On a hot evening, where the races were pushed back due to the hot temperatures in Southern Illinois, these 3 Woodlawn High School cross country runners toughed it out in less than desirable conditions at The Murphyboro Invitational and they did not disappoint.
Senior Zelena Koch grabbed her first Top 20 finish of the season placing 17th and earning a meet T-shirt (given out to the Top 20 Varsity Finishers).
Her younger sister freshman Zaylor Koch competed in the JV division and secured her first High School Medal as the JV runner up finishing 2nd place in the race.
And Freshman Camden Hughes did not shy away from the big moment! He could have ran in the JV boys Division in the boy’s race, but he never backs down from a challenge. Hughes would fight hard in The Boys Varsity race through intense humidity and finished strong.
All 3 competitors have a lot to be proud of. To even finish the 3.0mi race this evening was an accomplishment with today’s race conditions. Huge shout out to Murphysboro High School and Coach Adam Haddick as well as IHSA meet official Mark North for keeping the runners safe this evening.
Also prayers going out to the DuQuoin community and their firemen and policemen as they deal with a terrible fire this evening in DuQuoin. We saw several fire trucks and policemen working so hard in this heat to control the huge fire that occurred today as we were stopped in DuQuoin for dinner after the race! Definitely some true heroes.
