Girls X/C wins Big 12 Conference meet; Boys team takes 2nd

Marielsie Iglesias, Senior Staff Reporter • Oct 22, 2022

Photo Courtesy of: Mr. Jeff Christopherson

Ali Ince leads the field early in the Randy Sharer Intercity Meet on Sep. 22. Community’s girls would finish 2nd in Intercity behind West.

The girls cross country team won the Big 12 Conference title Saturday, Oct. 15, at Peoria’s Detweiller Park, finishing 10 points ahead of the Normal West Wildcats.
Community’s boys placed 2nd in the championship meet, finishing behind Peoria Notre Dame’s team and ahead of West by a one-point margin.

After finishing 2nd to the Wildcats at Intercity, the Big 12 Conference meet was a race for retribution for the Lady Iron.

Three Lady Iron runners trailed the first-place finisher Julie Bach (17:54.8) of Normal West, earning second, third and fourth-place individual finishes for Community.
Ali Ince (’24) led the pack of Community runners with a time of 18:26.00. Lily Cavanaugh (’26) took third, crossing the finish line at 18:34.4, less than a second ahead of Abigail Ziemer’s (’24) 3-mile time of 18:35.0.
While West took 5th and 7th in the race, seniors Megan Metz and Annika Luthe sealed the victory for the Lady Iron. Metz finished in 11th place (19:34.6) and Luthe took 13th (19:38.7).

The boys team finished behind Peoria Notre Dame to take 2nd in the Conference meet, one point ahead of Normal West.
Normal West runners Sky Riddle and Aiden Swanlund took 2nd and 3rd for the Wildcats, followed by Notre Dame’s 4th and 5th place finishers.
Sophomore Joey Yaros (’25) was first to the finish for Community, taking sixth with a time of 16:10.3. Community’s Jack Thomas (’24) was next to cross the finish line, finishing at 16:13.7 to earn seventh.
8th and 11th-place finishes for Notre Dame would cliche the Conference title for the Fighting Irish. The Irish finished the day with 45 points, defeating Community by an 18-point margin.
Community’s A.J. Ince (’26) secured a 12th-place finish (16:33.5), with Drew Patterson (’25) taking 15th (16:41.3).
West’s Ethan Snyder crossed the finish line in 16th, while Wildcat Aidan Starkey took 18th.
After the first four runners for Community and West had run the course, West had a one-point advantage over Community.
Peter Metivier would be the difference maker for the Ironmen, finishing 23rd at 17:02.6, two places — and more than 10 seconds — ahead of the next Wildcat.

The cross country teams race Saturday, Oct. 22 in the IHSA 3A Regional competition in Quincy.

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About the Contributor

Marielsie Iglesias, Senior Staff Reporter

Marielsie Iglesias is a senior at Normal Community High School, and this is her third year working for the Inkspot as a senior staff reporter. I enjoy reading, writing, and marketing. My biggest advice is to enjoy life since you only live once.