Sports

SPORTS Marcos hit the course for cross country season

First complete teams for Polo High School since 2007 and 2011

BY BRIAN WEIDMAN bweidman@saukvalley.com

Polo sophomores Carson Jones and Bekah Zeigler were set to help their school’s football and volleyball teams achieve success this fall.

They’re still giving it their all for the Marcos, but now it’s traversing hills and flats, 3 miles at a time.

Jones and Zeigler are part of complete boys and girls cross country teams in Polo, which is some rare air. The boys last had a complete team in 2007, while for the girls, it was 2011. There have been individuals competing since then, but not complete teams – until now.

When the Illinois High School Association pushed back the fall’s two biggest sports, football and volleyball, on July 29 due to COVID-19 concerns, many athletes faced tough decisions. It was either try a sport that might not necessarily be their specialty, or wait until the winter sports came around.

For Jones, Zeigler and several other Marcos, their choice was to run. Jones had spent all summer getting ready for football, but had to quickly change course.

“It started out pretty hard, but now I’m in shape and I feel good now,” Jones said.

Four out of five members of the boys team (sophomores Jones and Avery Grenoble, junior Wyatt Queckboerner and freshman Carter Merdian) have a football background. Ben Plachno, a sophomore, is the only runner without a gridiron past.

For Jones, the toughest part of running is on the mental side.

“If your head’s not in it, then you’re not in it,” Jones said. “If you’re thinking you’re going to quit or you’re thinking you don’t like it, then you’re

SPECIAL EVENTS

Rhythm Ramblers to cap off Polo library concert series Friday

Lyle Grobe and the Rhythm Ramblers perform on Saturday, Sept. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Polo library outdoor pavilion, 302 W. Mason St., in Polo.

The band will wrap up the library’s free 2020 Outdoor Concert Series with

Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com

Polo’s Bekah Zeigler (left) and Carson Jones run along North Union Avenue in Polo during practice on Tuesday

not going to do as good as you could. If you think you can, then you will.”

Zeigler agrees with Jones that the most difficult transition to cross country has been with between her ears, not with her legs.

“It’s more of a mental sport than any other sport I’ve played before,” said Zeigler, who competes in volleyball and basketball. “It’s definitely the hardest sport I’ve ever been in, but it’s also one of the more rewarding too. You’re contributing to your team, but you see the individual results right away. You’re competing with yourself. It just depends on how good you want to be.”

Zeigler and freshmen Ellie Wells and Courtney Grobe were part of a 4 x 100 relay team that qualified for state as Aplington Middle School students, so they do have some background in running, albeit in sprints.

Zeigler, Wells, Grobe and sophomore Teah Almasy were each going to be volleyball players.

The other female cross country runners this year are junior Linnea Sundman and senior Kaylee Lowry.

The person in charge of getting the most out of this group is Tony Hardin, who coached cross country at Rockford Auburn the last 3 years before coming to Polo this school year. He is a PE teacher at Centennial Elementary School in Polo.

At the first practice back on Aug. 10, Hardin had four girls and two boys to work with, but has successfully recruited more athletes since. That they weren’t necessarily runners to begin with does not concern him.

“Anytime you can get an athlete coming from another sport, you’re going to benefit from that,” Hardin said. “They’re already competitive.”

When practice began a month ago, Hardin had his runners run 1 mile. The second day, it was a mile and a lap around the track, and the distance was slowly increased to build toward the first meet, on Sept. 3 at Pecatonica. All of the runners finished the race, with Jones and Zeigler leading the Marcos with fifth-place finishes.

Hardin was proud of his runners the first time out of gate.

“I think they learned a lot about the sport last week,” Hardin said, “but I think they learned even more about themselves, which is really important. They can keep pushing. They can handle a lot of pain. They can do something they never thought they’d be able to do.”

Polo Athletic Director Ted Alston is pleased many Marcos are giving cross country a chance.

“As soon as this went down with the IHSA, I was sitting in my chair at home, I read the email, I looked at my wife and said, ‘I’m going to have to start a cross country team’ because I know there’s going to be kids that want to compete that aren’t going to be able to compete right now. I was excited about it.

“As a football coach, you don’t want to lose kids to cross country, but as an AD, you want kids doing what they want to do, what makes them happy and what helps them compete.”

old favorites and classic country music.

Bring chairs or blankets, and a picnic dinner if you want.

Call 815-946-2713 for more information.

Guided state park hikes return Grant Afflerbaugh, the former site superintendent at Castle Rock State Park and Lowden State Park, will offer guided hikes through local state parks this month.

Each hike features a different state park with a trail that is often less traveled. Afflerbaugh will lead the group along with providing educational information throughout the hike. The group will meet at each park the day of the program.

The first hike will be offered at Lowden Miller State Forest on Friday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.

Register for this hike and future ones online at the Oregon Park District by visiting www.oregonpark.org or by calling 815-732-3101.