ALAH XC Regional 3Peat
The Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond Knights cross country teams competed in the I.H.S.A. Regional meet in Tuscola’s Wimple Park last Saturday Lady Knight Emma Edwards and the boys team qualified for the Sectional meet that will be run on Saturday, October 30 at Hickory Point Golf Club in Forsyth. From left to right: Lindsay Rohacs, Emma Jones, Jesus Corona, Connor Edmonds, Emma Edwards, Jacob Adcock, Jace Green, Coach Lyle Dorjahn, Logan Beckmier, Jacob Duzan, Lyle Adcock, Steven Edwards, Maddie Kingery, and Kayla Johnson. In front are three young fans who came out to cheer on the Knights in Tuscola. Left to right are Cash Hale, Ryker Beckmier and Cruz Hale. Come out to the sectional meet next Saturday and cheer on the Knights at Sectional as they continue their postseason journey!!! Girls race at 10:00 a.m. and boys at 11:00.
Emma Edwards qualifies for Sectional
October 23 found Tuscola High School hosting the IHSA Regional at Wimple Park. The teams from ALAH made the short trip across Douglas County to compete against athletes from 15 other schools.
On an overcast, cool, and windless day, the girls began the event at the report of Starter Bruce Weiman’s pistol. Monticello, Clinton, and Shelbyville’s highly ranked squads dominated the race but the ALAH distaff runners all ran seasonal best by significant margins.
They were led by Junior Emma Edwards sectional qualifying run of 22:50.6 which was good enough for 27th place to secure the final individual position.
Just behind was Maddie Kingery in 28th at a PR of 22:54.3, nearly a minute quicker than a week ago.
Lyndsay Rohacs continues drastic improvement as the 3rd Lady Knight across the finish with a PR of 25:18, also near a minute faster than last week.
Kayla Johnson drops a 30 second PR to cross in 48th.
Emma Jones also is a half minute better than her PR effort of last week running 26:49 to complete the scoring in 57th place.
Running a full squad for the first time in several weeks, the ladies finished 9th overall just out of the top 7 qualifying teams.
On paper, the Knight’s boys were favored both team wise and individually against 4 other highly state ranked teams.
At the gun, the ALAH powerhouse populated the front pack. Logan Beckmier tangled with Shelbyville’s Phoenix Firnhaber for the lead.
Running stride for stride, at the 1 ½ mile mark, Beckmier asserted his dominance and by the 2 mile mark had opened a 20 meter lead.
Beckmier continued to widen the gap with Firnhaber all the way to the finish, a 7 second win in 15:49.7. Jacob Adcock runs an all time best of 16:09.2 being the 2nd Knight and 4th overall, easily the most outstanding performance of his career.
Jace Green and Lyle Adcock continue their outstanding season with top 10 finishes. Green in 7th (16:11.9) and Adcock in 8th (16:12.9).
Jacob Duzan garnered attention from opposing coaches dropping another PR of 17:20.4 to finish 24th as the Knight’s final scoring runner.
Final ALAH runners were Jesus Corona in a PR of 18:00.6 (37th) and Steven Edwards (46th) in 18:37.7.
The Knight’s dominance was apparent in the final score as they total 44 points to outdistance Monticello (76), St. Teresa (79), Shelbyville (81), and Tuscola (93).
Next Saturday it’s off to beautiful Hickory Point Golf Club in Forsyth to compete in the IHSA Sectional.
Joining the Knights will be top 7 squads from the Tuscola, Chrisman, and Robinson Regionals.
Once again the locals square off against #1 ranked St. Joe/Ogden, winners at Chrisman.
Also coming out of Chrisman is PBL’s state leader, Ryder James, who announced his commitment to Missouri last week.
Robinson team Champion Newton and Individual Champ Isaac Stanford of Flora add to the ultra competitive sectional lineup.
Emma Edwards runs at 10:00 followed by the boys at 11:00. Please make the short trek to Macon County to cheer on the Knight’s quest to Detweiller Park for the State Championships.
