Three Railsplitter runners qualify for State Cross Country

[November 07, 2025] Taylor Short, Preston Short and Pierce King each qualified for State at the IHSA Class 2A Cross Country Sectional at Lake Land College in Mattoon last Saturday.

Taylor Short qualified for State with a time of 18:57.3. She is a freshman.   

Taylor Short, Preston Short and Pierce King each qualified for the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet. Photo courtesy of Chrissy Short

Preston Short qualified for State with a time of 15:27.3. He is a junior.

Pierce King qualified for State with a time of 15:46.2. King is a sophomore.

Owen Cyrulik just missed qualifying but still ran a respectable 16:15.8. Cyrulik is a junior.

Taylor Short and Pierce King will compete at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday in the Class 2A Cross Country State Meet.

Preston Short, who had a great junior cross country season, suffered a broken collarbone the day after qualifying for State so he will have to sadly sit out this year. We wish Preston a speedy recovery.

Coach Andrew Hite said of the trio:

“They all worked very hard this season, always pushing themselves and providing a great example for the team. Pierce exceeded expectations this year and Taylor transitioned well from 8th grade into high school cross country. I look forward to our future with these three qualifiers.”

Good luck to Taylor and Pierce on Saturday!

 

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