St. Peter Girls 3rd At State, Charlie Zimmer 2nd in Boys 1A Race

Saturday was an historic day for St. Peter Cross Country at the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) State Cross Country Championship Meet at Maxwell Park in Normal. The St. Peter girls team placed 3rd in their Class 1A race, only 2 points ahead of 4th place Bourbonnais Maternity BVM, the first time that a St. Peter team has won a trophy at the state meet. Then 8th grader Charlie Zimmer crossed the finish line in 2nd place, only 2 seconds away from the boys 1A championship.

The 2 mile girls race was not without drama for the St. Peter team. Slightly more than a half mile into the race, St. Peter had 3 girls in the top 25 but the rest of the team got caught in the pack near 80th place. By the finish, Caroline Zimmer held on for 19th place, in a time of 12:30 and Elizabeth Allon was close behind in 22nd place with a time of 12:32. The girls scored precious points ahead of a Bourbonnais runner in 26th place. Katy Huber finished strong just out of the top 25 in 29th place and a time of 12:39. Meanwhile, led by 7th grader Rachel Tork, the threesome of Tork, MaryGrace Phelan and Delaney Shanahan picked up their pace and passed nearly 30 runners in the process, with 5th grader Erika Martin keeping them in her sights. At the finish, the three St. Peter girls made one last definitive move, passing 6 competitors, including one from 4th place Bourbonnais Maternity BVM and sealing their 2 point win. 8th graders Phelan and Shanahan placed 52nd and 53rd in 13:08 followed by Tork in 55th with a time of 13:09. Martin finished strong in 68th and a time of 13:20.

After a 3 hour storm delay, Charlie Zimmer led the boys Class 1A 2 mile race on a now muddy course until the last 50 meters, fending off many challenges along the way. A late surge by Connor O'Neil from Liberty, the race favorite was too much for Zimmer and he finished 2nd in 10:56, two seconds behind O'Neil. Behind Zimmer, the rest of the St. Peter boys finished strong, all of them running personal best times and placing 12th in the team competition. 8th grader Henry Feldhaus finished 100th (12:39), 6th grader David Peterson 103rd (12:42), 6th grader Will Klaus 111th (12:50), 6th grader Joe Mulaghy 137th (13:13), 8th grader Thomas Hein 162nd (14:09) and 5th grader Aden Morvice 168th (14:22).

Full individaul and team results can be found on the IESA website at www.iesa.org.

The next stop for the St. Peter Rocket Runners is the Coyote Invitational on Thursday in Pingree Grove where they will again challenge their conference rivals as well as 7 other parochial schools in a 1.5 mile late season race.