro (21:13.36) taking 30th and 31st. Ellie Mahar (42nd, 22:12.08) and Emma Anderson (43rd, 22:16.45) also counted toward the Golden Warriors’ team score.

In the boys race, Sterling’s Dale Johnson was the runner-up in 15:05.11, behind only Yusuf Baig of Burlington Central (14:51.13). The Golden Warriors finished third as a team with 69 points; Sycamore scored 31 points to take the title, and Northside was second with 63, while host Burlington Central was fourth with 71.

Sterling also got an eighth-place finish from Cameron Taylor (16:44.11) and a 15th from Thomas Holcomb (16:57.28). Jordan Britt (21st, 17:06.92) and Conner Pham (29th, 17:52.08) also finished in the top 30 for the Warriors.

Dixon didn’t field a full team, but did have three individual runners qualify for next week’s Woodstock North Sectional. Aaron Conderman was 11th (16:44.49), Jacksen Ortgiesen placed 19th (17:04.39), and Jack Johnson took 22nd (17:15.59).

1A St. Bede Regional

Loftus, Clippers take title: With Brock Loftus and Kyler McNinch taking the top two spots, the Amboy-LaMoille boys won a 1A regional title for the second straight year on Saturday in Peru.

Loftus won the race in 15:07.5, and McNinch was second in 15:44.0. Ian Eller finished fourth (15:52.0) for the Clippers, who also got an 11th from Charlie Dickinson (16:37.2) and a 16th from Wyatt Lundquist (17:04.5).

Amboy-LaMoille scored 34 points to defeat runner-up Sandwich by 10 points.

“The boys have worked hard all year, and this is a well-deserved win,” Clippers coach Michael Robinson said. “The boys were excited to win, but we know we have work to do to keep moving forward toward the ultimate goal. We are building some traditions that we would like to keep going for a long time to come.”

The Bureau Valley boys also advanced to next weekend’s 1A Oregon Sectional as a team, scoring 151 points to finish fourth. Elijah House led the way in fifth place (15:59.2), while Benjamin Roth (20th, 17:17.1), Payton Walowski (40thm 18:50.4), Evan Entas (55th, 19:34.5) and Rhiley Pinter (57th, 19:55.2) also counted toward the Storm’s score.

In the girls race, Amboy-LaMoille placed third as a team to qualify for the sectional for the third year in a row, scoring 130 points to finish behind Seneca (38) and Sandwich (78).

Lauren Althaus led the way in 10th place (19:53.1), while Elly Jones placed 18th (20:53.1). Bailey Ellis (37th, 23:04.9), Addison Pertell (42nd, 23:09.7) and Natalie Pratt (47th, 24:12.3) rounded out the team score.

“The girls battled through some things, including sickness mid-race, to finish strong and improve on last year,” Robinson said. “These girls ran very well all year, and I can’t wait to see how they do next week at sectionals.”

1A Winnebago Regional

Oregon freshman advances: The lone local sectional qualifier from Fuller Forest Preserve was Hawks freshman Ella Dannhorn, who clocked an 18:24.50 to finish 11th.

Winnebago took the top three spots, and four of the top five, led by race winner Grace Erb (17:13.22). The Indians took the team title with a near-perfect score of 16 points, well ahead of Rockford Christian (87) and Byron (87).

Rockford Christian cruised to the title in the boys race, scoring 23 points to roll past Rockford Lutheran (110) and Marengo (115). The Royal Lions took the top three spots, led by winner Ethan Walsh (14:56.15).

Ty Reynolds

Ty Reynolds

Ty is the Sports Editor at Sauk Valley Media, and has covered sports in the Sauk Valley for more than two decades.