Landis, Payne studs in the mud Individual

EAST PEORIA – After years working on his father’s dairy farm, Jake Landis felt right at home in the mud.

The Sterling senior’s comfort level in sloppy conditions shined Saturday at the Class 2A East Peoria cross country sectional at Illinois Central College.

Landis finished 12th in 16 minutes, 52 seconds, earning him one of the seven individual qualifying spots for the state meet.

He is the first Sterling runner since Megan Fliss in 2005 to qualify for the state meet.

“This course was set up for what I do best,” Landis said. “I always run well in the mud and with hills, and that was what this course had a lot of.

“I am really happy with the way I ran. For once, I really focused on running my race and wasn’t concerned with who was around me or running with certain people.”

Landis finished ahead of NCIC Reagan individual champion Zach Payne from Dixon.

“I don’t think Zach was feeling the best out there,” Landis said. “It’s nice to finish ahead of him, but I was more concerned with running my race.”

Payne, the lone returning runner from Dixon’s 2A state championship team from a year ago, finished in 18th in 16:57.

Unlike Landis, Payne never found his footing out on the course.

“It took a lot to start out fast with the mud and everyone trying to move into the middle,” Payne said. “I just wore out early and it was slipperier than I thought it would be.”

Payne was the last individual at the sectional to earn a spot at the state meet.

Dixon finished 10th as a team with 269 points. The Dukes had two other runners finish under 18 minutes in Ross Kavanagh (17:22) and Roy Hummel (17:54).

Peoria Notre Dame’s C.J. Ewald cruised to the sectional title in 16:05. Notre Dame also won as team with 45 points, well ahead of Normal at 80.

Galesburg (154), Yorkville (163) and Metamora (168) also advanced to the state meet.