Lady Jacket Katelyn Vallet finishes in Top-5 and earns medal; Ivan Hobbs is Chester Boys’ top finisher
By Jim Beers
CHESTER – The Chester High School Cross Country Team, under the leadership of Head Coach Chris Kern, traveled to Sparta Tuesday September 16 to compete in the 2025 Sparta Invitational Cross Country Meet.
The event was hosted by Sparta High School at the Randolph County Fair Grounds and included both a Girls’ and Boys’ Division. It was a very hot afternoon for the races with the opening starting gun at 4:00 p.m. Temperature at that time was 92 degrees under sunny skies and a calm breeze blowing to help cool the runners somewhat. The Girls’ 3-mile race was first with the Boys’ 3-mile race to follow.
Girl’s Race Results
The Girls’ race featured a field of 23 runners, from nine different schools. To qualify for a team score, schools had to have at least five runners. Those schools that didn’t have enough runners to qualify for a team score had their runners compete as individuals.
Chester Lady Jacket Cross Country runner, Katelyn Vallet a freshman, finished in the Top-5 at the 2025 Sparta Invitational Meet Tuesday September 16 at the Randolph County Fair Grounds. Vallet finished 5th with a time of 22:02.3 and a race pace of 7:36 minutes per mile. This was a personal-best for Katelyn. Coach Chris Kern Photo
In the Girls’ race there were only two schools out of the nine that had team scores including Vienna and Okawville. Schools that did not qualify for a team score included Chester, Marissa, Woodlawn, Sparta, Waterloo Gibault Catholic, Trico, and Valmeyer.
The overall winner of the Girls’ Division was Caroline Tepe of Okawville. She is a senior and won the race with a time of 20:33.7 and a race pace of 7:06 minutes per mile. The last runner to cross the finish line had a time of 38:13.4 and a race pace of 13:11 minutes per mile.
Team Finishes and Scores
Okawville (1st Place, 25 points)
Vienna (2nd Place, 30 points)
Chester Finishes and Scores
Katelyn Vallet (5th Place, freshman, Time: 22:02.3, Race Pace: 7:36 minutes per mile)
Caitlyn Hargis (19th Place, sophomore, Time: 27:26.4, Race Pace: 9:29 minutes per mile)
Top-10 Medal winners
- Caroline Tepe, Okawville 20:33.7
- Lillyonna Delrio, Marissa 20:56.7
- Ruby Leemon, Marissa 21:33.2
- Katelyn Gogolek, Okawville 21:51.8
- Katelyn Vallet, Chester 22:02.3
- Kaylee Wolf, Okawville 22:12.6
- Isabella Zaranti, Vienna 22:29.6
- Poppy Larson, Vienna 23:09.8
- Zelena Koch, Woodlawn 23:19.9
- Maria Sangurima, Sparta 24:16.3
Boys’ Race Results
The Boys’3-Mile Race began shortly after the Girls’ race finished. The sun was still shining brightly and the temperatures was still 92 degrees. There was a mild wind.
There were a total of 41 boys that competed in the Boys’ Division. There were three schools that entered teams including Vienna, Okawville, and Sparta. These schools had five or more boys on the team squad.
There were six other schools that didn’t have enough runners to enter a team score, but had runners compete as independents. Those six schools included Murphysboro, Marissa, Waterloo Gibault Catholic, Chester, Trico, and Valmeyer.
The winner of the Boys’ race was Aiden Taylor of Murphysboro. He is a sophomore and won with a time of 17:46.1 and a race pace of 6:08 minutes per mile. The last runner to cross the finish line had a time of 32:37.0 and a raced pace of 11:15 minutes per mile.
Team finishes and Scores
Vienna (1st Place, 37 points)
Okawville (2nd Place, 38 points)
Sparta (3rd Place, 45 points)
Chester Finishes and Scores
Chester YellowJacket Cross Country runner Ivan Hobbs, a senior, was the Jacket’s top runner Tuesday September 16 at the 2025 Sparta Invitational Meet. The event was held at the Randolph County Fair Grounds. Hobbs, Chester’s only senior runner on either the Boys’ or Girls’ Teams, finished 20th overall out of 41 runners with a time of 20:39.0 and a race pace of 6:08 minutes per mile. Jim Beers Photo
Ivan Hobbs (20th Place, senior, Time: 20:39.0, Race Pace: 6:08 minutes per mile)
Victor Fuentes (22nd Place, junior, Time: 20:49.7, Race Pace: 7:11 minutes per mile)
Top-10 Medal Winners
Aiden Taylor, Okawville 17:46.1
Ky Portz, Marissa 17:46.7
Ryker Obermeier, Okawville 17:47.7
Eli Schmidt, Vienna 18:25.6
Nicholas Holdener, Gibault, 18:26.6
Gabriel Charles, Okawville 18:27.4
Chris Moreno, Sparta 18:33.4
Camden Hupe, Vienna 18:42.2
Logan Sternberg, Sparta 18:59.1
Trey Uhiry,Vienna 19.11.0
The YellowJacket and Lady Jacket Cross Country Teams will compete again Thursday September 18 at the DuQuoin Indian Invitational Meet. The starting gun will fire at 4:00 p.m.