Four cross country runners from the Little Conference rank among the best in the state, according to the the latest rankings from Illinois Running News.
On the boys side, Olney sophomore Quaid Berger moved up five spots in the rankings into eighth place in Class 2A. Tiger teammate Judah Dicks was 18th this week, his first top 25 ranking of the season.
Berger’s best time, according to Athletic.net, a cross country and track site which tracks performances across the country, came at the prestigious Light It Up XC Invitational in Clinton on Aug. 30. He ran the three-mile course in 14:42.76, good for second place. Berger was less than one second off that mark in his most recent race, the Charleston XC Invitational meet on the Eastern Illinois University course, on Saturday. He won the race in a time of 14:43.71.
Dicks finished seventh at the Clinton event, with a time of 15:17.37. At the Charleston race, he took sixth with a time of 15:40.65.
Berger is the defending LIC champion, while Dicks took fourth in the 2024 league meet.
The league champ on the girl’s side, Molly Farrell of Marshall, is also back. The senior is ranked sixth this week in the Illinois Running News rankings for Class 1A girls, with a listed time of 18:54.07. She recorded that time in winning the Doc Acklin Invitational race in Paris on Aug. 30, also a three-mile event. Farrell was sixth in the previous rankings.
Marshall junior Madeleine Fox, is in 11th place again this week. She joined with Farrell for a 1-2 finish at the Doc Acklin race in Paris, in a time of 19:33.40.
The Little Ilini Conference championship races are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 14 at the Laverne Gibson course in Terre Haute, Ind.
