Illinois Teams Sweep NXN Automatic Bids, Michigan D1 Champ Helen Sachs Outkicks Grace Schager To Break Meet Record

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Lily Dozier photos

Hunter Jones had an entire year to think about his second-place finish at NXR Midwest last year and felt confident he had what it took to win the race Sunday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind. 

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Jones, a senior at Benzie Central MI, showed grit and detemination when he outkicked sub-four miler Connor Burns as both of them smashed Futsum Zienasellassie's hallowed course record. 

Jones completed the 5,000-meter layout, which had been covered in snow earlier in the day, in 14:22.1. He broke the record by by more than 26 seconds. 

And Burns (14:27.7) and Benne Anderson (14:29.5) and Connor Ackley (14:29.9) pushed one another to greater heights on the way to incredible times. Kole Mathison, well back in fifth, became Indiana's fastest runner on the course record with 14:47.4. 

Competition also fueled a stellar performance in the girls race, where another Michigan champion, sophomore Helen Sachs of Holland West Ottawa, outkicked Illinois state champion Grace Schager and broke Zofia Dudek's meet record with 16:48.1. Schager ran 16:50.5.

Sydney Thorvaldson of Rawlins High in Wyoming ran a course-record 16:38.3 in 2020 at LaVern Gibson to win the XC Town USA Meet of Champions Presented by The Garrett Companies. 

The championship races were delayed by one hour due to an accident on the nearby Interstate 70 that slowed traffic. 

Illinois powers stepped up, as they often do in this meet, and grabbed all four of the automatic team qualifying berths. The Dale (Hinsdale Central) turned the tables on in-state rival Cougars RC (Plainfield South), 123-145. Downers Grove North was third at 176 and is on the bubble for an at-large berth, along with fourth-place finisher RBXC (Rock Bridge MO), which scored 228. 

On the girls side, Prospect (Mt. Prospect) beat Kroy (York) for the second straight week, 53-75, and both of those teams will advance to NXN. Holland West Ottawa, the Michigan Division 1 champion, was third with 134 points and Hilliard Davidson OH was fourth (191). 

Additional individual qualifiers from the girls race were Tatum David, who will return to NXN where she ran her freshman year, Lily Cridge, the Indiana state champion, and Sophia Kennedy, the daughter of U.S. running legend Bob Kennedy.