Clifton Central edges Elmwood for the team title

By Michael Newman

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Peoria – The last time that Christopher Collet of Seneca and Garrett Dixon of Monticello of race against each other was almost a month ago at the Amboy Columbus Day Meet. In that race, Dixon pulled away in the final mile after Collet fell just before two-miles with Dixon making his move 400 meters later.

It was different on Saturday in the 1A Bous State Meet race at Detweiller Park. Collet reacted to the moves of Dixon and made one final surge of his own coming down the final stretch of the course.

That surge gave Collet the win (14:45) with Dixon finishing second 11 seconds back (14:56).

“I Knew I couldn’t let him run away from me like he did at Amboy,” Collet said. “I knew he was going to push that second mile and I just stayed with him.”

The pace was cautionary in the first mile as Collet led the group through in 4:50 with Dixon to his left and Sterling Newman’s Spencer Mauch to his right. Dixon and Collet were together at 9:48 for two-miles. Dixon made a move coming up the incline by the finish. This time, Collet stayed with two strides of Dixon refusing to let his lead grow.

The pass came just before the final stretch as Collet approach the finish line with the state championship in hand.

“This feels amazing. I am so happy,” Collet added. “When I crossed the line, I thought I finally did it.”

Robinson’s Negus Bogard led the pack as he finished third (15:06). St. Teresa’s Jackson Stewart was next (15:07) followed by Rock Falls’ Dawson Smith (15:10) rounding out the top five.

Clifton Central had been top ranked team in 1A after they moved to the top of the teams in the first week of the season. Elmwood-Brimfield, last year’s team champion, were peaking heading into this meet and were looking to defend their state title.

The Trojans came close, but Clifton Central was the team that left Detweiller Park with the team title scoring 139 points ahead of Elmwood’s 143.

The race was expected to be the frontrunning of Clifton Central against Elmwood’s pack. Elmwood finished with five runners ahead of Clifton Central’s fourth runner. It was Clifton Central that won the first three man-to-man challenges in the race that made the difference.

Clifton Central had two all-state runners led by Isaiah Ditta (13^th) and Jeremy Snejberg (16^th). Trevor Swanson (33^rd), Jared Snejberg (66^th), and Blake Stua (77^th) were the team’s other scorers. The Comets had a 49 second split on their five runners.

Elmwood’s split on five was a magnificent 23 seconds on their top five with none of those runners finishing in the top 25. It was the closeness of that pack that got them close. Jacob Brown (27^th) and Luke Hoffmann (29^th) led Elmwood. Thomas Harmon (41^st), Alex Feller (56^th), and Griff Inskeep (61^st) completed the Trojans pack.

Monticello finished third (189 points) behind Dixon’s second-place finish. The Sages pack was great from their second through fifth runners as only 16 seconds separated those four runners. Luke Sokolowski (62^nd), Josiah Ratts (63^rd), and Morgan Dixon (64^th) crossed the line all timed at 15:59). Josh Baysore was the team’s fifth runner as he finished 88^th.