All of the teams of the NIC-10 competed at the annual Conference Cross Country Championship meet held at Belvidere North High School on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 16th.

      There were a total of five races on Saturday: the Boys and Girls varsity races, the Boys Frosh/Soph race, the Girls Junior Varsity race, and the combined Boys and Girls Open race.

      The races were held at Belvidere North on the three-mile home course. Racers started near Seth Whitman Elementary School and finished on the track in Milt Brown Stadium at Belvidere North, all while racing around Belvidere Central Middle School and the rest of the campus.

      The meet started off with the Girls Junior Varsity race. Hononegah won the race with 15 points, followed by Belvidere North in second place with 56 points. Leading the race for Belvidere North was Kenzie Kline (‘25), Morgan Bailey (‘25), Geisell Casis (‘24), Evelyn Molina (‘22), and Lauren Key (‘24).

      The next race of the day was the Boys Frosh/Soph race with Guilford winning with 41 points and Belvidere North following shortly behind in second place with 44 points. Individually winning the race was Will Ward (‘24) with a time of 17:10. Finishing shortly after was Nicholas Schroeder (‘24), Antonio Ostalaza (‘25), Luke Beutel (‘24), and Brock Bottcher (‘24).

      Next, was the Girls Varsity race with Hononegah winning it with 28 points and Belvidere North getting fourth place with 124 points. Leading Belvidere North in the race was Alyssa Pryor (‘24) with a time of 20:20, Grace Ulferts (‘22), Sam Slife (‘22), Dellana Muck (‘22), and Kayleigh Sippy (‘24).

      Following the Girls Varsity race was the Boys Varsity race with Belvidere North winning the championship with 33 points. In third place with a time of 16:03 was Evan Horgan (‘23) followed by Brandon Massman (‘22), Nick Lenzen (‘22), Caden McNulty (‘22), Orlando Hernandez (‘23), Luke Smith (‘22), and Caden Lendman (‘22). This was the third year in a row that the Belvidere North Boys Varsity team has won the conference championship and is the 12th year of winning it in Belvidere North’s history.

      The last race of the day was the combined Boys and Girls Open race. In second place was Brian Ackerman (‘22) with a time of 18:44 followed by Jesse Kramer (‘25), Cameron O’Brien (‘23), Anthony Avila (‘24), and Graeme Schulz (‘24).

      Next weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 23rd, the Belvidere North Boys and Girls teams will compete against 11 other teams at the IHSA 2A Regional meet at Emricson Park in Woodstock,