Burlington Central’s Kliem, Hampshire’s Kruse advance

• Reprints

Updated: October 30, 2011 12:33AM

To say the Belvidere Class 2A cross country sectional is stacked is a bit of an understatement.

Many of the best runners and teams are sent there, which puts the competition on par with what will be seen next Saturday at the state meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria.

With just five teams and seven individuals advancing in both the boys and girls races, competition was fierce. When the races had played out, the Burlington Central boys team missed a berth at state by just one point, finishing sixth with 209 points. While Belvidere North (60 points), Yorkville (89) and Crystal Lake Central (130) easily outdistanced the competition, the final two transfer spots were tight, with Kaneland (206) and Grayslake Central (208) finishing just ahead of the Rockets.

“This is the hardest sectional in 2A and there are so many close teams,” Central coach Vince Neil said. “The kids ran as well as they could have, I don’t know any way that we could have run better.”

While Central will not be advancing as a team, senior Clint Kliem finished fourth to advance individually. This will be his fourth straight trip downstate and he will look to improve on his 10th-place effort of a year ago and earn All-State honors for the third time.

“To make it down all four years (individually) is pretty good for me,” Kliem said, “and being able to run with the top guys and knowing they will be all-state, knowing that I am competing with them right now is a confidence boost for next week.”

Though Hampshire finished 16th in the meet with 437 points, it will be represented at state by senior Cassie Kruse, who placed third. This will be her second straight trip to state after finishing eighth a year ago.

“I feel awesome, it was a tough race and I wanted to come out and run a strong race, so I’m happy,” she said. “I tried to stay up with the lead girls and don’t let them get far away from me. This is the reason we run all of those miles and put the hard work in, and to see it pay off like this is a great feeling.”

Yorkville won the team title in the girls race, finishing with 67 points, while Crystal Lake Central was second with 70.