Champaign Central High School Boys Cross Country

2008 – Coach Argie Johnson.   The 2008 Central boys cross country team had a successful season. Throughout the season, the boys worked hard, and although the team as a whole didn't do as well as they had expected, there was plenty of individual success. When Regionals came around, the boys ran hard and placed 4th, qualifying them for Sectionals. During the Sectionals race, MVP Jordan Fox missed a qualifying spot to state by only two places. The team will be losing six Seniors: Jordan Fox, Patrick Mazzocco, Adam Thies, Josh Clark, Max Foltz, and Roger Smith.

2007 – Coach Argie Johnson.   The 2007 boys cross country team had a successful season. Along with winning the Twin City meet for the second year in a row, the team placed fourth at Regionals, which allowed them to qualify for Sectionals. Of that group, Russell Wetzel was the closest to qualifying for state, missing by only one place. Patrick Mazzocco and Russell Wetzel were both named All Conference winners and top News-Gazette runners. The team was lead by four seniors; Russell Wetzel, Peter Hackley, Luke Petry, and Steven Kesler. Only two members of the varsity team were seniors, and the team still has a lot of talent, so there are high hopes for the boys cross country team in 2008. 

2006 – Coach Argie Johnson.  The 2006 boys cross country team had a great season. Their two seniors, Matthew Feikert and Neville McKinney, along with a lot

of younger talent, helped the team win Twin City in a dominating performance. The team also placed 5th in both Big 12 and Regionals. From there, they went on to Sectionals and placed 20th. Eight of the runners on the team set new personal records throughout the season, and top runners Patrick Mazzocco and Russell Wetzel will return next year.

2005 – Coach Argie Johnson.  It was a rebuilding year for the 2005 boys cross country team. The three seniors, Michael Kesler, Michael Theis, and Jordan Billingsley, were able to lead Central to a respectable 6th place ranking in the Big 12. With lots of hard work, the team was able to improve throughout the season and place 5th at Regionals, then move on to Sectionals, where they placed 20th. Michael Kesler was the team MVP, placing well in every meet he attended.

With lots of young talent returning for next year, the team will continue to improve.

2004 – Coach Grant Iles, 19 runners, 14 runners were freshmen and sophomores, varsity team made up of 6 runners who qualified for IHSA State Finals, success of senior Graham Tennant was highlight of season, he won the Twin City Champion and named to the Big 12 All-Conference team for the second consecutive season

2003 – Coach Grant Iles. After losing five seniors from the ’02 season, the boys’ cross country team was looking for more fresh talent this year. This young team surprised many by coming through and winning the Charleston Invite, the first meet of the season. The boys went on to get 2^nd place at Regionals and beat Centennial for a 5^th place finish at Sectionals. This qualified the team to advance to State, which had not been accomplished since 1991.

2002 – Coach Dike Stirrett and Grant Iles. The Central cross-country teams had a strong group of runners and improved from the 2001 season. Both the boys and girls were team champions of the Twin City Meet. At the Big 12 Conference meet, the boys took 2^nd. At the Regional race, the boys took 3^rd, to advance to the Sectionals where they finished 9^th. Not only will the boys’ team be losing many dominate seniors, but also Coach Dike Stirrett. Coach Stirrett had been with the Maroons for over 30 years, and he will be greatly missed. With dedication and hard work, the 2003 cross-country team will have a successful season.

“Coach Stirrett has been an excellent source of inspiration to the team and myself over these last four years. He will be missed by all of us.” ~ Jeremy Kruidenier

2001 – Coach Dike Stirrett. The boys’ cross country team improved as individuals and as a whole. The team will lose seniors Mike Egner, Colin Cain, and Paul Dixon, but a strong group of juniors will return for the next season. Junior Jeremy Kruidenier qualified for the Sectional race as an individual where he finished 8^th. He qualified for the state meet for the fist time in his cross-country career. Freshman Graham Tennant stepped up to join the varsity squad.

2000 – (2-1) Coaches Dike Stirrett and Matt Woods. The Central boys’ cross-country team 2000 was mostly underclassmen; Jacob Goran was the only senior to receive a letter. Sophomores Jeremy Kruidenier, Brian Kesler, and Andy Eheart were usually the top three runners with support from Goran, juniors Paul Dixon, Mike Egner, Colin Cain, and sophomores Cabe Waldrop and Daniel Thies. A few highlights of this successful season include: Kruidenier winning the Twin City meet, Freshman/Sophomore champs at Metamora Invitational, and the team finished 5^th at Regionals to qualify for a bid to the Sectional meet.

1999 – Coach Dike Stirrett. This year had a balanced squad with no real stars. Senior Steve Eheart stepped up as a leader and Jackson Hoffman helped as a senior in his first season of cross-country. The team earned 2^nd at the Twin City Meet, 6^th place at Big 12, and finished the season 3-0 for dual meets.

“A very young squad where many freshmen and sophomores had to contribute at the varsity level. They did so admirably.” ~Coach Dike Stirrett

1998 – Coaches Dike Stirrett and Chris Saunders. Nick Voss was runner-up at the Twin City meet, third at Conference, and a Sectional and State qualifier. Jacob Goran, also a Sectional qualifier, placed first at Metamora and Springfield Lamphier Fresh/Soph meets. The boy’s team was young and inexperienced.

1997 – (4-2) Coaches Dike Stirret and Kara Harmon. Central’s Cross Country team had a wonderful season. The boys finished 2nd at Regionals and 6^th at Sectionals. They were only 3 points away from going to State. Some great improvements were made as the whole team gave their best efforts. There was lots of team spirit and unity this season. Central experienced stronger competition than ever before and look forward to doing even better in the years to come.

“I felt like this year the team was much closer, we really had a bond that lifted up each others’ spirits. I don’t think a group of guys ever enjoyed each others’ company so much, we could not have asked for a better season.” ~Jason Fisher

1996 – (4-3) Coach Stirrett. Rob Gardner placed 9^th in the Big 12, 1^st at Danville, 4^th in Regionals, and 17^th at Sectionals, earned All-Conference honors. Rob Gardner was nominates for the News-Gazette Athlete of the Week.

1995 – Coaches Dike Stirrett and Kara Harmon. Brandon Scott ran a personal best time to place 101 in state competition.

1994 – Coaches Dike Stirrett and Kara Harmon. Although the team did not meet its expectations, the runners did an outstanding job considering that they were such a young team, Brandon Scott had a great season. He placed 2^nd in the Twin City Meet and 18^th in Regionals, which qualified him for Sectionals.

1993 – Coach Dike Stirrett. The cross-country team had a great year considering the loss of 5 lettermen. The captains led the team to a 1^st place finish at the Twin City Meet. They placed 7^th at the Big 12 Conference meet and 8^th at Regionals. Sophomore Casey Miller went on to place a solid 57^th at Sectionals.

1992 – Coaches Dike Stirrett and Richards The Maroons were pre-season picks to do really well this year, with 5 of the 8 letterman returning from last year. Included in those 5 was the area’s top freshman from last year–Pete Billhymer (the only runner who went to State this year), Jason Sempsrott, Todd Elrick, Brian Calhoun, and Mat Bennett was the only other returning lettermen. The Maroons compiled a 5-1 dual meet record this year. They placed 3^rd in the Big 12 Conference and Regional Meets. They also placed 7^th in the Sectionals. The addition of freshman, Casey Miller, 1^st time cross country runner, junior-Tom Whalen, and senior-Andrew Rodgers made up for the loss of last year’s two seniors. Unfortunately, the Maroons ended up slightly behind last years team when Jason Sempsrott, a runner who figured big in the Maroon’s State-bound plans, learned he had a stress fracture in his ankle and was out for the test of the season.

1991 - (7-1) The cross country team placed 1^st in the Danville Jamboree and the Twin City meets. In the Mattoon Invitational they placed 2^nd and they finished 3^rd in the Big 12 conference, and 7^th in the Peoria Invitational. The team them went on to the regionals and placed 1^st. After the regionals they went to sectionals and finished 3^rd. The Maroons then went to state and finished an impressive 15^th. The team had a huge amount of talent and it showed with their individual records. Brian Calhoun won 2 dual meets, finished 4^th at the Danville Jamboree, 3^rd in Twin City, 9^th in Big 12, and 6^th in regional. Jason Sempsrott was the Twin City champion and placed 20^th at the Mattoon Invitational. Todd Elrick was 6^th in Twin City, 24^th at the Mattoon Invitational and placed 80^th at State. Josh Wyatt was 7^th in Twin City, 21^st at Mattoon, 7^th in regionals, 16^th in sectional and was the teams most improved runner. Pete Billhymer won one varsity dual meet, was 12^th in the Big 12, and 10^th in the regional. It’s safe to assume that this year’s season met everyone’s expectations and made a great impression.

1990 – (6-2) - Coach = Stirrett. The 1990 “Running Maroons” were a young squad with Matt Wise being the only senior lettermen and team captain. With much improvement from junior Josh Wyatt and sophomores Jason Sempsrott, Brian Calhoun, and Todd Elrick and the solid support of junior Andy Deoponia, the Maroons were able to sport a respectable season. Other varsity letter winners were sophomore Josh Bartiotti and freshman Matt Bennett. The Maroons finished with a 6-2 dual meet record and accomplished their preseason goal of qualifying for the sectional meet by placing 3^rd in the regional competition. Sempsrott was the team’s leading runner throughout the season as the squad continued to improve as shown not only by their high regional finish but also with a 3^rd place finish in the prestigious Mattoon Invitational. This is the highest finish ever achieved by a Champaign Central team in this meet.

1989 – (8-0) - Coach Dike Stirrett. The 1989 Cross Country Team was one of the smallest in Central’s history. Yet, they overcame that obstacle to go 8-1 in dual meets, a Central first. This was accomplished with the leadership of seniors Pat Stines, Dave Shaul and Scott Elrick, and the guidance of Coach Stirrett. Coach Stirrett called the undefeated season, “fairly successful” and commended the underclassmen on their first season.

1988 – Coach Dike Stirrett. The 1988 Harriers completed a very successful fall season. The varsity compiled extremely impressive feats by winning the local Twin City Meet, while also going undefeated in all of their dual meets. Later in the year, led by three seniors, Shad Shepston, Matt Meyer, and Aaron Libman, and two juniors, Pat Stines and Scott Elrick, the team won the regionals and placed 5^th in sectionals, qualifying them for the elite state tournament. They topped off the season by finishing 23^rd in state.

1987 – Coach Dike Stirrett. The Champaign Central Cross Country team ended the year on a good note. Led by a pack of three seniors Shay Shepsten, Kenny Arrington, and David Gengrich; and a strong pack of sophomores Pat Stines, Scott Elrick, and Ricky Vogt, and team reached its goals even with a plague of injuries and a stroke of bad luck.

1986 – Coach Dike Stirrett. This year’s cross-country team successfully defended twin-city championship standing. Led by Dennis Thomas’ 1^st place finish the harriers also took 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th place, which was plenty to pull away from the rest of the field. Senior Thomas and Sophomore Matt Meyer qualified for the Sectional meet as individuals.

1985 – Coach Dike Stirrett. Two of the 1985 Cross Country teams finished the season satisfied. The boys accomplished first place in the twin cities meet on September 28^th.

1984 – (2-6) Coach Dike Stirrett, Quint Tepe MVP, Tracy Jackson 3^rd in Twin City, very young team.

1983 – (0-10) Coach Dike Stirrett. Although the winning or record-breaking season was not present this year for the cross country runners, there were a lot of hard work and good attitudes on the team. For the boys, with a record of 0-10, it could be hard to keep one’s spirits high, and to keep pushing one’s self could be even more difficult.

“They kept their enthusiasm up throughout the whole season. They were a hardworking group, and I couldn’t have asked for more.” ~Coach Dike Stirrett said.

1982 – (4-4) Coach Dike Stirrett, led by seniors Mike Dornbusch and Adam Egherman, placed in the top 10 at Twin City Open and Decatur Open, wins at Charleston, Stephen Decatur, and Normal, placed 3^rd overall at Big 12 meet, Egherman qualified for District

1981 – (5-5) Coach Dike Stirrett, 4^th in Conference, Mark Thompson was the only representative at Sectionals

1980 – Coach Dike Stirrett. The boys’ Varsity Cross Country Team got off to a slow start. Although they had some good individual runs, the team simply could not get everyone to run well in the same meet. Good coaching, however, brought them more confidence; they ran much better and, more importantly, ran as a team. But sickness and injuries to top runners were costly and the team ended up having to rely on inexperience. Senior Craig Detamore was the only member of the team to qualify for Sectionals.

1979 – (3-4) Coach Stirrett. The Central cross country team had a very strange season. Only four young men had run in a varsity race before. Even though they were 3-4 in dual meets, they won the Twin City Championships. They got 3^rd in District, 4^th in Sectional and 19^th in State. Craig Detamore won the Twin City Championship. Next year five lettermen, Craig Detamore, Matt Hewings, Walter Loomis, Odell Warren, and Timo Mostert, will return.

1978 – (10-1) Coach Dike Stirrett & Charlie Due. The Maroons of ’78 had a 10-1 record in dual meets, the best record in recent years by a Central cross-country team. Central regained its Twin City title from Urbana, but the highlight of the season was the Maroons’ Big 12 Championship. The team narrowly missed a berth in the state finals with a 6^th place finish in the sectional, missing the 5^th and final qualifying spot by only 6 points. Because of the hard aggressive work of the entire group, this team was one of the most successful Central cross-country teams. Although some individuals stood out more than others, the victories were a team effort. One of those individuals was Steve Swartzendruber, who came back from an early season injury to place high in several big invitationals, and finished his season with a 1^st in the Big 12 Conference meet, 3^rd in district, 8^th in sectional, and 37^th in the state finals. Tom Folts competed an outstanding season with a 3^rd in the Conference meet, 6^th in district and 13^th in sectional.

1977 – Coach Stirrett. Taking 7^th place at the sectionals was a high point of this year’s season, according to cross country coach Dike Stirrett. Many people hadn’t expected the Maroons to finish in the top 12. Another outstanding meet was the Mattoon Invitational. There, the Maroons placed 9^th in a field of 40 teams. Many highly regarded Chicago teams participated in that tournament. All of the runners, as well as Coach Stirrett, were very disappointed by not winning the Twin City meet. “That had to be the dark spot of our season,” said junior runner Steve Swartzendruber. Central teams had won this meet for the last five year. Steve Elam and Tom Folts were mentioned by Stirrett as excellent runners. Although it took a balanced squad and a good team effort to produce an excellent season.

1976 – (9-2) Coach Dike Stirrett, Team took 2^nd at Sectional. Senior Frank Reilly was only qualifier for State. Reilly placed 41^st at State, 8^th at Sectional, short 11 points for State, unprecedented 5^th straight Twin City title with a record score of 17 points, Reilly, Hays and Elam were named into the East-Central Illinois Class AA All-Area Cross Country Team, record book rewritten during the year, double workouts before and after school throughout the season, ran their best race of the year at the Mattoon Invitational, placed 5^th out of 40 teams, 2^nd place in Conference, 3^rd place in District, Coach Dike Stirrett ran with the team averaging 12 miles each day

1975 – For the 4^th straight year Maroon harriers captured the Twin City title. The sophomore filled team, led by lone senior Guy Wolf, finished with a respectable 7-4 record in Big 12 competition. Wolf’s best time for the 3-mile course was 15 min. and 25 seconds. Maroons sent 7 runners to State after having placed 2^nd in district and sectional meets. At State Wolf finished 92^nd out of 234 runners, junior Frank Reilly ran 127^th, sophomore Jeff Hardesty 185^th, sophomore Guy Morrow 201^st, and sophomore Joe Keeny 208^th. One of the most grueling of all sports, cross country requires both speed and stamina. Coach Dike Stirrett required his team to run up to 12 miles a day, rain or shine, to build endurance.

1974 – (5-5) Coach Dike Stirrett, plagued by injury, finished strong with 3 straight dual meet victories, failed to qualify for State by finishing 5^th in sectional, senior Rick Rundus lead the team, Rick won 8 races including Twin City and Conference Meet, he finished 44^th in the State meet, won twin city for 3^rd straight year

1973 – (9-4) Coach Dike Stirrett, had coach guessing at beginning, number one man out from sickness, two-a-day work-outs lasting from the end of August till middle of September, Junior Rick Rundus winning 5 races including Twin City meet finished 2^nd in 5 races, including the District Meet and Conference Meet, team won Twin-City for 2^nd year in a row, finished 2^nd in Conference meet barely missing champion Mattoon, won District for first time since 1961, placed 2^nd at Sectional, 20^th at State out of 26 teams.

1972 – (5-7) Coach Dike Stirrett, 4 returning lettermen, earlier practices beginning in July, won Twin City for first time, beat Urbana twice in dual meets, 7^th in Conference, 6^th at District, ends 17-meet losing streak

1971 – (0-8) Coach Stirrett. Coach Stirrett, in his 2^nd year as coach, led the team in many grueling practice sessions which sometimes included his “six mile jogs.” The runners endured many hardships, including sparse turnouts at many of their meets. Despite these factors, the team placed 6 out of 16 in district, and 7 out of 8 in conference. Co-captains Karl Broadrick and Corey Davis anchored the efforts, and received strong back-up help from Pat Carter, Mark Heimburger, and Eric Hinds. One of the bright spots of the season was number one runner Karl Broacrick’s 6^th place finish out of 56 runners in conference and 12^th place finish out of 112 runners in the district.

1970 – Central’s cross-country team, hampered by a late start and meager turnout, found themselves with a winless season. With no returning lettermen, first year Coach Dike Stirrett was faced with a rebuilding task. Coach Stirrett, himself a well known distance runner, took part in most practices demonstrating new training techniques. This year’s team was composed of senior lettermen Dave Becker, John Malloy, Dave Keeling, Steve Ayers, George Kelley, and Jim Cobb. Returning next year will be lettermen Corey Davis and Mark Heimburger, along with John Barge, Steve Skaperdas and injury plagued Karl Broakrick.

1969 – (3-4) – Coach Fred Schooley. The 1969 cross-country team tried hard to improve over last year’s season. Although the team missed running .500 as they ended up with a 3-4 dual meet record for the season, the Maroons captured 3^rd in the Conference and District meets. The team was led by senior letterman Marc Cutright and Terry LaFoe. The other senior lettermen that contributed to the team effort were Jim Bright, Dennis Horn, Pete Nast, Charles Wilson, and Alan Yordy. The season had a couple of high points as the harriers’ captures 1^st place out of an 18-team field in the Crete-Monee Invitational. Captain Marc Cutright led the Maroons with a 2^nd place finish. Coach Schooley’s runners also ran to a 6^th place finish in the Paris Relays.

1968 – (4-5) Coach Fred Schooley, major improvement from last year’s losing streak, 4^th in District, Chuck Bayne who showed much promise was injured early in season, 5^th in Conference.

1967 – (1-6) – Coach = Fred Schooley. Arousing fresh interest in the sport, the Maroon cross-country team concluded their season in a spirited fashion; copping 3^rd in both the Conference and District meets. Working under new coach, Fred Schooley, the harriers recorded a rather modest 1-6 record for their dual meet season, having victory often elude them by a narrow margin of points. Realizing the rewards of scampering nightly throughout Hessel Park, however, the Maroons ran well to place 3^rd in the Conference. Climaxing their season, they outran in the District every team by which they had previously been defeated except Big 12 champ Danville. Pacing the Maroons much of the season was junior Bruce Garrett. Finishing 3^rd individually in both the Conference and District, Bruce was the lone Champaign representative in the State meet which was staged at Urbana. Juniors Alfie Marfort and Tom Good also led the Maroons. Alfie paced Champaign runners in a number of dual meets, and he and Good were consistently among the top Maroon finishers. Other lettermen included senior Gary Baker, junior Chuck Bayne, and sophomore Marc Cutright, who placed 10^th in the Conference meet.

1966 – (0-7) Coach Harold Jester, only 1 returning letterman, injuries of two promising runners early in year, 3rd place at the Mattoon Triangular, 8^th out of 33 schools in the conference meet.

1965 – (5-4) Coach = Harold Jester. Early in the fall the 1965 edition of “Harold’s Harriers” could be seen running over hill and dale, training diligently for a sport which required much conditioning. In each cross country meet, every participant is required to run at least 1.8 miles. Although the team was hampered by misfortune and injuries, Coach Harold Jester and his cross- country team still managed a respectable 5-4 record. With several runners sidelined with injuries, seniors Jan Hoffman, Jim Liggett and Jeff Mills were forced to carry the load for CHS.

Highlingting the season were victories in three triangular meets. In the Argenta meet, the Maroons beat both Argenta and Mt. Zion, while trouncing Rantoul. CHS’s biggest win was a one point edge over Bloomington in a triangular meet held at Champaign. The harriers also beat Mattoon and Stephen Decatur in a triangular meet. In dual meet competition, the cross-country team gained impressive victories over Lincoln and Rantoul. Moments of disappointment came when the harriers dropped two dual meets to Urbana, and when they placed 5^th in both the Big 12 and district meets.

1964 – (4-4-1) Coach Harold Jester. The 1964 cross-country team, excellently coached by Harold Jester, was both a success and a disappointment. This year Champaign witnessed the record-breaking running of Frank Hunter. He lowered the Hessel Park 1.8 miles course record to 9:24 and the 2-mile course record to 10:26.6. Beating powerful cross-town rival, Urbana, was one of the harrier’s most impressive victories. Another important victory came in the Mattoon meet. There 3 Champaign runners, Frank Hunter, Jan Hoffmann, and Bill Jarman, shattered the existing course records. The Maroons lost twice to powerful Danville, once to Urbana, and once to Rantoul by only one point. Champaign victories included Argenta, Mattoon, Lincoln and Urbana. To complete their season, the Maroons placed 9^th in the Peoria Invitational and 4^th in both the District and the Conference.

1963 – (2-6) Coach Harold Jester. The harriers started off very weakly and ended the dual meet season with a log of 2 wins and 6 losses. In the 1^st dual meet of the season, Rantoul clipped the home town forces 28-29. The Maroon’s 2^nd encounter was with Urbana. Being led by one of the finest runners in the state, Mark Schmidt, Urbana won 15-49. The cross-country team then traveled to Danville, where Danville emerged a 23-32 victor. In the Paris Invitational, Champaign entered a team in the sophomore division, and they capped 2^nd place laurels. The Maroons then traveled to Lincoln and took their 1^st dual meet of the year by a convincing 18-45 margin. After a narrow 24-32 loss to Danville, the harriers traveled to Rantoul where they hoped to avenge an earlier one point defeat. Rantoul was not to be denied however, and they won their 2^nd meet of the season from Champaign by a score of 28-29, again one point. In Cumberland the Maroons smashed their opponents 21-40 for their 2^nd dual victory of the campaign. They closed out the dual meet season by again being beaten by arch-rival Urbana, 15-50. The harriers then ran in the Conference meet, where they took 4^th. The last competition for the “Bunnychasers” came in the form of the District meet. Champaign took 6^th.

1962 – (7-2) Coach Harold Jester. Lost only to conference & district champions, Urbana. Captain Jim Terry and returning lettermen, Bob Randolph, Ron Pellum, and Jim Cassells, were the nucleus, and usually all four finished in the top five placed. At the Peoria Invitational, a meet larger than the state, the harriers finished 6^th, as did Captain Terry individually. Copping 1^st place, Jim led the Maroons to a 2^nd place finish in the Big12, while both Jim and the team finished 3^rd in the district and finished 16^th in State competition.

1961 – The CHS cross-country team enjoyed unparalleled success this year. They rolled through their dual meet season undefeated, captured the Conference, District, and Peoria Invitational championships, and were 11^th in the state. Led by co-captains Don Fuller and Jim Kearns, Champaign easily won every meet until the state. The team ran in a pack all season, and proof of this is the fact that every member of the team had been beaten by at least three other teammates. However, most of the year, Fuller led the team, individually winning 8 of the 9 dual meets and finishing 2^nd in the Peoria Invitational and the conference. The Maroons were bolstered this year by the addition of two new men, Ron Pellum and Jim Terry. Pellum was a transfer from Urbana, and Terry had just never heard of cross-country before. Terry caught on quickly, however; in the state meet he was the 1^st Champaign finisher. At the close of the season, Jim was elected team captain for next year. Another member of the pack was senior Steve Hatfield, who completed his 3^rd outstanding year on the team. Steve was 4^th in the Conference meet; and in the District, where he took 2^nd; he was the 1^st Champaign finisher. Rounding out the pack were two juniors, Bobby Randolph and Jimmy Cassells, who won their 2^nd varsity letter this year. They, along with Pellum and Terry, are expected to give Coach Harold Jester enough returning strength to successfully defend the Conference and District championships in 1962.

1960 – (6-2) Coach Jester, led by Captain Larry Williams, 2^nd behind Urbana in Big 12 Conference meet, tied with Urbana for 1^st in District, 6^th at State, Williams ran barefoot all season, one six of dual meets, 8 boys lettered

1959 – (7-1) Coach = Harold Jester. Led by flying John McGinty and speedy Larry Williams. Took 2^nd in both the Big 12 Conference and the District. In the District, John McGinty captured 1^st place. Champaign placed 10^th in the state meet.

1958 - (7-1) Coach Harold Jester. 1^st in the Big 12 conference and 2^nd in the District. John McGinty was the outstanding runner of the squad was undefeated in dual and triangular meets, Big 12 individual champion, 4^th in the Peoria Invitational, and 2^nd in the district meet.

1952 – The Maroon harriers were not as good as expected. Captain elect Don Lindeman and letterman Ray Schalk did not come out for the team. The squad voted Jack Tucker to captain the 1952 team. They also voted Darrell Starkey to lead next year’s team.

1951 – Coach Mr. Taylor. The 1951 Cross Country Team showed improvement over their predecessors by downing 13 opponents while losing to 11. “Butch” Lindeman was elected the 1952 captain, succeeded Don Dorsett. Two sophomores were elected letters, Jack Tucker and Darrell Starkley. John Quirk climaxed a successful year by finishing fifth in the Big 12 meet.

1950 – Coach Taylor. Hampered with injuries, the cross country team had a less than successful season. Captain Bob Schroder and Dan Dorsett suffered injuries. Dan Dorsett elected captain for the following year.

1949 – Coach Taylor. Qualified for state did not place. Van Thompson received 22 pts.

1948 – Coach Taylor. Team records of 5 triangular wins, 1 quadrangular win, second in the district, Big 12 champions.

1947 – Coach Taylor, In a comparatively new sport at Champaign High, the cross country teams did very well in their competitive meets this year. 5^th in the District, Dick Martin received 2^nd place with a 10:18. Martin was the only state qualifier and he finished 12^th with a 10:07.6.

1936 – Coach Clark (3-4), only two boys were awarded letters, Ray Peters and Willie Lyte.

1935 – Coach Clark, Big 12 Champions, one the finest cross country teams in CHS history.

1934 – Coach Clark, Big 12 Champions and the winners of the Pekin Invitational. The only lost was to Danville 18-19. There were 6 letter winners and 3 numerals.

1933 – Coach Clark (6-1), 3^rd in the Pekin Invitational, Marvin Upton received 8^th overall. There was not a team in 1932 so there was no a captain elected. 5 boys received letters and 4 numerals were given.

1931 – Coach Clark (6-2); 6 letter winners that season. At the Pekin Invitational, Lauren Turner won 6^th place and the team won 4^th place overall.

1930 – Coach Clark (4-2), 2^nd in the Big 12, Tribute should be paid to Captain Gerald Wisegarver for his excellent record in placing first in every meet on which he participated.

1928 – Coach Clark (4-1), 2^nd in the Big 12. Five boys received letters that year.

1927 – Coach Clark, 2^nd in the Big 12 and four boys received letters in this season.

1926 – The team lost very meet this season. Fred Porter was the only returning letterman.

1925 – Coach Osborn was enlightened with 15 aspiring runners. As it grew, the team consisted of 25 runners. Paul Wilson and “Freddy” Porter were the best runners at CHS. During halftime of football games, the State Invitation Cross Country meet was ran. Champaign finished 2^nd place overall.

1924 – Coach Osborn cross country managed to win only one meet that year. Chester Stickrod the captain went undefeated that season but his teammates could not maintain his glory team wise. Stickrod established an Iowa State record of 11:28.9 in the first meet of the year. The only victory came against University High 15-9.

1923 –Led by Captain Stickrod, defeated Decatur and Danville