The EP Panther Cross Country Teams wrapped up their regular seasons with impressive showings against TRAC rivals Morrison and Rockridge.
The tough Prophet Hills Golf Course was the site of the triangular meet on Tuesday afternoon with high temperatures and high winds, which made the hilly course even more formidable.
In the girls’ race junior Dylan Chandler continued her long streak of leading the Panthers as she crossed the finish line in 21:55 to take first overall followed closely by Madyson Bushaw just 8 seconds back.
The Panthers ran the table on Rockridge taking the top five places to finish with a perfect score of 15. Jillian Norman took third followed by Jorden Robinson in fourth and Senior Kara Schipper in fifth.
Rockridge finished with 48 points and Morrison did not have a full team.
Brooke Lalley in ninth and Jade Nickerson in eleventh completed the top seven for EP.
The boys also dominated their competition as they took ten of the top twelve spots in the race. Morrison and Rockridge did not field full teams.
Andrew Bomleny took top honors overall in 18:10 finishing eight seconds ahead of freshman Jacob Gibson. Carter Jepson took third, Charlie Link was fifth and Parker Holldorf placed sixth for the Panthers.
The top five Panthers finished in an impressive span of forty-five seconds.
Alex Gustaf and Zeke Weidel took seventh and eighth for EP.
The Panthers ran without Luke DeNeve, one of their top runners, for the second meet in a row. Coach Liz Green said she hopes he will be back to run at the regional meet in ten days.
In talking about the wins Green said, “We are beyond proud of this group. Prophet Hills was the hardest course we have run all season and they ran phenomenally. I think a course like this can really bring out the tenacity of an athlete. They were determined to not let the hills slow them down, they ran up and down hard and never gave up. So proud of their character and not giving up when it was difficult!”
A total of six PRs were set during the races: Madyson Bushaw 22:03, Kara Schipper 23:48, Jacob Gibson 18:18, Alex Bomleny 20:56, Zak Jensen 23:59, and Ben Reneau 24:28.
Eleven seniors were honored prior to the meet: Luke DeNeve, Carter Jepson, Alex Gustaf, Zak Jensen, Cameron Stout, Lucca Sweetser, Simon Weidel, Grace Johnson, Jorden Robinson, Kara Schipper and Sydney Melton- Manager
The Panthers will now set their sites on the IHSA Regional hosted by Rock Island Alleman and run at Saukie Golf Course on Saturday, October 24th.
