Anna Sophia Keller achieved iconic status with her fourth consecutive title (Beth Scheid photo)
The IHSA State Cross Country meet comes around once a year and thousands of people gather at the iconic Detweiller Park in Peoria to compete, cheer and support those running, and take part in the excitement it all entails. There is no denying the electric atmosphere that everyone involved will remember forever. It is a day of firsts, lasts, and history being made; all which took place Saturday on November 5th.
Class 1A kicked off the excitement with the girls' race which had over 200 runners competing; made up solely of the best of the best. The obvious standout in the race was Effingham (St. Anthony) senior Anna Sophia Keller who won the race as a freshman, sophomore, and junior, and hoped to make it a fourth straight win on the course to close out a great career. Keller, who has shown she doesn't just go out to win, but to run her very best, went out the same way Saturday morning. Just a half mile into the race Keller was running all alone out in front with South Wilmington senior Daly Galloway, Pana senior Claudia Magnussen, Palos Heights (Chicago Christian) senior April Van Ryn, and numerous others running in a pack several seconds behind her.
Coming through the first mile, Keller had given herself a nice lead (5:27) while Galloway and Magnussen, were running strong but approximately 10 in back of her. Following them were Van Ryn and Stanford-Olympia senior Shelby Siltman fighting together. As they exited the "Bermuda Triangle" and neared the two mile mark, Keller had a significant lead and didn't look to let up any. Magnussen was clearly in second but now with Siltman running in third. Galloway had fell off slightly but still looked to make a move within the remainder of the race. Just a half mile later and Magnussen, who still ran second to Keller, had made a move herself and was distancing herself from Siltman. Coming into the finish was the obvious Anna Sophia Keller, crossing at a time of 16:32, granting her another state championship. Magnussen was able to hold onto her place as she finished second
with 17:20. Within the final stretch Galloway had really turned it on to pass up Siltman at the finish line and came in close contact with Manussen to capture third place with 17:23 as her time. Siltman placed fourth within the same second as Galloway.
| top 10 GIRLS THREE MILE RUN | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | ||
| 1 | Anna Sophia Keller | 12 | St. Anthony High School | 16:32.00 | -- | |
| 2 | Claudia Magnussen | 12 | Pana High School | 17:20.00 | -- | |
| 3 | Daly Galloway | 12 | South Wilmington High School | 17:23.00 | -- | |
| 4 | Shelby Siltman | 12 | Stanford Olympia High School | 17:23.00 | 1 | |
| 5 | April Vanryn | 12 | Chicago Christian High School | 17:30.00 | 2 | |
| 6 | Jordan Harmon | 10 | Tolono Unity High School | 17:49.00 | 3 | |
| 7 | Payne Turney | 9 | Clinton High School | 17:49.00 | -- | |
| 8 | Emma Argo | 10 | Eureka High School | 17:52.00 | 4 | |
| 9 | Nygia Pollard | 11 | Harvest Christian Academy | 17:53.00 | 5 | |
| 10 | Amelia Mclain | 9 | Benton High School | 17:55.00 | -- | |
Anna Sophia Keller's interview:
Rounding out the team scores for the girls, the anticipated St. Joseph Ogden took home the championship trophy with a team score of 100. Tolono Unity placed second with 161, and Liberty third with 174.
| Top 5 TEAM SCORES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | ||
| 1 | St. Joseph-Ogden High School | 100 | 8+12+16+28+36 (50+98) | 0:50 1-5 Split | 18:36 Avg | ||
| 2 | Tolono Unity High School | 161 | 3+21+31+37+69 (70+88) | 2:03 1-5 Split | 18:51 Avg | ||
| 3 | Liberty High School | 174 | 6+22+23+56+67 (131+153) | 1:55 1-5 Split | 18:57 Avg | ||
| 4 | Richmond-Burton High School | 191 | 14+19+24+54+80 (114+148) | 1:35 1-5 Split | 19:05 Avg | ||
| 5 | Williamsville High School | 233 | 25+27+48+55+78 (103+109) | 1:15 1-5 Split | 19:17 Avg | ||
Coach Jason Retz's thoughts on a championship: