April 4, 2025 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Team effort sparks SJO cross-country to third-place finishes at Spartan Classic

While the St. Joseph-Ogden High School cross-country teams spend this week preparing for the upcoming Illini Prairie Conference Meet, both boys’ and girls’ programs can find comfort after a strong effort at the 48th annual Spartan Classic held last Saturday.

Racing through the streets of St. Joseph and finishing up at the track at SJO, the Spartans boys’ and girls’ teams both finished third in the team standings.

In the 26-team boys’ race, Uni High won with 81 points, while Monticello (90), SJO (132), El Paso-Gridley (138) and Deer Creek-Mackinaw (153) rounded out the top five schools.

Junior Brandon Mattsey paced the SJO boys’ team with an eighth-place finish in 15 minutes, 41.28 seconds to lead the pack of Spartans. SJO’s balance played a role in its third-place finish, with the other four runners all finishing in the top 50 among the field of 187 runners. Senior Eric Poe (16:21.31) came in 23rd, while sophomore Charlie Mabry (16:38.50) placed 28th and sophomore Elijah Mock (16:41.49) was right behind Mabry with a 29th-place finish.

Sophomore Luke Stegall rounded out the top five runners for SJO with a time of 17:02.19, good enough for 47th place.

On the girls’ side, SJO put its top five runners in the first 33 places, helping the Spartans compile 106 points in their third-place finish. Unity won the title in the 20-tea field with 48 points, while Monticello (63), SJO (106), Uni High (134) and Seeger (Ind.) (149) were the top five schools.

Senior Jillian Plotner garnered the Spartans’ best finish by clocking in at 18:29.34, good enough for seventh place. Fellow senior Hannah Rajlich was the next SJO runner to cross the finish line, checking in at 19:03.56 in 17th place. Three sophomores in Ava Knapp, Ashlyn Lannert and Kailyn Ingram were next to finish for SJO, with Knapp placing 26th (19:34.22), Lannert finishing 29th (19:38.85) and Ingram winding up 33rd (19:45.34) in a field of 147 runners.

SJO will now turn its attention to the Illini Prairie Meet, set for 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 in Fairbury. It’s one of three meets left in the regular season for the Spartans, who will also race at the Prairie Central Invitational (10 a.m., Oct. 12) and the Patriot Invitational at Peoria Heights (1 p.m., Oct. 19) before the postseason arrives.

Both SJO programs are slated to run in the Tuscola Regional on Oct. 26 at Wimple Park in Tuscola, with the girls’ race at 10 a.m. and the boys’ race at 10:45 a.m.

Banner
Related Posts

How does a TIF work?

February 11, 2025

February 11, 2025

How does TIF work?A geographic area is designated as a TIF district. 


 Property owners in the district pay the same...

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, Sept. 10, 2024

September 10, 2024

September 10, 2024

They are discussing personnel policy updates. They are formalizing the on call public works format. SOLAR!!!! For the 400th time....

Heritage Junior High Honor Roll

November 9, 2020

November 9, 2020

Thanks to Appl Sanitary for sponsoring our honor rolls! Heritage Junior High has released the list of honor roll students...

Spartans end losing streak

December 5, 2022

December 5, 2022

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team needed a win on Thursday night.Not in the worst possible way. But...

“Performing in front of people can be very fun”

August 6, 2024

August 6, 2024

The Weldon Homecoming is going to be rocking n rolling. Owen Knap will be performing from 2 to 4 p.m....

10 things you don’t know about me… DEE EVANS

September 23, 2022

September 23, 2022

DEE EVANS will be inducted into the SJO Hall of Fame tonight. Dee Evans is a 1960 graduate of St....

5 questions with Republican Caucus candidate Andrea Schultheis Childers

December 2, 2024

December 2, 2024

1. What made you want to run? We’ve lived in St. Joe for the past almost 19 years and it’s...

Splash pad committee moving forward

April 4, 2022

April 4, 2022

The St. Joseph Community Survey found that the community wants a splash pad. 47 percent of respondents thought the splash...

Get to know our Little Princess Candidates: Annah Fiedler

August 9, 2024

August 9, 2024

What is your favorite part of summer?Favorite part of summer: riding bikes, going to the pool, and going boating at...

Vendor Profile: J and J Plants

August 10, 2024

August 10, 2024

Tell me about your business. Jay and Jaylin, a father and son duo, are the prominent figures behind our family-run...

Get to know our Little Prince and Princess Candidates : Will Peters

August 10, 2024

August 10, 2024

What is your favorite part of summer?Staying at my grandparents house and having more time with mom and dad. What...

SJO fourth quarter high honor roll

July 9, 2019

July 9, 2019

High Honor RollFreshmenAllen, Addison Altenbaumer, Tyler Anderson, Kailyn Armstrong, Ella Atwood, Madison Behrens, Abigail Beyers, Andrew Bowln, Brandie Burkhalter, Mara...

Get to know our Little Prince and Princess Candidates :Emmett Binder

August 10, 2024

August 10, 2024

What is your favorite part of summer?Getting to go stay at Grampa’s Riverhouse What do you want to be when...

Hackler to be honored with street sign

January 25, 2022

January 25, 2022

Former Mayor B.J. Hackler used to spend a lot of time on Lincoln and Main Streets in St. Joseph. If...

Comments
Leave a Reply