May 7, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Mattsey, Plotner key strong starts for SJO cross-country

The Chrisman Cow Chip Classic features seven different waves of runners.

Run over a pasture near Chrisman High School, hence the name for the popular early-season cross-country meet.
And this past Saturday, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ cross-country team placed third out of 14 teams, while the SJO girls’ team finished fifth out of eight teams.

This comes on the heels of the Spartans opening the season on Aug. 31 with steady performances at the Doc Acklin Memorial Invitational in Paris. The SJO boys’ team placed first in the eight-team meet, while the SJO girls’ team was second out of five teams.

At Chrisman, junior Brandon Mattsey represented the SJO boys’ in the first flight, placing eighth with a time of 17 minutes, 15 seconds. Senior Eric Poe took eighth in flight No. 2 with a time of 17:29.30, while sophomore Elijah Mock was fourth in flight No. 3 with a time of 17:46.39.

In the fourth flight, sophomore Luke Stegall was sixth in 18:12.56, while sophomore Charlie Mabry (third in flight No. 5, 18:13.80), sophomore Braden Clampitt (fifth in flight No. 6, 19:00.24) and junior Lukas Hutcherson (third in flight No. 7, 18:47.50) also added to the Spartans’ team totals.

Monticello won both the boys’ meet and the girls’ meet.

On the girls’ side, senior Jillian Plotner finished sixth in the first flight in a time of 20:07.69, while senior Hannah Rajlich was fourth at flight No. 2 in 20:38.43.

Sophomore Ava Knapp was fifth in flight No. 3 at 20:51.18 and sophomore Ashlyn Lannert was sixth at flight No. 4 in 22:15.28.
Senior Ally Monk (fourth in flight No. 5, 21:02.48), sophomore Hope Rajlich (third in flight No. 6, 21:32.93) and sophomore Kailyn ingram (third in flight No. 7, 21:34.64) also chipped in for the Spartans.

Prior to the Cow Chip Classic, the SJO boys’ team placed five runners in the top 10 to help contribute to a team title at the Doc Acklin Memorial Invitational in Paris. The SJO girls’ team had five runners in the top 11 at the meet, helping the Spartans finish second.

Mattsey paced the SJO boys’ team with a second-place finish in 17:01.4, while Poe was right behind Mattsey with a third-place finish in 17:07.6.

Mock (17:44.0, seventh), Stegall (17:46.8, eighth) and Mabry (18:04.1, 10th) all contributed to SJO’s team championship.
The Spartans compiled 25 points, well ahead of runner-up Marshall (49). Cumberland (79), Effingham (99) and Teutopolis (107) rounded out the top five schools.

Plotner led the SJO girls’ team with a third-place finish in 18:35.2 in Paris. Hannah Rajlich was the next SJO runner to finish with a fifth-place showing in 20:37.9. Knapp (20:44.8, seventh), Lannert (21:06.3, 10th) and Monk (21:11.7, 11th) rounded out the top five runners for the Spartans.

Marshall won the team title with 28 points, followed by SJO (34), Teutopolis (98), Paris (104) and Okaw Valley (112).

Both SJO teams are slated to get back in action at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Kickapoo State Park in a meet against Oakwood/Salt Fork before taking part in the First to the Finish Invitational that starts at 9 a.m. this Saturday at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Banner
Related Posts

SJO to host first-round playoff game

October 22, 2022

October 22, 2022

The St. Joseph-Ogden football team (6-3) will host Robinson (6-3) in the first round of the IHSA Class 3A football...

Showdown at BHRA on tap for SJO boys’ basketball

December 16, 2024

December 16, 2024

The St. Joseph-Ogden and Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin boys’ basketball teams are familiar with each other. That’s because the two tradition-rich programs typically...

Relays shine bright for SJO girls’ track and field at Unity Invite

April 14, 2019

April 14, 2019

This past Friday night saw the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ track and field team turn in a sterling performance...

SJO cross-country is heading to state!

November 4, 2019

November 4, 2019

Detweiller Park, here they come. After two stellar postseason races, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ cross-country team and girls’...

How sweet it is: SJO volleyball wins sectional title!

November 7, 2019

November 7, 2019

What a moment. What a feeling. And what an opportunity the St. Joseph-Ogden High School volleyball team still has in...

Immke, host of others help SJO softball pile up the wins in May

May 26, 2021

May 26, 2021

The last three weeks have seen the St. Joseph-Ogden softball team play a whole bunch of games — 15 to...

Armstrong leads balanced offense in win against Pontiac

February 25, 2021

February 25, 2021

Recovering from a tough home loss with a road win is always a good sign.Especially with multiple road games on...

SJO girls’ track and field aiming for another banner year

April 2, 2019

April 2, 2019

Hoisting a state championship trophy is how the St. Joseph girls’ track and field team ended its season last May....

St. Joseph Pony League wins tournament championship

July 13, 2021

July 13, 2021

By Jim Cotter —-URBANA—- In baseball, as is usually the case with most other sports, finishing a season better than...

Spartans kick off season with 1-1 record

March 31, 2021

March 31, 2021

SJO 28-Pontiac 0 The Spartans dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage in defeating the Indians 28-0 in...

Dowing ties state home run record as SJO softball wins third straight game

May 10, 2019

May 10, 2019

Bailey Dowling is one home run away from cementing her name atop a state record. Add on the fact the...

Brazelton, SJO wrestling off to solid start

December 14, 2023

December 14, 2023

A relatively young St. Joseph-Ogden wrestling team is faring well through the first two weeks of the season. The Spartans...

DeJarnette to lead soccer program at SJO

May 21, 2020

May 21, 2020

Bill DeJarnette is no stranger to the St. Joseph-Ogden soccer program. DeJarnette was the first coach of the SJO soccer...

Taylor reflects on SJO coaching tenure

August 16, 2021

August 16, 2021

Kevin Taylor realized he needed to make a change. But stepping aside from coaching the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’...

Cain, Pence help SJO boys’ basketball post two wins

January 27, 2020

January 27, 2020

Playing a competitive nonconference schedule is nothing new for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ basketball team. The Spartans face...

Comments
Leave a Reply