TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Former Mt. Vernon Township High School harrier Ashley Thompson didn’t have the best of days, but she and her University of Illinois teammates made quite a splash at Monday's NCAA Division I cross-country finals at Indiana State University.
Orange and Blue senior Angela Bizzarri emerged as the individual champion, covering the 6-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 47 seconds.
Illinois also ran 12th as a team — bettering its pre-national ranking.
Thompson struggled in her race, running seventh for the Illini in 22:28. Thompson — who performed Monday in front of family, MVTHS girls cross-country coach Connie Harre-Blair and current Lady Rams standout Margo Richardson — is a junior and has one season or track and cross-country eligibility remaining at the U of I.
Villanova (86 points) won the team title, placing all five scorers in the top 30.
Illinois (365 points) did defeat Penn State (13th place, 375 points), which had won the Big Ten Conference championships last month. Another conference team, Minnesota, finished 10th in the team standing.
HURST, SIPE EARN ALL-STATE HONORS
MT. VERNON — A pair of Mt. Vernon Township High School football seniors have been named to all-state teams.
Lucas Hurst, a senior linebacker, was named academic All-State, while classmate Brian Sipe was named to the Class 5A football honorable mention team.
To be eligible, Hurst made to maintain a grade-point average of 3.7 or better, and be named first team all-conference. Hurst accomplished the latter as a first-team defender in the South Seven.
“Luke worked hard in the weight room,” Rams coach Dan Mings said, “and he worked even harder in the classroom.”
Sipe, who set several state records for blocked kicks, was an honorable mention linebacker.
“Considering the records he broke, Brian probably would have been maybe first- or second-team had we done a bit better win-wise,” Mings said.
“Still, Brian, like Lucas, was very deserving of the awards.”
LADY CARDINALS, TROJANS WIN AT EDCO GIRLS TOURNAMENT
ALBION — Both of Jefferson County’s entries picked up victories Monday night at the Edwards County Lady Lions Thanksgiving Tournament.
Woodlawn improved to 3-0 with a 56-29 win against the hosts, after Webber turned the tables against Wayne City, 54-37.
The tournament resumes tonight with Woodlawn meeting New Harmony (Ind.) at 6 p.m., which will determine the winner of that pool.
WOODLAWN 56, EDWARDS COUNTY 29
Forcing the hosts into 25 turnovers, the Lady Cardinals (3-0) led 14-5 after one period, 322-15 at halftime and then pullled away at the third stop, 50-21.
“We didn’t shoot well,” Woodlawn coach Eric Helbig said, “but we took care of the basketball and force turnovers.”
Alexa Capps scored 23 points and Leah Sutton added 18 for the Cardinals. Whitney Lowery just missed double figures with eight points.
WEBBER 54, WAYNE CITY 37
A 10-point loser last week at home in a sloppy season opener against Wayne City, the Lady Trojans (1-4) gained a note of revenge to win their first game.
“The differences were reducing our turnovers,” Webber coach Josh Smith said. “And we shut down (Indians center Olivia) Clark by staying grounded in our 1-3-1 zone and not jumping around.”
Webber jumped ahead 19-8 after a quarter and stayed on top, leading 30-18 at halftime and 40-32 going into the final frame.
Danielle Snow led all scorers with 15 points, Shelby Elliston adding 13 and Hailey Martin 11. Megan Withrow had 13 for Wayne City, but Clark had just a half-dozen after scoring15 last week.
Webber now awaits to see how the final night of play shakes down the brackets in terms of when the Trojans play in Saturday’s trophy round.
Webber 54, Wayne City 37
Webber 19 11 10 14—54
Wayne City 8 10 14 5—37
Webber (54): Snow 15, Elliston 13, Martin 11, Lumpkins 7, Laird 4, McLaughlin 2, Girvan 2.
Wayne City (37): NWithrow 13, Bradford 7, Clark 6, Stephenson 4, TWithrow 3, Burner 2, Spicer 2
Woodlawn 56, Edwards County 29
EdCo 5 10 6 8—29
Woodlawn 14 18 18 6—56
EDWARDS COUNTY (29)
Turpin 6 0-0 14, Garner 1 5-5 7, Hout 2 0-0 4, Williams 2 0-0 4. Totals 11 5-5 29
WOODLAWN (3-0)
Verhines 0 1-4 1, Renaud 1 2-2 4, Lowery 3 2-8 8, Capps 9 2-2 23, Sutton 7 4-5 18, Mullins 1 0-1 2. Totals 21 11-22 56
3-point goals — EdCo 2 (Turpin 2). Woodlawn 3 (Capps 3). Team fouls — EdCo 14, Woodlawn 7.
