Moves in final mile secure Amboy wins for Hilby, Bender

Eureka sweeps team titles in 50th anniversary of meet

By Michael Newman

Sublette, Ill – The “Uphill” at Shady Oaks Golf Course has decided who will win or lose the Varsity races at the Amboy Columbus Day Invitational. The hill added two more stories to the 50 year history of this meet as moves at the top of the hill helped claim wins for Meika Bender of Eureka in the Girls Varsity race and Patrick Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic in the Boys Varsity Race.

Results | Videos

Bender took the lead from the start but had company by the time she got to the first mile with Cece Hilby of Aurora Central Catholic by her side. Bender broke away from Hilby in the flats portion of the course only to be joined in the front of the race by Evelyn O’Connor of Seneca who moved up to the front after passing the first mile in the top five. O’Connor and Bender passed 2-miles in 12:19. Hilby was holding on to the front a couple of seconds back as the trio made a turn and headed towards the Uphill for the second time.

“I felt good coming up the hill for the final time. I knew she (O’Connor) was too,” Bender said after her win. “I just had to tough it out at that point to get to the finish. My coaches yelling at me helped with that too.”

“I felt good in the flats as I started to pick off runners and got close to her (Bender),” O’Connor added.” It only got worse as I headed up that hill for the second time.”

Bender made the move away from O’Connor and opened up a seven second lead by the final half mile of the race. The Eureka junior crossed the line with an 18:13.7 winning time. O’Connor crossed the line in second (18:19.3) with Hilby running 18:25.2 to finish third. Kyla Babb of Westmont (18:51.7) and Avery Engle of East Dubuque (18:57.8) finished fourth and fifth.

The team race belonged to 1A #5 Eureka just before the mile of the race with Bender leading and their pack close behind. The Hornets ended up placing their scorers in the top 19 with a split from 2-5 of 56 seconds to win the team title with 33 points. Bre Lehman led the pack finishing seventh followed by Reagan Gerber (11th), Claire Albertson (13th), and Natali Roth (19th).

1A #15 Elmwood finished second (93 points) led by Addie Symonds finishing eighth. Winnebago (102 points), 1A #21 Seneca (121 points), and 1A #27 Aurora Central Catholic (139 points). Rounded out the top five teams.

Monday’s race was a little bit of revenge on the course for Patrick Hilby. He was with leader Bryson Grant in last year’s race before Grant pulled away to win by 21 seconds. Hilby ran 15:43 in that race. There would be no looking back for Hilby in this race. His confidence has grown over the past year. He was a little more relaxed after making the decision to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison last Friday. It showed when he stepped to the line Monday morning.

Hilby took command of the lead at the start with one of the other race favorites Isaiah Hill of Elmwood close by his side. Just as in the Girls race, Nicolai Martino of Winnebago moved in the second mile from a position in the top 10 to right next to the lead ahead of Hilby. By the time the race got to a second-mile, Hilby had reeled Martino back in as the two passed 2-miles in 10:18

Hilby used the Uphill to his advantage as he made a move just before the hill to separate himself from the Winnebago junior. The ACC senior traded in his 2022 runner-up finish to claim the race title crossing the finish line in 15:21.8.

“It was good to get that decision over with to attend the University of Wisconsin. It took a lot of weight off my shoulders,” said Hilby. “I felt stronger than last year. I ran 15:43 last year and I finished dead tired. This year I ran faster and cruised across the line not tired at all.”

Martino stayed close at the end of the race to Hilby running 15:27.6 to finish second. Brady Monk and Andrew Perry of Eureka both ran 15:44.1 to cross the line in third and fourth. Hill ran 15:51.4 to finish fifth.

1A #4 Elmwood and 1A #6 Eureka were within points of each other during the first two miles of this race. Monk and Perry moved in the final mile to their finish positions and helped the Hornets win the team title 43-52 ahead of Elmwood.

The advantage for Eureka was having three runners in before Elmwood’s second runner crossed the line. Eureka ended up with 5 runners in the top 18. Elmwood ran their top 5 runners in the top 16. Carson Lehman was Eureka’s third runner finishing eighth. Timothy Rogers (11th) and Connell Roth (18th) were the team’s fourth and fifth runners. The split on their scorers in this race was 62 seconds.

Hill was followed by Elmwood’s second and third runners Aiden Faulkner (9th) and LJ Higgs (10th). Reed Florey (13th) and Mika Nelson (16th) followed . Elmwood’s top 5 split was 45 seconds. Their split from Faulkner to Nelson was just 11 seconds.

1A #5 Aurora Central scored 110 points to finish third. The Chargers  ran without their #2 runner Ben Bohr in this meet. 1A #14 Winnebago finished fourth (114 points) led by top 10 finishes from Martino and Joseph Erb (7th). 1A #29 Erie-Prophetstown scored 134 points to finish fifth.