CHARLESTON — It would have been the perfect story: Three best friends all winning an individual state title, beating each other to make it happen. Tuscola seniors Will Foltz, Josiah Hortin and Jackson Barrett were just a few seconds away from doing just that during Saturday’s Class 1A state finals. Foltz won the 3,200-meter run, with Barrett close behind in second, to get the day started with a bang.
Hortin then won the 800 as Foltz trailed back in eighth. It was up to Barrett to complete the trifecta, but he had to settle for fourth place, and Hortin finished right in front in third. While it wasn’t the perfect ending — the Warriors finished as the team runner-up, just three points back of champion Winnebago — that trio, all top-10 finishers at last fall’s state cross-country meet, proved once again that they own the 1A distance competition in Illinois.
“It’s a testament to all our hard work,” Hortin said. “We’ve been working at this since freshman year. Working all these years together and pushing each other to be better, eventually the best in the state, has really just been us taking it upon ourselves to be great and putting in the work every day.
” Foltz and Barrett set the tone for the day, jumping out to about a 30-meter lead together over the rest of the 3,200 field after just two laps. “It’s kind of surreal,” Foltz said. “Being at the top of the state with one of your best friends is a really cool experience.
I was thinking during the r.
