Glenwood edges Springfield in 1-2 Central State Eight finish; Powell rolls to 2A individual title

By Michael Newman

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Peoria – It seemed like forever while Chatham-Glenwood waited to see if they had won the team state title in the 2A State Cross Country meet Saturday at Detweiller Park.

30 minutes after the race started, the Titans had their answer.

They were a team with a target on their back all season ranked at the top of 2A. They finalized their season by winning the state title 153 to 161 over conference rival Springfield. It was close as 23 points separated the first five teams. Bloomington edged Kaneland for the third spot by one point 167 to 168. Dixon scored 176 points to finish fifth.

“It was a fun day and it is almost surreal looking back on it,” said Chatham-Glenwood Coach Mike Garber. “One of the things we said leading up to the race was that we didn't have to be great, we just needed to be good. And being good was enough yesterday.”

The team’s surge in the final mile proved to be the difference as they trailed Dixon in the team standings in the half way point of the race.

Twin brothers Dathan and Drey Maton led their team with all-state performances. Dathan finished seventh (15:03) followed by his brother Drey seven seconds back in 13^th. Graham Turk (32^nd), Cooper Peterson (58^th), and Thomas Herbst (112^th) were the other scorers for the Titans.

“The Maton boys did exactly what we expected, though they were disappointed to not break 15,” added Garber. “Graham was moving the second half like we had planned, and Cooper had enough to put us close. Thomas Herbst was the difference maker as our 5. Cameron Smith was a little off, but that is why I'm glad those two boys have been working together in practice and in races. They can interchange for each other.”

Springfield showed that they could challenge Glenwood finishing ahead of them in their conference and regional meets heading into this race. The Senators were all then ready for the challenge and showed it in their race on Saturday.

Kyle Boughter led the Senators finishing 10^th and earning all-state honors for the second year in a row. The team had a 36 second split from their second through fifth runners. Zach Kinison led the pack finishing 36^th followed by Will Formea (39^th), Ryan Waldinger (60^th), and Anthony Peralta (93^rd).

Bloomington’s third-place team finish was led by Nick Doud’s all-state performance finishing fifth. Bradyn Olmstead (33^rd), Evan Turnbull (38^th), Drew Gibson (65^th), and Quinn Olson (103th) were the team’s other scorers.

The situation was the same for Mahomet-Seymour’s Mathias Powell as it was for Chatham-Glenwood. He came into the season as the top returning 2A runner and had the bullseye on his back in every race he toed the line to. We seemed to accept that winning races with ease.

That applied in Saturday’s state race. It was a quick race at the start as Solorio Academy’s Adonaliz Hernandez led the pack through the first 880 in 2:13. Powell was content to stay in the middle of the pack. By the time the race leaders reached the mile in 4:45 Powell was leading the pack along with Anthony Farmer of Burlington Central, Austin Ames of Charleston, and Nathan Schmitt of Lake Forest. Everyone could see at that point of the race that Powell was ready to take it over.

He did that opening a ten second lead on Schmitt passing through two-miles in 9:36. The final lap seemed like a victory lap as increased his lead even more. His winning time of 14:31 was 16 seconds ahead of that from Schmitt (14:47).

“My plan today was considering how I felt. I felt really good at the mile,” Powell said. “I didn’t plan to go when I hit the triangle. I saw that opportunity on that long backstretch to pull away and that worked.”

Three other runners finished under 15-minutes in this race led by Farmer (14:53) and followed by Antioch’s Charlie Smith (14:54) and Doud (14:59).