Middle School North Students Compete at State Cross-Country Meet

Last Saturday, the Illinois Elementary School Association held the Cross Country State Finals Meet in Normal. had several athletes who qualified through the multi-step meet process: first, advancing at Conference to Sectionals; then placing in the Top 5 at Sectionals, which qualified those runners for State.

For the girls, two runners qualified for State. They were eighth-grader Caitlin Shepard and seventh-grader Tara Frank. For the boys, the Sectional Team qualified as a whole to compete at State. The boys team consisted of Jack Gelinas, Eric Metzger, Brian McNait, Drew Witt, Matt Milner, Austin Matuszewski and Julio Ramirez.

The boys team placed 18th out of 30 teams with Jack Gelinas placing at No. 30 overall, Eric Metzger at No. 109, Brian McNair at No. 151, Drew Witt at No. 168, Matt Milner at No. 171 and Austin Matuszewski at No. 220 out of 258 runners.
Julio Ramirez was not able to finish due to an injury sustained during the race.

The girls race was also a success with both Caitlin Shepard and Tara Frank finishing in the top 75, with Caitlin at 52nd overall and Tara at 64th out of 260 runners. MSN competes in the AA Division.

Final Results and times for the State Meet can be found at www.IESA.com, listed under Cross Country AA State Meet Results, Teams (boys) / Individuals (girls).
 
This information was submitted by parent Christy Shepard.