The girls cross country team qualified for Saturday’s IHSA 3A State meet after finishing among the top seven teams at the Normal Sectional on Oct. 29.
Racing on their home course, the Iron finished 6th in the 18-team race with 178 points, 115 points behind Sectional Champions Minooka.
Ali Ince, who competed at State last season as an individual, led Community’s runners, finishing 14th with a time of 18:36.17.
Abigail Ziemer (’24) and Lily Cavanaugh (’26) finished 18th and 20th for Community, with times of 18:51.01 and 18:51.48, respectively.
Megan Metz’s 66th-place finish (19:59.33) and Annika Luthe’s 78th (20:13.04) rounded out the team’s scoring — qualifying Community for State for the first time since 2014.
Completing Community’s State line-up are seniors Amber Hitchins and Rachel Brozenec, who will join their teammates at the starting line Saturday.
The 6th place Sectional finish is the team’s best since taking 3rd during the 2020-21 COVID-shortened season when the State meet was not held.