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Talia Jenkins, Atlas Brown, Ottawa teams take home titles at 2026 La Salle County Invitational · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Talia Jenkins, Atlas Brown, Ottawa Teams take-home titles at 2026, LaSalle County
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  Invitational. This article is being read
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  by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. The annual LaSalle
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  County Invitational, hosted by the Eastwood and Striater, is often a highlight
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  on the calendars of the county's cross country runners, offering the chance
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  to tune up for conference and postseason races while winning bragging rights
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  against neighboring schools and running rivals. Oh and it also tends to
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  be fast, real fast. I like this course, said Seneca sophomore Talia
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  Jenkins, the individual girls champion who set a new personal record by
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  almost a full minute with her time of twenty minutes one point
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  three seconds. It's a little too windy with lots of turns, but
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  I really like it. Uh it's really fast and there are some
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  good hills to work on too. It's nice to see everybody, have
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  people to run with. I was not expecting to win, but I'm
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  really happy with how I did. Ottawa Junior Atlas Brown claimed the
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  Boys County title with a first place run of 1558.5 on Saturday
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  morning. Ottawa also won both team championships, including the boys title, by
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  a comfortable 21-57 score over second place LaSalle, third place Seneca, And
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  fourth place Streeter. This is one, Brown said. This is the one
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  I've been looking forward to this year. There's friendly competition here, people
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  I know, and I've always run a PR here. And it's close
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  to my hometown. The key was taking my first mile fast, but
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  then slowing down enough for my second to be able to hold
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  on the rest of the race. Brown's teammate Connor Medina, second 16049,
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  finished right behind him. The Victorious Pirates other counting performances were put
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  in by Tucker Clemens, 4th, 1707 4. Boy Aries
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  Brown, 61730.2, Landon Gustafsson, 8017, 40.0, 15, 18, 41.7,
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  and Vincent Zuber, 17th, 1853.5. Runner Up LaSalle Peru was led
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  by All County DOP ten runs from Gianni Verrucci third sixteen sixteen
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  point four, Luca Verrucci 1735.2, and Bryce Keckler, Ninth, 744.8
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  I was looking forward to this one, Gianni Verrucki said, noting a
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  tough late week training session hindered him from his goal of winning
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  Saturday's event. It was a little disappointing, I guess. I
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  got 10-second here last year, but it is what it is. It's
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  not the last race of the season. Other All County finishes were
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  recorded by Seneca's Liam Bema 517.5 as well as the host Bulldogs
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  Reese Diaz 10th 1745.3. I'm pretty happy because I got a ten
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  second PR and now I'm looking forward to the Illinois Central Eight
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  Conference meet were Diaz said of
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  the event Striater will host october seventeenth back at the Eastwood. I
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  want to go seventeen thirty, fifteen seconds off what I just ran
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  here. In the girls race, Ottawa's team came out on top of
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  a close 32-34 score with runner-up Seneca and third place LP. The
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  Pirates were paced by third place individual finisher Georgia Kirkpatrick, 2059.1. This
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  is my favorite meet of the year, my favorite one, Kirk Kirkpatrick
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  said. I love this course, and team wise we're having such a
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  good season. We really pushed each other today, and this course is
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  just the perfect place to do it. I'm happy with my run,
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  but I'm more happy with the team. Everyone did so good packing
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  together. We're having a really good team season this year, and that's
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  the important thing. Ottawa's other scoring runners were Aile Hurstead, fifth twenty-one
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  sixteen point one, Cameron Lasha, seventh, twenty-one, twenty-three point seven, Kiana Berry,
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  Ninth 21, 40.8, Leah Ferrantino, 11, 21, 44.0, Ocean
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  Fowler, 12 21, 50.5, and Jasmine Adams, 13, 22062. Seneca
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  saw Jenkins finish first, followed by runner-up teammate Ellie Thomson 2019.6 and
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  a third All-County runner Jose Muller 6219.0. Mina McFadden,
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  fourth twenty one fifteen. Was LP's lone all-county runner Saturday morning. I
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  heard it was an easy course because there aren't many hills, and
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  I really wanted a PR on it, McFadden said. And I was
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  looking forward to a medal. I started off fast and I just
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  kept beating people as I kept going. Mendota's Lumen Sechell, eighth, twenty
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  one, twenty eight point zero, and Streeter's Rhea Huey, tenth, twenty one,
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  forty two point six also finished in the top ten to bring
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  home all county accolades.