Devin Valleroy advances to State Finals
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[On Saturday, October 30, the Chester High School Conference Champion Boys' and Girls' Cross Country teams competed at the Sectional Meet on the SIU-E 5K college course against 19 other teams and twenty individuals who had advanced from Regional competition the preceding weekend. Chester's Devin Valleroy, who finished in 15th place with a time of 17:15, was the only competitor from the two teams who qualified to advance to the State Finals to be held on Saturday, November 6, at Detweiller Park in Peoria, IL. Devin has consistently finished first for the team during the whole 2010 season. He and his teammates fought hard to win the right to advance as a team, but fell 23 points short, finishing as the seventh place team (five teams and seven individuals advance). On the boys' team Link Cushman also turned in an outstanding performance finishing 19th with a time of 17:35, just short of qualifying for advancement as an individual. Also placing were Kyle Landon 61st (18:43), Brent Knop 78th (19:03), Jonas Hofmann 88th (19:17), Zach Sternberg 100th (19:47), and Brian Hartman 130th (21:14). The coaches were very pleased with the outstanding effort put forth by all seven boys.
In the girls' race Jillian Yankey pushed hard to earn a ride to State with her 26th place finish at 21:52. However, all the girls who advanced as individuals were in the first ten finishers. The girls ran the same 5K course as the boys with Kristen Busch of Freeburg finishing first with a breathtaking time of 18:59 followed by her twin sister Caitlin in second place. Laura Liefer of Chester put forth an outstanding effort finishing 38th at 22:16. Rounding out the girls' team were Emily Reid 102nd (25:56), Rachel Sheely 122nd (27:49), Hanna Knop 127th (28:20), and Courtney Johnson 138th (30:57). Taylor Yankey, a strong competitor the past two years, was unable to run due to injuries.
This year's boys' and girls' cross country team members have won the honor of bringing home 61 medals, one individual trophy, and the two Black Diamond Conference Championship trophies-an outstanding amount of hardware!