West Frankfort, IL — Competing in unseasonably warm and humid conditions at West Frankfort Community Park on Thursday, the lions maintained their standard of excellence at the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Championships. The varsity girls set the tone with their fourth consecutive conference title, with Lane Sambursky taking the individual title for the second year in a row. Sambursky's supporting cast dominated the team battle, winning the Ohio division by an astonishing 33 points, with Sambursky, Lyla Seaman, Claire Samples, Landry Crain, and Liesel Balmforth earning all-conference honors. Junior Alissa Ruiz returned from injury to place in the top 12, while pacing sophomore Rose Balmforth to a top-15 finish. In the varsity boy's race, the lions hung tough after a fast opening mile, and maintained their 2025 placing with a 3rd place finish despite missing junior Jack Robertson. Alex DeRuntz earned all-conference honors, with Nick Wilhelm, Ethan Swartz, Jake Wilhelm, and Mason Webb all finishing in the top twenty. The meet concluded with the final junior varsity race of the season, with Vincent Lin leading the way with an incredibly gutsy performance resulting in a top-4 finish. Every runner on the boy's side finished in the top twenty, leading to a resounding team victory. In the girl's race, Mackenzie Reames dominated the field en route to her first career victory. Congratulations to all junior varsity runners on a great season! Full results can be found at: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/277711/info The lion's varsity runners will be back in action Saturday, October 24th at the IHSA (#1A) Regional Championships hosted by Bethalto Civic Memorial High School. Come out and support Carterville XC as they begin their march to the state championship race!