Manteno junior Klarke Goranson made it three-for-three in all-state performances.
Despite not knowing in September if she was going to participate in the postseason because of a stress fracture in her left leg, she came back for conference, regionals and sectionals. And on Nov. 7, she finished 12th in the Class 1A state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
She covered the 3-mile course in 17 minutes 37.50 seconds.
“I’m definitely happy with my run,” she said. “I wasn’t just running for myself, I was running to help the team.
“I wasn’t back in the shape that I hoped to be in and it was a little bit of a struggle halfway through. But I was glad I was able to run and get all-state again.”
Goranson finished sixth in the state in Class 2A as a freshman and 12th last year in 1A.
Panthers coach Troy Mitchell was happy with Goranson, who sat out the regular season after the first meet in Morris.
“There is no harder worker than Klarke,” he said. “She started running in late September and her first meet back was Oct. 17. At state, she did a phenomenal job and gave it her all.
“I can’t be more impressed with her.”
Goranson also has four all-state awards in track and after taking some time off this week, she said she plans to get back in track mode.
As a team, the Panthers took 22nd with 533 points.
Following Goranson were sophomore DeLanie Monroe (139th, 20:03.20), junior Lyla Nevel (155th, 20:13.00), senior Olivia Zwirkoski (182nd, 20:47.60) and sophomore Riley Powell (241st, 22:59.10).
Elsewhere in the area, Peotone freshman Emma Pena took 66th with an 18:46.40 and Beecher’s Rachel Imig was 121st with a 19:44.50.
In Class 2A, Crete-Monee’s Evelyn Stolzenbach was 128th (19:36.73).
Manteno in Elite Eight
Manteno’s girls volleyball team won its sixth sectional title and first since 1989 with a 25-17, 25-23 triumph over Aurora Central Catholic Nov. 5 at the Class 2A Chicago Christian Sectional.
Senior Maddie Gesky was once again strong in the middle with 10 kills and five blocks. Makenna Laskowski added five kills, with Leah Milton and Olivia McElroy adding four each.
Maddy Belisle had 12 digs, Morgan Derrico had 11 and Danika Fletcher had 18 assists.
The Panthers (37-1) were scheduled to meet Tri-Valley (29-3) on Nov. 9 at the Seneca Supersectional for the right to advance to the Final Four on Nov. 13-14 at CEFCU Arena in Normal.
Grant Park’s season ended with 22-25, 25-22, 25-20 loss to Schaumburg Christian in the championship of the Class 1A Aurora Christian Sectional.
Sophomore MacKenna Wells led the Dragons (27-9) with 13 kills and three blocks in the setback, which snapped a 20-match winning streak.