The Morris Community High School cross country team left Morris Friday morning with a police escort on its way to the IHSA state championships for the second year in a row.

Maya Ledesma ran a Channahon Community Park course record, her 40-second win leading Minooka's girls to the Southwest Prairie Conference team championship. In the boys race, Plainfield South's Dylan Mahoney repeated as champion and Plainfield North edged South for the team title.

Downers Grove North's boys and girls teams took home the team title, with Philip Cupial and Gavin Schroeder leading the boys with a 1-2 finish, while Sandwich's Sunny Weber controlled the girls race to take the individual title.

Nathan Gabriel of Joliet Central took second place in the boys race, while Lemont's Hannah Farley finished second in the girls race at the 52nd annual Plainfield Central Wildcat Invitational on Saturday.

A battle is brewing between Plainfield North and Plainfield South

Plainfield North sophomore cross country runner Thomas Czerwinski was voted the Herald-News Athlete of the Week after he finished fifth at the Class 3A state meet and led the Tigers to a runner-up team trophy.

Plainfield North's boys cross country team finished as the state-runner up in Class 3A, while Plainfield South took third. Both teams say their rivalry pushes them, but the district foes celebrated together at state.

Gallery

Check out photos from the Class 2A boys State Cross Country meet on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023 at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Niki Tselios of Lemont stormed to a win at the end of a hilly course at the Class 2A Geneseo Regional. JCA and Morris were among the schools also to have qualifiers for the state meet.