The News-Gazette saw a pair of cross-country teams in its coverage area win state titles to start the 2023-24 school year, and 11 athletes followed throughout the year with individual championships. Here are the teams and athletes who reached the pinnacle of Illinois high school sports, courtesy preps coordinator Zach Piatt: Unity girls’ cross-country team Our first area state champion was crowned at Detweiller Park in Peoria, and it was a three-peat. The Rockets won their third consecutive Class 1A state title last fall, 48 points clear of Anna-Jonesboro in second place, to continue their run as the state’s best distance program.
Mackenzie Pound paced Unity’s field with a 10th-place individual finish in 17 minutes, 36.87 seconds, followed by Erica Woodard in 14th, Emily Decker in 30th, Ashlyn Denney in 52nd and Olivia Shike in 55th. Tuscola boys’ cross-country team Shortly after the Unity girls’ three-peat, the Tuscola boys made history.
One year after their first time qualifying for state as a team, the Warriors claimed their first Class 1A state championship, besting Benton by just seven points to cap off an undefeated season. Jackson Barrett led the way at Detweiller Park with a third-place individual finish in 14 minutes, 40.55 seconds, which earned him News-Gazette Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year honors.
Joining him in the top 10 were Will Foltz in sixth and Josiah Hortin in 10th. Blake McLeese and Xander Neamtu rounded out the scoring with respective.