July 3, 2025 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Mattsey, Poe highlight SJO boys’ cross-country’s recent success, while Plotner, Rajlich do the same for SJO girls’ cross-country

All the miles, all the training and all the preparation will come to a head this Saturday for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams.

That’s because the start of the postseason is upon the Spartans, who will compete this Saturday at the Class 1A Tuscola Regional. The girls’ race is slated for a 10 a.m. start at Wimple Park in Tuscola, with the boys’ race to follow at approximately 10:45 a.m. at Wimple Park.

The top seven teams in both races — the boys’ race features 14 teams and the girls’ race has 12 team — will move on to the Effingham St. Anthony Sectional on Nov. 2, while the first five runners who are not members of the advancing teams will also get the chance to compete at the sectional meet.

Prior to this Saturday, the Spartans found themselves in three different invitationals in an 11-day span that helped prepare SJO for what to expect during the postseason.

This past Saturday, SJO ran at the Patriot Invitational, hosted by Peoria Heights at Detweiller Park in Peoria, with both teams placing in the top four of the team standings.

The SJO boys’ team finished fourth of 41 teams with 213 points. Monticello won the meet with 55 points, while Elmwood (106), Father McGivney (212), SJO and Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (233) rounded out the top five schools.

Junior Brandon Mattsey posted the top time for SJO by placing 15th in 16 minutes, 15.8 seconds. Senior Eric Poe was the next SJO runner to cross the finish line, doing so in 28th place with a time of 16:31.3. Sophomores Charlie Mabry (17:11.5, 61st place), Elijah Mock (17:12.7, 62nd place) and Luke Stegall (17:29.6, 84th place) also factored into the team score for SJO.

The SJO girls’ team finished third out of 31 teams at the Patriot Invitational, racking up a team score of 70. Monticello won with 31 points, while Unity (52), SJO, Elmwood (164) and Chillicothe IVC (307) were the next four schools in the team standings.

Senior Jillian Plotner compiled the best time for SJO with a ninth-place finish in 18:50.8. Senior Hannah Rajlich wasn’t far behind, placing 10th in 19:15.1, while sophomore Ava Knap (19:23.6, 18th place), sophomore Ashlyn Lannert (19:25.5, 19th place) and senior Ally Monk (19:36.8, 25th place) all had solid finishes to help SJO place among the top three teams.

Prior to racing at Detweiller Park — the site of the state meet on Nov. 9 — both SJO teams ran at the Prairie Central Invitational on Oct. 12. The SJO boys placed fifth out of 14 teams with 107 points, trailing meet champion Herscher (69), Uni High (70), Paxton-Buckley-Loda (101) and Eureka (104) in the team chase. The SJO girls were second out of nine teams, compiling 58 points to finish just behind meet champion Eureka (52). Uni High (78), Shelbyville (125) and Herscher (129) rounded out the top five schools.
Individually, Mattsey led the SJO boys on Oct. 12 with a sixth-place finish in 16:10.4. Following Mattsey was Poe (16:46.9, 14th place), Stegall (17:06.8, 29th place), Mock (17:09.1, 30th place) and Mabry (17:16.4, 32nd place).

Rajlich had the top time for the SJO girls at the Prairie Central Invitational with a seventh-place finish in 19:04.8, followed by Plotner (19:21.2, 10th place), Lannert (19:22.8, 12th place), Monk (19:31.9, 14th place) and sophomore Kailyn Ingram (19:37.8, 15th place).

Both SJO programs placed third at the Illini Prairie Conference Meet on Oct. 8 in Fairbury. The Spartans’ boys had 122 points at the 10-team meet, trailing only meet champion Olympia (29) and Monticello (42). Mattsey finished with SJO’s top time in 15:46.3, good enough for ninth place. Poe (16:10.2, 20th place), Mabry (16:45.7, 27th place), Mock (16:50.7, 29th place) and junior Lukas Hutcherson (17:00.2, 37th place) all were the next SJO runners to cross the finish line and compile the team score.

On the girls’ side, SJO finished with 60 points, just behind meet champion Monticello (40) and Unity (47). Plotner and Rajlich contributed the top two times for SJO, with Plotner finishing eighth in 18:03.8 and Rajlich finishing 10th in 18:04.6. Knap (18:10.4, 13th place), Lannert (18:12.6, 14th place) and Monk (18:20.0, 15th place) all stayed in a pack together to give SJO five runners in the top 15.

Banner
Related Posts

Berry, Bigger help power SJO volleyball to five straight wins

September 26, 2019

September 26, 2019

Heading into Thursday night’s home showdown with St. Thomas More, the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team has won five straight matches....

Immke, Martinie help power SJO softball to five-game win streak

April 18, 2022

April 18, 2022

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School softball team is finding its rhythm.And picking up plenty of wins in the process.The Spartans...

Ward, Martlage and Immke help SJO softball get back in win column

May 5, 2021

May 5, 2021

A flurry of games is usually the norm for St. Joseph-Ogden softball.But usually, at this juncture in the calendar, the...

SJO girls’ basketball vies for sectional title tonight

February 14, 2019

February 14, 2019

Win on Thursday night and the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team achieves a milestone only one other team...

McCune accomplishes personal goal

May 14, 2021

May 14, 2021

At the beginning of his sophomore track season at University of Illinois-Springfield, St. Joseph-Ogden graduate Isiah McCune had a goal...

Bree Trimble Working Out With Siblings and Father

July 7, 2020

July 7, 2020

Like all athletes, Bree Trimble plans on coming back to the Parkland College Cobra women’s basketball team as a bigger,...

Softball looks to rebound after tough week

April 22, 2019

April 22, 2019

Giving up big innings proved problematic for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School softball team last week. The Spartans carry a...

SJO Spring track letter and award winners

June 7, 2022

June 7, 2022

Boys TrackBraden Clampitt, Sr.Charlie Mabry, Sr.Elijah Mock, Sr.Jett Morris, Sr.Jonny Poulter, Sr.Luke Stegall, Sr.Owen Birt, Jr.Tyler Burch, Jr.Aidan McCorkle, Jr.Aidan...

SJO Softball letter and award winners

June 7, 2022

June 7, 2022

Kennedy Hudson, Sr.Jacey Lewis, Sr.Jessica Palmer, Sr.Taylor Wells, Sr.Alyssa Acton, Jr.Shayne Immke, Jr.Peyton Jones, Jr.Ava Northen, Jr.Kat Short, Jr.Halle Brazelton,...

Harper sparks SJO soccer to another win

September 25, 2024

September 25, 2024

The St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ soccer team has proven this season it can find the back of theopponent’s net. Frequently. The...

Cook surpasses 1,000 career points

February 18, 2019

February 18, 2019

Before the St. Joseph-Ogden girls’ basketball teams plays Monday night for a shot to reach the state tournament, facing Chicago...

Get to know SJO Volleyball player Helene Jones

October 31, 2022

October 31, 2022

What do you think makes the team so successful? Everyone on the team is so close outside of volleyball, so...

Plotner’s positive attitude key to success

April 30, 2019

April 30, 2019

Jillian Plotner is having an amazing track season. The St. Joseph-Ogden junior helped the 3,200 relay team win first place...

Knap, Jones lead balanced SJO girls’ cross-country effort in Monticello

October 24, 2020

October 24, 2020

Consistent running is key for any cross-country team. Not having one runner separate themselves too far from their teammates or...

Haley’s lofty vision with SJO baseball has become reality

April 16, 2019

April 16, 2019

Josh Haley didn’t do anything elaborate after he achieved a coaching milestone earlier this month. For the St. Joseph-Ogden High...

Comments
Leave a Reply