Cross country teams from Amboy, Princeton, Hall and Putnam County traveled to Lake Mendota on Sept. 21 to compete against host school Mendota.

In the girls’ race, Amboy’s Lauren Althaus won the 2.96-mile race in a time of 21:01, followed by Princeton harriers Lexi Bohms (21:14) and Hannah Muehlschlegel (22:50).

Princeton was the only school fielding a full team of runners.

In the boys’ event, Amboy runner Brock Loftus pulled away from the field to win in a time of 15:41. He was followed by fellow Clipper Ian Eller (17:20), and a pair of Mendota runners, Anthony Kelson (3rd, 18:01) and Alex Hermosillo (4th, 18:06). Other Mendota finishes were Dagen Setchell (9th, 18:51), Andrew Stamberger (13th, 19:05) and Travis Mumm (25th, 24:15).

Team scoring showed Amboy winning with 21 points followed by Mendota (46) and Princeton (69).

***

Mendota’s cross country runners traveled to Kewanee on Sept. 25 to compete in the 2021 Boiler Invitational.

In the freshman-sophomore race, Tyler Buck of Tremont won with a time of 19:15 on the 3-mile course. For the Trojans, Setchell placed fourth with a time of 19:33 and Mumm was 25th in 23:32.

The girls’ race was won by Lydia Snider of Tremont in a time of 20:29.5. She was followed by Maggie Jewett of Marquette (20:35) and Natalee Martin of Kewanee (20:57). Illinois Valley Central won the girls’ title with 40 points.

In the boys’ varsity event, Brock Loftus of Amboy completed the course in 16:35.0 for first, followed Breckett Fahrenkrug of IVC (16:51) and Amboy’s Ian Eller (17:20.6). Mendota’s top finish went to Hermosillo, who medaled with a sixth-place finish in a time of 18:26. Stamberger was 31st in time of 19:53.

Amboy’s 26 points earned it the team title.