Cross country: Rock Falls boys, girls finish 5th in Amboy

AMBOY – The Amboy Columbus Day Cross Country Invitational is one of the elite 1A competitions of the year, and serves as a barometer for where individuals and teams stand with the postseason fast approaching.

Based upon the Rockets’ fifth-place finishes, Rock Falls coach Mark Truesdell has to be happy with both the boys and girls teams.

“The girls, we’re working on consistency,” Truesdell said. “The boys just need to keep on moving.”

[ Photos from the Amboy Columbus Day Invite cross country races ]

Senior Jose Gomez had the top area finisher in fifth place on the 2.95-mile Shady Oaks course. Close behind in 10th was sophomore teammate Anthony Valdivia.

“This was my best race of the year,” Gomez said. “I tried to stay with the frontrunners for awhile. I ended up with the next group in the middle paced them until the hill.”

Gomez was clocked in 16:24 and Valdivia 16:39.

“I tried to stay with Jose and saw him drift off from that first group,” Valdivia said.

It was Bryson Grant of Iroquois West (15:22) leading the pack, with Patrick Hilby of team champion Aurora Central Catholic (15:43) in second place.

The Rockets had 178 points for the fifth-place finish. ACC had 67, far outpacing Eureka (105) for the team title. Lately, the boys race has been dominated by teams from outside the local area.

From a local perspective, Rock Falls found out where it stands, as every team from the regional was present. But Truesdell knows this is all about what happens at the sectional.

“For the boys, Riverdale, Rockford Christian, Sandwich and Pontiac look like locks to make state,” he said. “The final two spots will be between Newman, Winnebago, Erie-Prophetstown, Aledo and us.”

Rock Falls had beaten each of those teams, and their performance at Amboy gives rise to thoughts of a return trip downstate. Other scorers for the Rockets were Christian Cid, Gunnar Damhoff and Brady Root, with Gomez being the only senior among the top five.

Amboy’s Kyler McNinch (16:45) ran 16:45 to place 15th on the home course, even though the Shady Oaks is rarely used for cross country, other than the long-running Columbus Day meet. McNinch is slowly making his way back into shape after suffering a stress fracture in his left femur in late August, and felt a bit nostalgic to run his final race at the golf course.

“Before the injury, I was shooting for top 15 downstate,” McNinch said. “Now, my goal is top 25. I’m happy with my time today. It’s the best ever I’ve done in my four years here.”

Right behind him was Elijah House of Bureau Valley (16:45) in 16th and Lucas Simpson of Newman (16:50) in 17th. Carson Jones of Polo was 25th at 17:08.

“Both of our Lucases have had good seasons,” said Newman coach Pat Warkins referring also to Lucas Schaab, who placed 27th at 17:11.

Newman was seventh with 212, Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio ninth at 255, BV 11th at 290, and Polo 15th at 347 among the 19 schools entered.

“The boys are way ahead from the middle of the season,” Warkins said. “We need to have our fifth runner close the gap with our No. 1 to one minute instead of a minute and a half.”

Erie-Prophetstown did not field a full team, as Victor Bonnell (8th) and Aidan Jepson (14th) competed in the fresh-soph meet instead.

“I’m super excited for our boys. They are on target for state,” E-P coach Liz Green said.

On the girls side, it was Aurora Rosary and Eureka engaged in a close tussle, won by Rosary 78-80, with perennial power Winnebago close behind with 90 points. Rock Falls had 149 points for fifth.

Though both the Rocket boys and girls took fifth, the girls will have a much easier road out of sectional. Not bad for a squad that only had four girls when the season started.

“The girls are looking like the No. 2 team [behind Winnebago] at the sectional,” Truesdell said.

Leading the way for the Rockets were junior Hana Ford and sophomore Ariel Hernandez, one of the late additions to the team. Ford took 14th with a time of 19:24, and Hernandez was 16th at 19:34.

The winning time was 17:35 by Mabley Bruhm of Monticello, 31 seconds ahead of everyone else.

“There’s a lot of hills here,” said Ford, who won the Rock River Invite against much bigger schools. “It’s a lot different racing on them than practicing on them.”

With softball being her main sport, Hernandez was recruited by her brother into coming out for cross country. In her first year out, she is definitely making a name for herself.

“This helps me be competitive for softball,” she said. “I started running 10 miles a day after [softball] practice three or four times a week.”

Other Rocket scorers were junior Ava Shank (31st, 20:52), freshman Kat Scott (38th, 21:07), and senior Brooke Howard (59th, 22:04).

Oregon’s Ella Danhorn (19:51) continued a strong sophomore campaign with a 20th-place finish among the 161 contestants.

“Last year, I was around 50th,” said Danhorn, a 2021 state qualifier. “I was specifically focusing on this race because right after this is the postseason. We had every team in our regional here. I’m excited for it. With two years under my belt, I know what I need to do, and feel good physically.”

Jillian Norman took 43rd (21:20) for E-P, and Newman’s top finisher was Claire Crisham in 47th place (21:40). Eastland’s Leslie Mayne finished 49th (21:42.70), and Morrison’s Emma Christin was 67th (22:21.20).