Blue Devils’ Rosen and Schuering earn spots in state cross country field

QUINCY — The sun sparkled Saturday, which made for perfect weather to run the Class 3A boys and girls cross country sectionals at Bob Mays Park.

The only problem was there wasn’t enough sun prior to Saturday to dry out the 3-mile course.

Muddy conditions seemed to bog down some runners, leading to higher times and challenging runners to keep pace when legs became fatigued. Quincy High School’s Fiker Rosen and Anna Schuering did their best to stay in the mix.

The seniors finished in the top 11 of their respective races, earning spots in the state championship field and helping the QHS boys and girls both finish 10th in the 18-team event. The top seven teams and the top 10 individuals not on those teams qualified to run at Peoria’s Detweiler Park next Saturday.

“They ran pretty competitive,” QHS coach Eric Davis said. “They got out quick.”

Rosen finished fifth individually, posting a time of 15 minutes, 56 seconds. Plainfield South’s Camyn Viger won the sectional championship in 15:32.4, edging Joliet West’s Marcellus Mines by .2 of a second.

“Fiker ran a smart, tough race,” Davis said.

Schuering finished 11th in the girls race in 19:14.4. Yorkville’s Anna Hunter took first in 18:26. The top seven runners all broke 19 minutes.

“Anna got up there and just hung on,” Davis said. “She fell back a couple of places in the middle of the race, but came back and redeemed herself a little bit.”

QHS junior Eric McClelland narrowly missed qualifying as an individual, finishing 43rd in 17:05.2. He was seven seconds out of a state qualifying place. QHS senior Ayden Triplett finished in 17:42.4.

On the girls side, QHS sophomore Olivia Schuering was 39th in 20:17, also narrowly missing a state berth. QHS junior Alexandria Meyers was 50th in 20:25.2.