Eagles’ Wolf gets postseason run at state medal off to solid start at regionals

LIBERTY, Ill. — Cannen Wolf positioned himself to chase a state medal.

All it takes is two more quality runs.

The Liberty senior cross country standout took the first step toward his goal Saturday, finishing third in the Class 1A Liberty Regional at Uhland Acres and advancing along with the rest of the Eagles to next Saturday’s Elmwood Sectional. Wolf finished in 16 minutes, 6.91 seconds.

“We’ll get through next weekend and then we’ll give it everything we have,” Liberty coach Jared Schmidt said. “We have to keep him healthy. A couple good weeks of training and we’ll be fine.”

The same goes for West Hancock’s Miles Sheppard, who is in the rare company of being a state championship contender. The senior set a course record and won the regional title by finishing in 14:46.19. The Titans’ Noah Stout was second in 16:05.06.

West Hancock won the team title with 30 points, followed by Pleasant Plains (61) and Franklin (74). The top seven teams advance to the sectional, which means fifth-place Quincy Notre Dame and sixth-place Liberty advance.

QND freshman Joe Warning finished 12th overall in 17:58.23 and was the highest finishing freshman in the field. The Raiders’ Evan Hirstius was 23rd (18:25.10). Liberty sophomore Devon Funk was 10th (17:33.84), while Pittsfield sophomore Jackson Veile was 13th (18:01.37).

On the girls side, QND senior Teresa Drotar finished fifth individually in 20:37.68 and led the Raiders to a third-place finish and a sectional berth. QND finished with 59 points. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin won the regional with 23 points with Pleasant Plains in second with 55. Liberty took sixth and advanced.

The Raiders’ Makayla Patton finished ninth (21:20.93) and Abigail Genenbacher was 12th (21:32.35). Liberty’s Larissa Neisen was 21st (22:33.17) and Arianna Neisen was 22nd (22:37.51).