Area roundup: Amboy’s McNinch leads pack at Gary Coates Cross Country Invitational

Amboy’s Kyler McNinch was the top runner in a field of 75 at the Gary Coates Invitational in Princeton, edging Washburn’s Colin Delagrange by .37 seconds with a 16:45.75.

Bureau Valley and first-place Newman produced two top-10 finishers each. Leading the Storm were Elijah House in fourth with a 17:03.95 and Benjamin Roth in 10th with an 18:02.47.

Newman’s Lucas Schaab and Lucas Simpson finished back-to-back in sixth and seventh, running a 17:20.84 and a 17:23.51.

Wyatt Widolff and Carver Grummert came in 13th and 15th for the Comets, clocking runs of 18:16.34 and 18:38.95, while Espen Hammes had a 20th-place finish, running a 19:04.10.

The Clippers had two other top-20 finishers: Atticus Horner at 14th (18:28.85) and Charlie Dickinson at 18th (18:56.14). Amboy’s Garrett Pertell was the 23rd runner to cross the finish line, recording a 19:11.65.

Newman took first in the eight-team invite with a team score of 52, while Amboy came in third with a 77. Bureau Valley was fifth with a 129.

Newman’s Claire Crisham came in 15th in a field of 63 for the girls, clocking a 22:31.34. Comet teammate Sofia McCoy garnered 28th, running a 24:17.96. Morrison’s Emma Christin was the 23rd-place finisher on the girls’ side, running a 23:16.32.

Natalie Pratt was the top finisher for Amboy, clocking a 25:48.48 for 35th.

Cross Country

River City Race: Sterling’s Dale Johnson took third out of 470 runners in the Class 2A boys’ field, clocking a 15:08.6.

Parker Janssen ran a 16.57.7 for 155th, Aalin Schmidt clocked a 17:35.1 for 199th, and Thomas Holcomb ran an 18:02.1 for 219th.

Polo’s Carson Jones came in 81st in a field of 643 for the 2A boys, running a 17:23.9.

Jose Gomez led Rock Falls boys with a 34th-place finish, clocking a 16:29.5, while Anthony Valdivia was 37th with a 16:33.5.

The Dixon boys were led by 28th-place finisher Aaron Conderman, who ran a 16:05.3, and 49th-place finisher Jack Johnson, who clocked a 16:26.3.

Charlie Link came in 58th with a 16:55.9 to lead the Erie-Prophetstown boys, and Jillian Norman was the top Panther girl, running a 23:06.08 for 170th.

The Sterling boys finished 24th (637) and Dixon boys came in 26th (691) in the 55-team 2A field. In the 55-team 1A Field, Rock Falls boys finished 16th (539), Erie-Prophetstown was 24th (727), Polo was 38th (1024) and Oregon was 53rd (1432).

Hana Ford paced Rock Falls girls with a 31st-place finish, clocking a 19:33.8; Kat Scott nabbed 45th with a 20:06.3, and Ariel Hernandez took 51st with a 20:16.9.

Emma Smith ran an 18:41.6 for 25th to lead Dixon; Emily Conderman ran a 19:02.4 for 38th, Kate Boss recorded a 19:25.7 for 42nd, and Olivia Arduini clocked a 19:29.8 for 71st.

Oregon’s Ella Dannhorn ran a 20:26.9 for 56th place.

In the 47-team 1A field for girls, Dixon finished third with 177 and Sterling was 22nd with 668. In the 48-team 2A field for girls, Rock Falls took 12th with a 375, Oregon took 32nd with a 746 and Erie-Prophetstown took 38th with a 1056.

Volleyball

Byron Varsity Power Classic: Fulton went 3-2 at the Byron tournament, defeating Scales Mound 25-17, 25-19, Winnebago 25-22, 25-17, and Belvidere 25-22, 25-15. Its losses came against Aquin (20-25, 25-14, 10-15) and Dakota (12-25, 8-25).

Leaders for the Steamers were Brooklyn Brennan with 40 assists, 33 digs and 25 kills; Miraya Pessman with 31 digs, 31 assists and 19 kills; Reese Germann with 47 digs and six aces; Reese Dykstra with 18 kills, four blocks and seven aces; and Annaka Hackett with 18 kills, 10 digs and three blocks.

Boys golf

E-Rab Invite: Sterling finished eighth at the 20-team tournament at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, led by Mason Hubbard’s 78 (13th overall) and Cam O’Brien’s 79 (16th overall).

Kewanee Boilermaker Invite: St. Bede placed first with a 325, and Bureau Valley was the runner-up with a 344 in the 19-team tournament at Baker Park.

Erie-Prophetstown took 16th with a 420, Morrison was 17th with a 441, and Amboy came in 19th with a 257.

Amboy’s Wesley Wilson finished third overall with a 76, and Bureau Valley’s Wyatt Novotny shot a 78 for sixth.

Hayden Wittenauer fired an 81 for an 11th-place Clipper finish.

Carson Barlow also competed for Amboy on Saturday, recording a 100.

The Panthers were led by Caden VanHorn with a 95, Blake Geuns with a 98 and Keith Goodson with a 99. Also competing for E-P were Colin Ashdown (128), Eli Wetzell (133) and Robert Winters (139).

Colin Stabler shot a 90 as the second-best Storm golfer, Cooper Balensiefen chipped in a 91, Parker Stier had a 92, and Seth Spratt added a 96.

Adam Tichler was the top Morrison golfer, posting a round of 97; Blake Huizenga fired a 109, Austin Boonstra tallied a 114, Sarah Wetzell shot a 118 and Zayden Boonstra added a 121.