PEORIA — A smile slowly came across Kate Foltz’s face as she crossed the finish line at Saturday’s Class 1A girls’ cross-country state championship race at Detweiller Park. There was nobody in front of her. She was a state champion.
The first individual state champion in Tuscola cross-country history. “I was kind of in shock, like, ‘Wow, it really happened,’” Foltz said. Not only was it the best race of her life, finishing with a time of 15 minutes, 59.
4 seconds, but it was the fastest anyone had ever run in 1A state finals history. By 22 seconds. She put herself in a league of her own, with second place nearly 30 seconds behind.
As Foltz took her next few steps, still realizing what she just accomplished, she looked up and saw her supporters. Her parents rushed over for a hug, and she embraced teammate Blake McLeese. And her older brother, Will Foltz, a 2024 Tuscola graduate and current runner for Southern Illinois University, made the 150-plus-mile trip from Carbondale on his birthday.
He threw his arms in the air and shouted, ‘There’s nobody better than you!” “I was just really proud of her,” Will said. “There’s nobody who’s worked harder than her for this race, and she’s earned it. It’s really good to see all that work pay off for her.
I knew she could do it. I knew it was going to be a tough race, but to dominate it like that was crazy. I’ve never seen a race like that at state.
It was a really cool moment.” That was Kate’s favor.
