Manteno junior distance star Klarke Goranson returned to competition on Oct. 17 after missing a month and a half with a stress fracture.
And she didn’t miss a beat.
The junior won her third straight Illinois Central Eight cross country championship with a time of 17 minutes, 46.9 seconds at the Eastwood Golf Couse in Streator. That bettered her sophomore time of 17:52.6 on the same 3-mile course.
The last time she ran competitively was Aug. 24 at a meet in Morris.
Panthers coach Troy Mitchell was impressed with the time, but knew good things were in store thanks to Goranson’s work ethic during her time away from competition.
“She did a lot of cross-training and water running,” Mitchell said. “Her cardiovascular was really sound. We wanted to get her legs back and she looked strong.
“Going in, we just wanted her to run the race and finish. Her excellent time was a bonus.”
Goranson’s impressive running resume includes a sixth-place state finish in Class 2A in 2024 as a freshman and a 12th in Class 1A as a sophomore last year.
Manteno finished second in the ICE meet with 47 points as Lisle (32) was first. Sophomore DeLanie Monroe finished sixth with a 19:23.1, junior Nyla Nevel took ninth (20:06.0) and senior Olivia Zwirkoski was 10th (20.23.9) for the Panthers.
Manteno’s boys took second with 62 points.
Freshman Noah Nevel took seventh with a 17:12.9. Mitchell said that out of the top five finishers for the Panthers, four are freshman and one is a senior in his first year of cross country.
Crete’s sister acts
It was a great weekend for a pair of Crete-Monee sister duos.
Samantha and Savannah Lacsam took fourth place in the IHSA Class 1A U-High Sectional to qualify for the tennis state finals, which begin Oct. 22 at various sites in the north and northwest suburbs.
Another set of sisters — Evelyn and Julia Stolzenbach — took first and second respectively in the Southland Athletic Conference cross country meet and the Warriors won the team title at Rich.
Another Gesky milestone
After action last week, Manteno volleyball star Maddie Gesky owns the program career kills record with 894.
The Olivet Nazarene recruit also owns career scoring and rebounding records for the basketball team.
The Panthers suffered their first volleyball loss of the season to Morris, 27-25, 25-23, Oct. 17 in the Seneca Tournament semifinals. The Panthers (29-1) finished third in the tournament.
Crete volleyball wins SAC
For the third straight season, Crete-Monee’s girls volleyball team won the Southland Athletic Conference title, clinching it on Oct. 14 with a 25-13, 25-16 win over Rich.
Sophie Wieczorek and Lucinda Joyce each had five kills for the Warriors (15-11, 10-0) and Wieczorek added 14 assists.