Cross country: Rock Falls’ Ariel Hernandez wins girls race at Oregon Open

OREGON – Official team scores are not kept at the Oregon Open cross country meet, but it is the first major check point of the season to how individuals stack up, especially with 30 schools present.

Foremost among Sauk Valley runners was Ariel Hernandez of Rock Falls, who finished in a time of 20:02 at Park West, tops among the 122 competitors. Quite an accomplishment for someone who used to hate running and had to be prodded into going out for cross country.

“When I was a freshman, I did hate it,” Hernandez said. “But, my brother was a senior on the team last year and asked me come out. Now, I’m liking it and want to thank my coaches.”

In claiming her first win in a major meet, the Rocket junior scorched the field, finishing 22 seconds ahead of second-place Danielle Bower of Kaneland. It also bested her time of 20:08 at the sectional, where the Rockets qualified for the state meet last season.

“I was told to stick with the pack. But, after 500 yards, I took off,” Hernandez said.

Rock Falls had a strong showing with its lead pack of Hernandez, senior Hana Ford and sophomore Kat Scott. Ford was sixth at 21:14 and Scott ninth at 21:23. All three were a part of the state-placing 3,200-meter relay at the IHSA state track meet.

Hypothetically, Rock Falls would have placed fourth overall with 141 points, just ahead of Erie-Prophetstown at 149. Sherrard would have scored 67 points as top squad.

E-P got a 12th from freshman Sarah Link (21:47) and 24th from senior Jillian Norman (22:44).

On the boys side, E-P made a claim as a force to be reckoned with among area teams. With seniors Charlie Link claiming fifth at 16:56, Lucas Dreisbach 12th at 17:40 and Jacob Gibson 25th at 18:17, E-P would have been near the top in team standings with perennial powers Rockford Christian and Riverdale.

“The boys are chomping at the bit,” E-P coach Liz Green said.

Link broke the team record (held by his brother Christopher) for the Oregon meet by 30 seconds. Considering he is coming off a broken leg and lost a month and half to training this summer, that is an impressive start.

“My motivation is to get the team back to state,” Link said. “Before the sectional last year, I hurt my foot and couldn’t run.”

Green has Link doing more swimming and biking as a means to prevent further injury.

“Obviously, he wants to run, but he’s getting used to it,” Green said.

A side story was a continuing rivalry between Link and Lucas Schaab of Sterling Newman, both TRAC mates. Schaab placed third with a 16:46 clocking.

“He destroyed me in the 1,600 everywhere in track,” Link said.

Schaab was pleased with his finish, as was his coach Pat Warkins.

“He’s come a long way this summer and I was happy to see him pass 4-5 other runners towards the end of the race,” Warkins said.

Looking to continue its streak of nine straight trips (not counting Covid) downstate, Newman will be relying on its usual strength in pack running. Lucas Simpson was 16th with a 17:58.

“We have 5-6 guys dedicated to making it to state,” Schaab said. “It’s looking pretty good this year.”

One advantage for both E-P and Newman is Rock Falls bumped up to 2A. In the past, those three schools were often on the bubble for the final state berth at the sectional.

The 1A/2A enrollment cutoff is 575 and Rock Falls has one more student than that amount. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but coach Mark Truesdell said the kids are hanging in there and working hard.

“In 1A, we always had a chance. 2A is entirely different,” he said.

Anthony Valdvia was the top finisher for the Rockets at Oregon with a 17:28, good for eighth place. Gunnar Damhoff was 21st at 18:12.

The only other top-25 area finisher was Roscoe Davies of West Carroll, who took 14th at 17:53.