A. Sievers

On a very chilly Saturday, October 28th, the RBHS XC team traveled to Benton to compete in the IHSA Sectional Race.  The course was a little shorter than the normal course, but was a difficult 2.9 miles of rolling hills and wooded trails.  Couple that with the cold morning temperatures, and the team was set to make a great showing in Benton.

The boys’ team advanced as a whole to Sectionals and the 7 runners spent the week prepping for what could be their last race of the year.  Seniors Wyatt DuClos, Garrett Headen, and Adam Nicholson; Junior Alex Sievers; Sophomores Edward Miller and Josh Birke; and Freshman Brandon Voss all ran great races @ Benton, but they were not able to pull out the times that would send them to state.  The team placed 11th, missing a team trip to state by 6 spots.  Overall, Headen placed 52nd with a 16:27.9 race; DuClos (54th) with a 16:29.0; Sievers (67th) with a 16:46.7; Miller (78th) with a 16:57.3, Birke (90th) with 17:13.8; Nicholson (109th) with a 17:32.5; and Voss (133rd) with an 18:30.7.  Although the boys all ran their best, only the top 5 teams and the top 7 individuals advanced; the boys’ team fell short of that goal.

Sophomore Calyn Hartmann was the sole RBHS female to advance to Sectionals.  Calyn ran a strong race, but was only able to place 33rd with a 19:59.4 race.  Although Calyn was the only RBHS girl to advance to Sectionals, many of her teammates trained with her throughout the week and traveled to Benton to support her and the boys’ team.

At this point the CC season is over for these runners, but that doesn’t mean the training is over.  Many of these athletes will be out hitting the pavement in the next few weeks in preparation for track season and their next CC season in August.  Others will be heading to the basketball court to pick up a new running challenge.