Boys cross country: Newman, Erie-Prophetstown, Rock Falls finish 2-3-4 to advance to sectional

ROCK FALLS – With the Riverdale Rams taking the top three spots – and five of the top 11 – in Saturday morning’s Class 1A Rock Falls Regional cross country race, the rest of the field was vying for second at Centennial Park.

It was the Newman Comets who claimed runner-up honors, scoring 60 points to finish behind Riverdale (26) and ahead of Erie-Prophetstown (105) and Rock Falls (107) in the team standings.

Even a few of the numerous Newman faithful who showed up to cheer on their Comets provided some motivation.

“We knew we’d get to sectionals, but we had a couple of extra supporters today and they were saying some things, a couple doubters – they know who they are,” Thomas Powers said with a smile. “I wanted to break 17 [minutes] today, that was a goal, and I beat it by 20 seconds, so I’m happy with that, and also how we ran as a team today.”

Riverdale’s Tommy Murray (15:30.27), Landis Musser (15:40.93) and Peyton Sand (16:17.72) went 1-2-3, then it was a string of local runners. Rock Falls’ Jose Gomez finished fourth (16:29.4) on his home course, then it was a trio of Comets – Lucas Simpson (16:30.70), Powers (16:36.12) and Lucas Schaab (16:40.98) – finishing 5-6-7.

Polo’s Carson Jones was eighth in 16:43.36, and Erie-Prophetstown’s Jacob Gibson rounded out the top 10 with a 16:49.24.

Newman’s other counting spots came from Ken Boesen in 18th (17:18.67) and Kaden Welty in 25th (17:34.78). The Comets turned to pack running to improve their chances.

“We wanted to run together, because that’s when we’ve done best; we did that last time we were here and it worked pretty well,” Schaab said. “We all got around 17 [minutes] last time on this course, and we wanted to break it today. We’re very happy with the run.”

“I feel like at the start of the year, we didn’t have much packing going on, but throughout the year it kind of just naturally happened,” Powers added. “And when you’re running as a pack with the team, it’s way more fun. Seeing those guys by you, not only does it push us, but you can say, ‘Hey guys, let’s go finish this out strong.’ When you look behind you at the finish and you see your guys, or there’s one in front of me that just beat me, how can I be mad? That’s awesome. Just seeing the team success is so fun.”

It’s also going to boost the Comets’ confidence going into the 1A Oregon Sectional next Saturday, an Oregon Park West course that’s a bit more challenging than the regional route.

“It makes our confidence go really high, because we haven’t been in a pack like today all year; it’s been a lot better lately,” Simpson said. “Our top three PR’d by more than 30 seconds, so all we have to do next week is stay with our pack and keep the mindset of winning.”

The Erie-Prophetstown Panthers also used a pack mentality, and it paid off for them as well. After Gibson’s 10th-place finish, Lucas Dreisbach (17:06.69) and Victor Bonnell (17:08.19) finished 15th and 16th, with Aiden Jepson (30th, 17:57.93) and Andrew Bomleny (36th, 18:15.71) rounding out the team score. Zeke Weidel (37th, 18:16.51) was hot on Bomleny’s heels.

“Coach [Liz Green] was having me, Lucas and Victor all run together as a pack at about a 5:40 pace our first two miles, then that last mile we just let loose and really took off. That’s when I knew, ‘OK, it’s game time,’” Gibson said. “When I ran around the last loop over by the pond and I hit the dock, I looked at my time and it was 15:56, and I thought ‘Oh, it’s time to go,’ and that’s when I knew it was time to finally get a 16 [-minute time]. I ended up breaking my record from last year’s regional by 22 seconds. It was really fun.”

It was much better than the last time Gibson ran at Centennial Park. At the season-opening Rocket Run, a teammate stepped on the back of one of his shoes right at the start, pulling it off. Gibson ended up taking the other shoe off on his own to even up his stride.

“Oh yeah, it was much better today. I actually had traction,” he said with a smile. “I knew from the first time we ran here this season that I had to get out really fast, and I did that. The race was pretty good, and I’m really excited.”

Gomez was joined in the top 30 by fellow Rockets Matthew Marcum (17th, 17:16.49), Anthony Valdivia (19th, 17:18.91) and Christian Cid (26th, 17:37.04), while Brady Root (43rd, 18:32.28) rounded out the team score.

The Rockets were happy to have the chance to run a regional on their home course, and they took full advantage by moving on to next weekend.

“It’s good to know the course, and with everyone here, more people we know and more fans, it’s pretty nice to run. It relieved our stress a little bit,” Gomez said. “I started off a little fast, with those Riverdale kids, but I ran where I wanted to be, and the team did, too. We’ll hope for the best next week.”

Jones was the top individual sectional qualifier not on the seven advancing teams, as Polo finished eighth as a team and missed out on that final spot by 21 points. Teammate Ben Plachno also advanced with a 27th-place finish in 17:39.57.

When news reached Jones that the Polo girls had qualified for sectionals as a team for the first time in program history, it spurred him on.

“I came across the first mile, and one of the girls came up and said, ‘The girls made it, so you better make it.’ That made me so happy, and at that point I was just going and I wasn’t slowing down. It felt really good,” Jones said. “I’m really happy with the way I ran. I knew I didn’t want to relax during the race, I wanted to stay on top of my game, because this could’ve been the last race of the season. I just wanted to stay up, give it all I had, and I think I did that and had a great race.”

Morrison’s Brady Wolf was also an individual sectional qualifier, as he placed 22nd in 17:25.69.