2 days Ago
TUSCOLA — This season had a little different feel than the last one for the Tuscola boys’ cross-country team. A lot different, actually. If you remember, the Warriors made history in 2023, winning their first-ever Class 1A state title to cap off an undefeated season.
Senior leaders Jackson Barrett, Will Foltz and Josiah Hortin led the way, finishing third, sixth and 10th at state, respectively. They’ve all since gone their separate ways to compete at the Division I level — Barrett at Illinois, Foltz at Southern Illinois and Hortin at Louisville — leaving the program in the good hands of Blake McLeese, Xander Neamtu and David Hornaday. McLeese and Neamtu were already two of the best runners in the area, and they were set up for a big 2024.
Hornaday wasn’t going to be too far behind, having shown promise in his first season running cross-country after walking away from football. Then, Hornaday took off. “I wish I started earlier.
I’d be a whole lot better,” Hornaday said. “When I first started, I could barely do 2 miles. Now, I’m doing almost 14 a day.
” Still fairly fresh to the sport as a senior, Hornaday turned out to be the one to take the reins, winning the Central Illinois Conference and 1A Tuscola Regional titles on his way to becoming the only Warrior to qualify for state. “He grew much faster than I would have ever expected,” Tuscola boys’ coach Neil Garrison said. “We limit ourselves based on our past, and for some reason, he didn’t.
Last year, he was sixth on our team and wasn’t in the top 10 of our conference. In his mind, he’s now a champion. Whatever reason it clicked, it’s been good.
I never would have predicted his growth.” At state, Hornaday ran a near-personal-best time of 15 minutes, 23.7 seconds to finish 29th, improving on last year’s result by almost 90 seconds and moving up 117 positions.
He missed out on earning All-State honors by fewer than five seconds. “I’m super proud of what I did. I was so close to All-State as someone who was a nobody in the running world,” Hornaday said.
“Last year was super enjoyable and super fun. Even though the team did a little worse, it was a whole lot more fulfilling personally because I did it. I made that commitment, I made those marks and I put the work in to get me here.
” As for McLeese and Neamtu, their seasons ended a little earlier than expected after a sickness made its way around the school and affected their performance. They, along with Hornaday, swept the top three spots at the conference meet, but Hornaday was the only one to avoid the bug. Yes, this season was different, but it gave one Warrior a chance to prove himself, and he did that and then some.
“I’m proud of him, and he’s such a great kid. I was lucky to get him,” Garrison said. “He did extra workouts all season just to give himself a chance.
In the end, it worked out. We’ve been around since 1963 at Tuscola, and we’ve only had two teams and six individuals make it to state. It’s harder as an individual, and he’s one of them.
One of our greatest in our little town.” A look ahead This week, we decided to do something different with our Athlete of the Week voting. Something special.
To commemorate the Mahomet-Seymour volleyball team winning the first state championship in program history, we put four Bulldogs up for the honor. However, after even further discussion, we came to the conclusion that the whole team deserved recognition. So, join me in congratulating all 15 players from the M-S volleyball team for earning co-Athlete of the Week honors along with their state title.
I’ll have more from them in Monday’s sports pages. As for the boys, that poll still works the same as always. The only difference is that all four athletes are football players because that’s the only boys’ sport still going.
The finalists are Nolan Buehnerkemper of Monticello, Dane Eisenmenger of Unity, Ethan Hall of Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin and Bo Zeleznik of LeRoy. Be sure to cast your vote at news-gazette.com before the poll closes at noon on Thursday.
On that same note of honoring volleyball players, the third-annual Bird Cage Classic Senior Volleyball All-Star Games are scheduled for this Sunday at Warrensburg-Latham High School. The North and West teams will play at 3 p.m.
, with the South and East playing next. The third-place game and championship will follow. LeRoy’s Natalie Loy and Clinton’s Kate Goebel made the North roster.
Sullivan’s Emily Miller and Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond’s Alayna Plank will compete for the South. Finally, the East is full of area names: Gabby Laskowski and Kharma Giles from Argenta-Oreana; Lauren Shaw, Chloey Duitsman and Estella Dodd from Unity; and Sierrah Downey, Pearl Glaze and Alice Swanson from Monticello. So, if you’re looking for something to do the Sunday before Thanksgiving, head to Warrensburg to support our area seniors one last time.
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