I think we’re a better team than we were last year. We’re doing some really tough workouts at the beginning of the year and even with their legs being sore, our kids are training through these meets and they’re improving their times from last year.”

Dale Bergeson

MORRIS — Junior Annaliese Koziol and freshman Tyler Johnson each earned medalist honors to lead the Rochelle Township High School varsity cross country teams on Wednesday evening, when the Hubs and Lady Hubs raced in the Early Bird Invitational at Morris High School.

Johnson turned in a strong performance in his debut with the Hubs, finishing 15th out of 99 varsity runners with a time of 17:31.40. Junior Declan McGee took 28th with a time of 18:16.60 for the Hubs, who placed seventh out of 12 teams with 205 points at the varsity level. Juniors Levi Waddle and Elijah Mayen ran times of 21:01.40 and 21:13.50 to take 66th and 69th place.

"Tyler’s done a great job and his work ethic is tremendous,” head coach Dale Bergeson said. “He pushes other kids to do better and that’s hard to do as a freshman… We knew based on his workouts that he was going to have a good day and that’s exactly what he did. He ran in the 17-minute range on a course that was hot and wet. We’re really happy with how well he responded. We’ve pushed him in practice and we think we can push him even more.”

Koziol led the Lady Hubs on Wednesday evening, finishing 18th out of 83 varsity runners with a time of 21:40.60. Juniors Rose Luxton and Mary Chadwick followed suit, with Luxton clocking in at 23:53.30 for 43rd place and Chadwick finishing with a time of 25:48.80 for 62nd. Sophomore Vivian Worthington took 64th with a time of 25:49.80 for the Lady Hubs, who finished ninth out of 10 teams. Worthington knocked nearly four minutes off of her first-meet time from last year.

“I’m very impressed with how Annaliese competes with other runners and how consistent she is with her times,” Bergeson said. “She works really hard and she does everything we ask of her. We knew she would take another step forward this year and she’s already started that. We’re excited to see what she can do and where she’ll be able to go this year.”

Junior Johnny Morales and senior Brisa Zepeda rounded out the top five runners for both varsity teams on Wednesday. Morales finished 70th with a time of 21:34.80 and Zepeda took 66th with a time of 26:00.10. Wednesday’s race was the first of the 2024 season for the Rochelle harriers, who will race in the Sycamore Invitational at Kishwaukee College on Tuesday, Sept. 3. The runners will then travel for the Oregon Invitational at Oregon Park West on Saturday, Sept. 7. 

“I think we’re a better team than we were last year,” Bergeson said. “We’re doing some really tough workouts at the beginning of the year and even with their legs being sore, our kids are training through these meets and they’re improving their times from last year. Knowing that the kids are going to see their times drop even more as the season progresses and the workouts change is pretty exciting. Seeing the boys get seventh place was really good to see.”