Local high school cross country runners competed in sectional meets on Saturday, with some punching their ticket to Detweiller Park in Peoria.

At the Class 1A Wesclin Sectional, Columbia’s Madison Missey placed 18th overall with a time of 20:36.35 to qualify for this Saturday’s state meet in Peoria. 

Missey, a junior, placed sixth at the regional meet. 

“Madison is just an awesome young lady,” Columbia cross country coach Laura Simmons said. “She works as hard in the offseason as she does preparing for races. Mentally, she’s as tough as they come, and it’s during the postseason that mental toughness really comes into play because you’re tired and maybe dealing with some nagging injuries. We’re excited to see her get to the state meet and hoping for an excellent finish.”

At the Class 2A Decatur Sectional, Waterloo’s Joe Schwartz ran to a fourth place finish with a time of 16:15.10 to qualify for state. 

He placed 16th at last year’s sectional to qualify for state, but the state meet was canceled due to COVID.

“He’s been running really well this season, and I know he can be up there competing for a top 25 all-state medal next weekend at state,” Waterloo cross country coach Larry Huffman said. 

Schwartz placed second at the regional meet and was the Mississippi Valley Conference champion this season.

In the girls race at Decatur, Waterloo placed fourth to qualify for state as a team. 

The Bulldogs were led by Danielle Mudd in second place with a time of 19:07.04 and Cameron Crump, a freshman, in fifth place with a time of 19:30.29.

Waterloo qualified for state despite not having top runner Angelynn Kanyuck finish the race due to not feeling well. Kanyuck won the regional race the weekend before.

“The girls had an amazing race,” Huffman said. “Angelynn wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t able to finish. The other girls stepped up and pulled the team through to still qualify for state.” 

Huffman added that Saturday’s sectional run was one of the muddiest cross country races he has ever coached due to the amount of rain Decatur received. 

“We stepped up and stayed strong despite the conditions,” Huffman said. “With the help of Ava Rau, Kamyrn Rader and Chloe Aubuschon also having great days, we were able to move on.”

Huffman said he’s hopeful that Kanyuck can run at state this Saturday.

“Hopefully, with a week to recover, we will have Angelynn back so that we will be in full force again at state,” he said.

Kanyuck placed third at the sectional last season, qualifying for state as a freshman.

Huffman said he is proud to have state qualifiers again this fall, continuing a tradition spanning several years.

“We’ve had a great tradition in the last few years of qualifying runners to state, and this team will do their best to represent Waterloo the best they can,” he said.