High school runners qualify for sectional
Led by a first place finish from freshman Angelynn Kanyuck, the Waterloo High School girls cross country team placed third at Saturday’s Class 2A Highland Regional to qualify as a team for the sectional meet.
Kanyuck’s winning time was 18:34.80, which was 25 seconds better than the second place finisher.
Waterloo edged Triad by one point for third place in the team standings. Mascoutah and Highland tied for first.
Waterloo freshman Danielle Mudd placed fifth. A third Waterloo freshman, Ali Kloeppel, placed 12th and senior Emma Rick placed 27th.
Also qualifying for the sectional in the girls race were Columbia’s Madison Missey and Izzy Barker. Missey, a sophomore, placed 11th overall. Barker, a junior, placed 31st.
In the Class 2A Highland Regional boys race, Waterloo’s Joe Schwartz placed fifth and Columbia’s Thomas Crossley placed eighth to both qualify individually for the sectional.
Schwartz, a sophomore, finished with a time of 15:55.40. Crossley, a junior, ran a time of 16:18.70.
Waterloo placed seventh and Columbia placed ninth in the 12-team regional field.
The Class 2A Olney Sectional takes place at 10 a.m. Saturday.
At the Class 1A Freeburg Regional, Gibault senior Brooke Biffar placed 16th and Dupo’s Sarah Vanover placed 23rd to each qualify for the sectional. The Red Bud girls placed fifth to qualify as a team.
Biffar, who qualified for state as a freshman and sophomore but sat out her junior season, ran a time of 20:53.50.
In the Class 1A boys race, Gibault’s Jackson Goedeke placed 18th to advance to the sectional. He ran a time of 17:40.63.
Valmeyer’s Harrison Miller placed 25th at 17:54.06, but did not qualify for the sectional.
The Class 1A Belleville Sectional is at 9 a.m. Saturday.