Edison's Entertainment Complex Female Athletes Of Month: Edwardsville Girls Cross Country Captures Sectional

MOKENA — MacKenzie Kerpan finished second and led three Edwardsville runners into the top 10 Saturday morning as the Tigers won the IHSA Class 3A New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central girls cross country sectional at The Oaks, securing a berth in next week’s state meet.

The Edwardsville cross country girls are Edison's Entertainment Complex Female Athletes Of The Month.

Edwardsville finished with 54 points, ahead of runner-up Plainfield North’s 62. Host Lincoln-Way Central placed third with 82 points, followed by Yorkville with 133 and Minooka with 180. O’Fallon finished sixth with 188 points to qualify for state, while Oswego East claimed the seventh and final team berth with 230.

The state meet is scheduled for Saturday morning at Detweiler Park in Peoria.

Plainfield North’s Marlie Czarniewski won the individual title, completing the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 5.8 seconds. Kerpan followed in 17:16.5, ahead of Yorkville’s Athena Triner, who finished third in 17:26.2.

Edwardsville’s Morgan Popelar placed fourth in 17:41.0, and Minooka’s Natalie Nahs rounded out the top five in 17:44.8. Reagan Jumper gave the Tigers their third top-10 finisher, placing seventh in 17:51.2.

Heidi Stahlheiber finished in 18:06.7 and Ella Thompson in 18:10.7 for Edwardsville.

Katelyn White led O’Fallon with a time of 17:51.3. Lily McCollum finished in 18:11.5, followed by Mae Naviera in 18:30.4, Sydni Fever in 19:18.1 and Kayla Kalmer in 19:47.0.

Belleville East’s Johanna Martin also qualified for state, finishing in 18:05.9. Teammate Paulette Millender finished in 20:07.7 but did not qualify.

Belleville West’s Tilly Segraves finished in 21:03.1. Collinsville’s Audrey Payne ran 20:08.3, and teammate Ryelan Judiscak finished in 20:17.2. None of those three qualified for state.

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