PLAINFIELD — With 25 points to runner-up Oswego’s 42, Minooka cruised to the girls title at the Southwest Prairie Conference cross country championships Saturday at Plainfield Central.
Joey Santillo also captured an individual championship for the Indians in the boys race, finishing in 15:08. Minooka was fourth in the boys team standings.
The third- through ninth-place finishers in the girls race were all from Minooka. Counting tis came from Morgan Crouch (third; 18:29), Caleigh Beverly (fourth; 18:41), Kaitlyn Chetney (fifth; 18:43), Haley McNamara (sixth; 18:48) and Laura Simon (seventh; 18:56).
“It was great to see the girls working well as a team today. They are establishing themselves as a quality cross country team, and I can’t wait for the postseason,” Minooka coach Kevin Gummerson said.
“Freshman Morgan Crouch looked great out there and is a really tough, hard-nosed competitor.”
In addition to Santillo’s win, the Minooka boys counted times from Alex Pierce (fourth; 15:35), Cam Knudsen (13th; 15:59), Henry Bugajski (24th; 16:38) and Erik Brick (25th; 16:39).
“Joey Santilo was very determined today,” Gummerson said. “He ran an intelligent race and made a great power move at the right time. That was an impressive field, and it was great to see him take charge of that race over the final mile.”
Interstate Eight Invitational
LISLE — Seneca won the girls race with 48 points Saturday, edging Sandwich and its 50. Four Lady Irish runners, Caroline Collet (third; 20:41), Savannah Baldauf (fourth; 20:56), Lexi Bogren (ninth; 23:10) and Shailee Bauer (10th; 23:13) were All-Conference. Jacey Lamboley was 24th (25:01).
Ross McCormick placed fourth (17:25) individually in the boys race, leading Seneca in a third-place team finish, with 69 points. The Fighting Irish counted times from Jacob Weinreich (16th; 18:57), Sage Friese (20th; 19:19), Brian Kluckhohn (24th; 19:49) and Michael Rhodes (26th; 20:06).
FOOTBALL
Coal City 31,
Westmont 14
COAL CITY — Ryland Tondini rushed 11 times for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns to power the Coalers (7-1) in Interstate Eight crossover play Friday. Nate Natyshok gained just 5 rushing yards on 2 carries but had the other touchdown for the Coalers, who got 4 extra points and a field goal out of Lane Cowherd.
Drew Gigler had a fumble recovery for the Coal City defense, which held Westmont to 32 net rushing yards and 193 total yards. Natyshok made 6 solo tackles and assisted on 5, and Terry Blondin had 4 unassisted tackles and 6 assists. Blondin, Nick Peters and Dylan Pierard all recorded sacks.
Manteno 44,
Dwight 6
MANTENO — Triston Dircks scored on a 25-yard in the third quarter for the Trojans (0-8) Friday night in I-8 crossover play. Dircks finished with 68 yard and 10 carries. Jordan Wilkey completed 3 passes for 49 yards.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Minooka Invitational
MINOOKA — Host Minooka (18-7) claimed third place. In pool play Friday, the Indians swept Bremen, 25-11, 25-10, Urbana, 25-16, 25-14, and La Salle-Peru, 25-20, 25-23. Tthey were tripped up in their first bracket match Saturday by Bolingbrook, 28-26, 25-20, but recovered to beat U-High, 25-19, 25-20.
Tournament leaders for the Indians were Skyler Day with 57 kills, 2 blocks, 5 aces and 27 digs, Raven Burns with 18 kills, 5 blocks and 3 digs, Tessa Griparis with 17 kills, 6 blocks, 19 aces and 4 digs, Brenna Perinar with 16 kills, 3 blocks, 4 digs and 27 assists, Bailey Sachtleben with 10 kills, 3 digs and an assist, Jessica Karalow with 9 kills, a block, 4 digs and 2 assists, Ginger Perinar with 9 kills, Kasey Schumaker with a kill, 5 aces, 34 digs and 8 assists, Natalie Yard with 8 aces, 24 digs and an assist, Gabby Shephard with 5 aces and 12 digs, Kelli Holstine with 4 aces, 15 digs and 39 assists and Kelly Clucas with 9 digs and 26 assists.
Mendota Rally Invitational
MENDOTA — Coal City (16-11-2) won its pool this weekend, beating Forreston 25-15, 25-19 and tying Orion 20-25, 27-25 and Ottawa 25-10, 15-25. It then lost 23-25, 28-26, 25-16 to Lexington in the semifinals and 25-13, 26-24 to Fulton for third place.
“Although our record in the tournament doesn’t reflect much, we played very intense volleyball throughout the day,” Coal City coach Michael Lanoue said. “Hopefully, we can find the motivation for the final week of the season against Westmont and Manteno prior to beginning the state tournament early the following week.”
Emily Halliday had 41 kills, 7 aces and 49 digs during the tournament for the Lady Coalers. They also featured 27 kills from Britta Spelde, 24 kills, 9 blocks and 4 aces from Claire Smith, 9 blocks and 37 digs from Nicole Borgetti, 29 digs from Brittany Jezik, 78 assists from Kassie Aldridge and 32 assists from Kristen Pearcy.
Plano Tournament
PLANO — Melissa Schmidt was All-Tournament for Newark, which went 4-0-1. Only a 25-21, 19-25 tie with Westmont kept the Lady Norse from perfection.
GRADE SCHOOL BASKETBALL
SIXTH GRADE
GSW 10,
Tri-Point 6
GARDNER — Kaitlynn Kavanaugh and Paige Patterson scored 4 points and Emma Hennessy 2 for Gardner-South Wilmington.
Seneca 30,
GSW 4
GARDNER — Kavanaugh and Patterson had 2 points in the “A” loss for GSW. In a 14-4 “B” loss, Mary Lopez and Shelby Putnam had 2 points.
