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 2011 Varsity Team Dyestat State Rankings and quotes

For the pre-season predictions, 2011
Unranked - Mahomet-Seymour

Coach: Neil Garrison
2010 Finish: 7th - AA East Peoria Sectional
Returnees: 
Lucas Prather SR (106, 16:10), John Butcher SR, Jonathan Schaap JR, Forrest Smoes SO, Ethan Russell SO, Elijah Johnson SR, Curt Kupferschmid SO, Chris Carlton SO, Kyle Appelquist SO, James Williams SO.
Outlook:
Mahomet-Seymour was rated most of last season but faded close to conference time. They rebounded by placing 7th in the ultra tough East Peoria Sectional. "Our team looks to be solid again this year.  We lost two of our top 8 runners due to graduation.  The boys as a group tried to put in the mileage needed to improve their times from last year," said Coach Neil Garrison. "We hope that our pre-season training will help us throughout the season as our team has tended to fade in the final month of the past seasons."
Garrison will welcome 6 out of the top 7 back from last year's sectional team. Lucas Prather and John Butcher will be looked to lead this team. The pack at midseason last year was close to 40 seconds. By the time it got to sectionals, the 1-5 split moved over 60 seconds. With the homework they have done this summer, watch for this team to possibly advance in the new 5 sectional format.

For week ending September 10, 2011
18. Mahomet-Seymour
Won the Lee Halberg Invitational in Springfield in a convincing fashion. Scored 42 points compared to 86 by 2nd place Pekin. Ran 5 runners in the first 21 led by Jonathan Schaap's 3rd place finish. Their 1-5 split was 48 seconds. Will be at Peoria Notre Dame this Saturday.

For week ending September 17, 2011
12. Mahomet-Seymour
Placed 14th at the Richard Spring Invitational. Outside of Belvidere North, maybe the hottest team in 2A. After wins at Charleston and Springfield Lanphier, this team ran a great race at Detweiller. Lucas Prather led the Bulldogs with a 44th place finish. Their 1-5 split was 50 seconds. Will run at the East Peoria Invitational this Saturday.


For week ending September 24, 2011
4. Mahomet-Seymour
Here is a look of some of the major invites that had a high concentration of 2A schools in them.
"The biggest riser in the ratings over the last few weeks has been Mahomet Seymour. The Bulldogs started out the season unrated. Going into last weekend, they were rated #4. At the East Peoria Invitational, this squad flexed its muscles defeating 3A Edwardsville. 21 second split on 5 and that is tough, tough, tough to beat. Normal University, who won the Bloomington-Normal City meet early in the week, ran a 34 second split to place 3rd."

Won the East Peoria Invitational over Edwardsville and Normal University. The Bulldogs have come on strong this month and are in prime position to capture a trophy. Jonathan Schaap and Lucas Prather form a strong first 2 placing 5th and 7th. 21 seconds on 5 runners will be tough to beat come state series time.
For week ending October 1, 2011
3. Mahomet-Seymour

For week ending October 8, 2011
3. Mahomet-Seymour

For week ending October 15, 2011
3. Mahomet-Seymour
Won the U-High Invitational in Normal over the host Pioneers. Placed 5 in the first 11 in that meet with a 31 second 5 man split. At the Metamora Invitational, they placed 2nd, 3 points behind Glenbard South. John Butcher led the way with a 6th place finish. Their 1-5 split was 46 seconds.

October 13, 2011
Conference Preview
<>Corn Belt @ Fairbury Prairie Central
#3 Mahomet Seymour has been run strong the last couple of weeks including defeating #6 Normal University in their own invite 9 days ago. The two teams, along with #20 Pontiac will go for the conference crown. Good individual race with Wesley Ward of U-High, going up against the Mahomet trio of Jonathan Schaap, Lucas Prather and John Butcher. Do not forget about Josh McCoy and Zac Justus of Pontiac. They will be up there as well.

For the week ending October 22, 2011
6. Mahomet-Seymour
Ranked #6 in the Dyestat IL 2A Ratings. Placed 2nd to #5 Normal U-High at the Corn Belt Conference Meet. This team will be in the hunt for a trophy at state in the next couple of weeks. At Saturday's meet, Jonathan Schaap was the first man finishing in 4th. Their 1-5 pack was still tight at 27 seconds. Will run at the Mattoon Regional this Saturday.

October 21, 2011
<>Mattoon Regional Preview
Teams - #6 Mahomet Seymour has been running strong all year. Last week they had a slight hiccup at their conference meet. The should rebound in this region. Mt. Vernon and Champaign Centennial should be Mahomet-Seymour's chief competition.  Individuals - Ryan McIlnerney of Charleston should be one of the favorites in this race. Also watch for David Modert of Mt. Vernon, Lucas Prather, Jonathan Schaap and John Butcher of Mahomet Seymour, Blais Garcia Canga of Champaign Centennial and Jacob Heser of Salem to be towards the front.

October 25, 2011
Mattoon Regional Review
After a 2 week rough spell for #6 Mahomet Seymour where they had narrow losses to #3 Glenbard South and #5 Normal U-High, the Bulldogs placed 5 in the first 9 with a 19 second split to easily win by 78 points over Mt. Vernon.

October 28, 2011
Sectional Preview
Team Preview

 

Should be a dynamite battle between two top 10 teams in the final Dyestat Illinois ratings.

<>#6 Mahomet-Seymour is a squad that could get a trophy at Detweiller on November 5th. But first, they would like to add a sectional title to the regional title that they won last week at Mattoon. The Bulldogs have a strong front 3 in Jonathan Schaap, John Butcher, and Lucas Prather. Those three have kept their split on an average close to 14 seconds of each other. Along with that, their split on 5 has been close to 40 seconds on the average. They will win if 1 of their front three are in the top 5.
Individual Preview

Other runners to watch include Sam Welbourne of Jersey, Michael Simon of Springfield, Chris Martin of Mascoutah, Josh Rodenberg of Waterloo, Taylor Fatheree of Effingham, Lucas Prather , John Butcher, and Jonathan Schaap of Mahomet-Seymour, Blais Garcia Canga of Champaign Centennial, and David Modert of Mt. Vernon.


November 3, 2011
ESPN HS/Dyestat Il 2011 Boys 2A State Meet Preview
Mahomet-Seymour
Box 12
Lanphier J.Schaap L.Prather J.Butcher F.Smoes C.McCormack E.Russell E.Johnson
1st - 42 15:47 15:53   -6 16:09   -22 16:14   -27 16:35   -48 16:41   -54 16:58   -71
Peoria Notre Dame L.Prather J.Butcher J.Schaap F.Smoes E.Johnson C.McCormack E.Russell
14th - 493 15:21 15:34   -13 15:39   -18 15:58   -37 16:11   -50 16:23   -62 16:27   -66
East Peoria J.Schaap L.Prather J.Butcher F.Smoes E.Johnson C.McCormack E.Russell
1st - 71 15:18 15:24   -6 15:37   -19 15:52   -34 16:05   -47 16:09   -51 16:11   -53
Normal U-High J.Schaap L.Prather J.Butcher F.Smoes E.Johnson C.McCormack E.Russell
1st - 33 15:24 15:27   -3 15:33   -9 15:52   -28 15:56   -32 16:25   -61 16:28   -64
Metamora J.Butcher L.Prather J.Schaap F.Smoes E.Johnson C.McCormack E.Russell
2nd - 62 15:29 15:36   -7 15:42   -13 15:58   -29 16:15   -46 16:17   -48 16:28   -59
Corn Belt J.Schaap L.Prather J.Butcher F.Smoes C.McCormack E.Russell C.Carlton
2nd - 40 15:34 15:51   -17 15:51   -17 15:57   -23 16:01   -27 16:31   -57 16:53   -79*
Mattoon Regional L.Prather J.Schaap J.Butcher F.Smoes C.McCormack E.Russell C.Carlton
1st - 32 15:51 15:56   -5 15:59   -8 16:02   -11 16:10   -19 16:12   -21 17:38   -107
MacArthur Sectional J.Schaap L.Prather F.Smoes J.Butcher C.McCormack E.Johnson E.Russell
2nd - 77 15:29 15:40   -11 15:48   -19 15:48   -19 16:06   -37 16:33   -64 16:38   -69

Placed 2nd at the Decatur MacArthur Sectional. Rated #6 in the final Dyestat IL 2A ratings. Rated as high as #3 during the season, Coach Neal Garrison’s team is a legitimate threat to capture the team title. The Bulldogs have run in a tight pack all season. Don’t expect that to change on Saturday. Jonathan Schaap, Lucas Prather, or John Butcher will lead this team on Saturday. Last Saturday, the gap on 4 was 19 seconds. This team on occasions this season has experienced 25-30 second 5 man splits. Need more of the same on Saturday. Sophomore Forrest Smoes could surprise for this team in this race.

The Team Race Preview

Belvidere North goes after their 3rd straight championship. It will not be easy as last year. They have a talented first 4 runners all capable of placing all-state. The question is keeping that 4 close together like they did early in the year at Peoria. If they experience a big gap, there are at least 6 teams that could win this team race.

Yorkville came close last week. If they have 2 runners in the first 20, it could happen. Glenbard South is a secretly tough team with 2 runners that have the potential to place in the top 10. If they can only keep their 5 man split under 60 seconds. Normal University romped at their sectional. They have the front runners and a tight split to make it very interesting.

Springfield has the potential of 2 or maybe 3 all staters. It is keeping their pack under 40 seconds the key. Mahomet-Seymour will have a tight pack, but can they get a runner or runners in the top 25? Marmion Academy has the tight pack. But like Mahomet, can they get a runner in the top 25?

If Belvidere North has 4 runners within 20 seconds of Tyler Yunk, they will repeat. If not, the door is wide open to the possibilities mentioned above.


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