PEORIA — It’s been a while since Manteno has been a factor on the state cross country scene.
Slowly but surely, however, the Panthers appear to be making an impression.
An All-State individual performance from 12th-place sophomore Klarke Goranson led the Manteno girls to a 22nd-place team finish with 487 points in the Class 1A state final Nov. 8 at Detweiller Park. The top 25 individual finishers received All-State status.
This was the first state appearance for the girls, according to their coach, Troy Mitchell. He said the last state appearance for a Manteno team was by the boys, 47 years ago in Class A.
Goranson continued her impressive runs — four All-State finishes, two in cross country and two in track — by completing the 3-mile course in 17:11.84. Last year she was sixth in 2A at 17:08.16.
The overall pace was faster in this race, which was run in ideal weather conditions — dry and overcast, with temperatures in the 50s. A champion this year and last, Sandwich senior Sundara Weber finished in 15:54.42 in 1A last week as opposed to 16:11.3 in 2A in 2024.
“I was hoping for a little bit faster, but it’s OK,” Goranson said. “I was a lot more nervous this year. I feel like last year, I went in not really expecting much. I was a freshman, so I was really not nervous at all last year.
“I just need to keep pushing myself in practice and in my workouts and I think I’ll be in a good spot for next year.”
Mitchell concurs. He doesn’t believe effort will be a problem with Goranson.
“I’m along for the ride,” Mitchell said. “She works hard. And the key thing is she’s a great team leader and she sets the tone for the girls to work hard, too.”
That group includes sophomore Lyla Nevel. She finished 42nd individually, in a personal-best 18:24.1.
Following Goranson and Nevel were freshman DeLanie Monroe (158th, 20:20.03), junior Olivia Zwirkoski (204th, 21:14.45) and another freshman, Riley Powell (239th, 23:51.00).
The Panthers lose only one senior, Sadie Garcia. The underclass strength would appear to augur well for the program. It’s made strides from when Mitchell took over in 2022.
“When I first started coaching at Manteno, motivating them was difficult,” he said. “There was no culture. As far as going for a workout, walking when the coach was not watching (is) no longer the norm. I can trust them to go on a long run and do their workout.
“The goal is to get here. And with girls like Klarke and Lyla, to go to the next level.”
In the 1A boys race, Manteno seniors Seth McHugh and Caden Reiter were 165th (16:38.04) and 190th (17:02.32), respectively, in the 257-runner field. Gillespie senior Chaz Oberkfell won for the second consecutive year, this time in 14:32.1.