May 26, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Franzen, Knapp lead SJO girls’ cross-country at regional meet and into sectional race

Making a run — literally — to Detweiller Park in Peoria is common for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ cross-country team.

This year doesn’t appear to be any different.

The Spartans crossed the first item off their postseason check list last Saturday, placing third at the 10-team Class 1A Chrisman Regional to qualify the entire SJO team for this Saturday’s St. Teresa sectional meet.

The sectional race is set to start at 10 a.m. at Hickory Point Golf Club in Forsyth. Finish among the top six teams, and the Spartans — who have won three state titles in program history and has three other top-three team finishes at state — will run on Nov. 6 at the state meet in Peoria.
SJO compiled a team score 72 at Chrisman, with Unity producing 29 points to win the regional title as Uni High had a score of 55 to place second. Paxton-Buckley-Loda (119) and St. Thomas More (129) rounded out the top five schools.

Making a run — literally — to Detweiller Park in Peoria is common for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ cross-country team.

This year doesn’t appear to be any different.

The Spartans crossed the first item off their postseason check list last Saturday, placing third at the 10-team Class 1A Chrisman Regional to qualify the entire SJO team for this Saturday’s St. Teresa sectional meet.

The sectional race is set to start at 10 a.m. at Hickory Point Golf Club in Forsyth. Finish among the top six teams, and the Spartans — who have won three state titles in program history and has three other top-three team finishes at state — will run on Nov. 6 at the state meet in Peoria.
SJO compiled a team score 72 at Chrisman, with Unity producing 29 points to win the regional title as Uni High had a score of 55 to place second. Paxton-Buckley-Loda (119) and St. Thomas More (129) rounded out the top five schools.

Freshman Savanna Franzen clocked the top time for the Spartans, crossing the finish line in 19 minutes, 3 seconds. Senior Ava Knap was the next SJO runner to finish, placing 12th in 19:48.2. Senior Kailyn Ingram (20:11.5, 16th), sophomore Chloe Burkhalter (20:54.2, 24th) and senior Addie Allen (21:31.9, 28th) rounded out the top five SJO runners to help the Spartans move on.
The top six teams at Hickory Point on Saturday will advance to the state meet at Detweiller — a course the tradition-rich program is quite familiar with.

Banner
Related Posts

Sparks plans on continuing Spartan success

March 14, 2019

March 14, 2019

Replacing a legend is not an easy task. However, when the legend is the all-time winningest softball coach in the...

Cafarelli, Kern help SJO golf start strong

August 31, 2022

August 31, 2022

The sport to begin during the fall season, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School golf team is off to a rousing...

Pence helps SJO boys’ basketball win opener; Toyota of Danville Classic up this week

November 30, 2021

November 30, 2021

All eyes will be on Ty Pence this basketball season. Understandably so. The St. Joseph-Ogden High School junior boys’ basketball...

Dukeman leads Spartans to victory

April 5, 2019

April 5, 2019

Eight games. Eight wins so far for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School softball team. The Spartans carry an 8-0 mark...

Bagby picks Indiana State

March 21, 2019

March 21, 2019

Next year, Cassidy Bagby will be a Sycamore. Earlier this month, St. Joseph-Ogden senior Cassidy Bagby signed her letter of...

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...

Total team effort keeps SJO baseball on a roll

May 19, 2021

May 19, 2021

About the only opponent to slow down St. Joseph-Ogden baseball recently is the weather.Persistent rain postponed Tuesday’s home showdown with...

5 Question Friday with senior Jackson Greer

September 2, 2022

September 2, 2022

Every Friday we are asking an SJO junior or senior athlete five questions. This week we talked to Jackson Greer....

Taylor wins twice for Spartans at Rantoul meet

April 10, 2019

April 10, 2019

The first big outdoor invitational is the season is nearly here for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ track and...

Weaver, SJO football is a way of life

August 30, 2019

August 30, 2019

With the 2019 St. Joseph-Ogden football season ready to kickoff on Friday evening, we are beginning a new feature called...

McKinney, Wedig help SJO football pull away from Prairie Central

September 5, 2025

September 5, 2025

Big offensive plays are bound to happen with the St. Joseph-Ogden football team. The Spartans, simply put, have too many...

Poe named male student-athlete of the month for August

September 20, 2019

September 20, 2019

Photo by Betty Lake Photography Eric Poe is a leader. St. Joseph-Ogden cross country head coach Jason Retz said Poe...

Public Statement from Dan Vogelsang

December 23, 2019

December 23, 2019

It was with a heavy heart that I submitted my resignation to the Saint Joseph-Ogden High School Board of Education...

Jacob, Cramer and steady defense spark SJO girls’ basketball ahead of difficult stretch this week

January 13, 2020

January 13, 2020

The race for first place in the Illini Prairie Conference is in full swing. And the St. Joseph-Ogden High School...

5 Questions with ASHER PRUEMER

March 1, 2024

March 1, 2024

How would you describe your team? I would say that this is very team-oriented and is one that is always...

Comments
Leave a Reply