Anna Sophia Keller wins third straight 1A championship

By Michael Newman

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Peoria, Ill --- It took close to 40 minutes after the race for Tolono Unity Coach Kara Lehman to get some kind of confirmation in how her team had done in the 1A Girls Race at Saturday’s IHSA State Cross Country Meet. She was looking for any clue. She knew that her team ran good. She also knew that Liberty, Urbana University, and St. Joseph-Ogden had also run as good as her team.

It just was not as good as what Tolono Unity.

She was told that it was unofficial but it was good bet that the scores would not change. She was waiting for the start of the 1A Boys race. Instead, she started sprinting up towards her team area at the north end of Detweiller Park to tell her team.

It was a close battle between the top three teams in the Decatur St. Teresa Sectional just like it was before in that race the week before. Tolono Unity had won that sectional race on a sixth runner tie-breaker. It was not as close in this meet.

Tolono Unity captured their first state championship in their program’s history. Their best previous finish was a second place finish in 1988. The Rockets won the team championship scoring with 130 points.

“We had a fantastic team effort.  We knew going in we would have to run tight.  The girls really came together for each other,” Leaman said. “Having Taylor Renfroe back was a boost in confidence.  She had battled mono through September and most of October.  She was cleared to run two weeks ago and came out and gave it everything she could.  She's a resilient athlete, and a leader for our freshmen.  Nicole Bagwell and Savannah Day were also carrying us with determined mindsets.  Timewise we had 5 PRs, but everyone stepped forward with their best race efforts of the season.”

Freshman Jordan Harmon had been the runner to get low points for her team all season. She came through again on Saturday as the team’s top runner placing 13^th overall and establishing a personal best running under 18 minutes for the first time (17:58). The pack behind Harmon came through in a big way as only 36 seconds separated their 2^nd through 5^th runners. Nicole Bagwell led that pack finishing 36^th. She was followed by Savannah Day (46^th), Audrey Hancock (53^rd), and Miranda Fairbanks (65^th). Their overall split was a season’s best 80 seconds.

Champaign County’s Cross Country teams had a great day in both 1A races. Urbana University and St. Joseph-Ogden along with Tolono Unity are only separated by ten miles. U-High and SJO were only separated by one point on Saturday with Urbana University earning their second straight 2^nd place trophy.

“I'm excited for my coaching colleagues at Unity and SJO,” said U-High Coach Doug Mynatt. “I have so much respect for them, for the way they run their programs, for the way they develop their athletes.  I hope all our athletes appreciate and respect the efforts of each other as much as the coaches do of one another.”

Urbana University received their expected presence up front with Arielle Summitt (3^rd) and Annemarie Michael (7^th) finishing in the top ten. Their pack with Anika Kimme (75^th), Berit Hudson-Rasmussen (76^th), and Katie Tender (82^nd) were only separated by eight seconds.

“Even though we didn't necessarily have the seven combined races we wanted from our runners, we're ecstatic over bringing home our second runner-up trophy in as many years,” Mynatt added. “I'm so happy for my three senior (Mariam, Berit, Katie) that earned the chance to finish their XC careers at the state meet, with state medals around their necks.  I'm always impressed with the way Annemarie and Arielle compete at such a high level, day in and day out, coming home with their combined fifth all-state medals, both after dealing with some serious injuries from last Spring.  I'm excited for my other two underclassmen (Elizabeth, Anika) and what their running futures will bring.”

The defending state champion St. Joseph-Ogden also ran well despite missing one of their top five. The Spartans were led by Faith Houston’s 11^th place finish. “Our ladies ran well, but were still missing Sam Mabry, our #3,” said St. Joseph-Ogden Coach Jason Metz. “I thought we would end up 4 or 5 without her.  They fought very hard this year and kept focus for the end goal.”

Liberty just missed a trophy finishing fourth with 164 points just six away from St. Joseph-Ogden. The Eagles were led by Freshman Katelyn Robbins sixth place finish. They ran 3 runners in the first 37.

If it is the 1A state meet, then it must be Anna Sophia Keller up front. The St. Anthony junior won her third straight championship just like the way she has done in the two previous state races. She goes out hard seeing if anyone will go with her. On this day, it was only Daly Galloway (Gardner South Wilmington) that was willing to stay close. 

Keller went through the 800 in 2:28 and then the mile in 5:10. Galloway was within striking distance of Keller only 9 seconds behind. By the time they got out of the triangle and to the two mile mark, Keller was still leading at 10:45. Galloway went through that mark only ten seconds behind. Keller likes to push the last mile and she did that effectively again in this race. She pulled away crossing the finish line in 16:21.

“This is awesome. I am so blessed to come up here and run. It is a gift from God,” Keller said after her race. “I think I went out too fast. I went by the mile and I was 5:10. I thought that was so far under a 16. I really got tired that last mile. I did not have that sprint that I wanted to have. It still worked out in the end that I ran faster than I did before.”

Galloway ran a great race as she was the only runner to take the chance to go with the state champion. She crossed the line in 16:50 with a seasonal best. The next closest runner was Arielle Summitt and she finished 47 seconds back. Werthersfield’s Kirstie Ramsey was three seconds back in fourth (17:40).

“I definitely went out a little faster than I expected. I did not know that I was running that fast until the first half. When I went through the mile in 5:19, I thought that it was still fast but I knew I had to pick it up. I just had to stay mentally focused,” Galloway stated. “My second mile was better than last year and I stayed mentally it better. I wanted to go under 16:45 and I did not get that. I was proud of the race that I had.”