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La Salle-Peru’s Gianni Verucchi qualifies for 2A state cross country meet: Saturday’s NewsTribune/BCR roundup · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  La Salle Peru's Johnny Verrucci qualifies for 2A State Cross Country Meet,
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  Saturday's News Tribune BCR Roundup. Written by Kevin Schlum. This
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  article is being read by an automated voice brought to you by
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  Everlet. Cross country. At Metamora. On Saturday, LaSalle
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  Peru Sr. Gianni Verrucci reached a goal he's been striving to achieve
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  for years. Verucki ran a three-mile personal record of 15 23.3
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  to place 28th overall at the Class IIA Metamora sectional to earn
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  an individual berth to the ISA state meet. It means everything to
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  me, Veruki said. I really put in so many hours into this
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  sport after all these years. It really does mean a lot to
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  see something I've worked so hard for finally come to fruition. Farrucki
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  ran better than his seed to qualify for state. My strategy today
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  was to just break my limits, Verucki said. I wasn't seated to
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  make state. I was seated 42nd and the 12th individual, with top
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  10 individuals making state. But I'd managed to place 28th and be
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  the ninth individual. I went out harder than ever before and really
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  pushed myself to hold on and continue to race. I raced the
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  first mile with my head, the second with my legs, and the
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  third with my heart. Overall I think my race went very well
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  and I
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  executed my strategy perfectly and way better than I expected. Verucki hopes
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  to lower his time even more next weekend at Detweiler Park. At
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  state I want to chase history and get the school record of
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  fifteen twenty, Verucki said. I really think I have it in me,
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  and that it will be possible to do. I barely missed state
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  last year, so just being able to run at state is a
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  huge honor in itself, so I will make the most of this
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  great opportunity and run better than ever before. In the girls race,
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  LP freshman Mina McFadden wrapped up her season by placing 60th in
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  2015. At Oregon, entering high school as a two time IESA state
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  qualifier, Putnam County freshman Aniston Judd had the goal of reaching state
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  this fall. She accomplished it Saturday, placing sixth at the Class one
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  A Oregon sectional in nineteen twenty three point eight to earn an
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  individual birth in the ISA State meet. It was definitely the goal
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  to go to state, Judd said. I'm very excited as a freshman.
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  I think it's a great opportunity, and I'm excited to go down
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  and compete at the state course Judge said she knew it was
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  a tough field going in and she wanted to compete to the
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  best of my ability. I thought I did good, Judd said. It
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  was very close. We had a
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  lot of good runners, that were all close together, and I thought
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  I stayed up with them, for a while and was able to
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  maintain my place and finish. Judd has run the Detweiler Park Course
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  twice this season, recording a personal record of eighteen oh eight. Five
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  at the Patriot Invite there on october seventeenth. I want to go
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  down and just do my best and get a PR, Judd said.
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  I've run at Detwiller a couple times before, so I'm looking for
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  great things. At Detweiler there's normally a lot. Of good runners, and
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  now that it's the state meet, there's definitely going to be great
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  competition. If I can stay up with them, that's going to be
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  great. Princeton seniors Peyton Frew and Ruby Acker also punched their tickets
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  to state, as Frew finished 10th in 19, 40.4, and Acker was
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  16th in 19, 59.6. The colder weather helped a lot and I
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  felt a lot better than last weekend at the regional, so It
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  was good, day Fru said. Last weekend I wasn't in the best
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  mindset. I was just kind of there. I feels like I got
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  enough sleep Friday night, so it helped a lot. I made sure
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  I stayed hydrated and I just felt a lot more prepared this
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  weekend. Frua said she did a better job focusing on her own
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  race Saturday. I'm always comparing myself to how other girls are and
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  what their methods are, but I just went out there and found
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  my spot and got comfortable, and it helped me a bunch to
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  get through the race, Fru said. Fru qualified for state for the
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  second year in a row. It feels really good, Fru said. I
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  worked really hard this summer to be able to qualify. That was
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  my main goal, so it feels good. Acker is a first-time state
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  qualifier after coming up just five places and six point one seconds
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  short last fall. Frua is happy to have Acker with her at
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  state this season. Ruby and I are always running together, so I'm
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  super excited that she gets to come with me to state this
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  year, Fru said. Princeton Senior Alexandra Waka concluded her season by finishing
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  34th and 2101-8, while Leila Acker, 100th, 23, 52.1,
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  Natalie Meyer, 103rd, 23, 59.8, Lily Simpson, 114th, 25,
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  25.3, and Emma Dye, 132nd, 29, 33, also ran for the Tigresses.
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  Other area runners finishing the season Saturday were Bureau Valley's Gemma Moore,
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  39, 21, 14.5, St. Bede's Gemma Finley, 61st, 21, 59.4,
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  Amboy's Scarlet Payne, 62nd, 22 o'clock, 6, Fieldcrest's Chloe Nussbaum,
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  64, 22049, and Mendota's Lumensetchel, 79, 22, 30.3 In
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  the boys race, Amboy.
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  Co-op had two runners advanced to state, as senior Henry Nichols placed
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  15th and 16, 37.4, and Junior Tyler Maher finished 25th in a
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  personal record 16 58.2. Putnam County's Carter Baxter finished 28th
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  in 1707, five just three places and 9.3 seconds shy of a
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  state trip. DuPew's Edward Rodriguez was thirty sixth and seventeen twenty one
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  point two, Bureau Valley had three in the top one hundred in
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  Easton Taylor, sixtieth, seventeen, forty seven point five, Alex Gileardo, seventy second
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  seventeen, fifty five point four, and Kane Richer ninety seventh, eighteen forty
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  point three, while St. Bede's RJ Hermesio eighteen twenty two point three
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  and Adrian Hermesio eighteen twenty five point eight finished eighty fifth and
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  eighty ninth, respectively. Gavin Dykman, eleventh, nineteen oh three five, led field
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  crest, football. Amboy Co-op 44, Milledgeville Zero, Colt McCoy ran for three
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  touchdowns as the Clippers cruised to a victory in the first round
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  of the Illinois Eight-Man Football Association playoffs on Saturday in Amboy. Thomas
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  Paine caught a 36-yard TD pass from Tanner Welch and ran for
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  a TD, while Jose Lopez also ran for a score for Amboy,
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  10-0.