TROY, Ill. • Dave Kohnen calls Ellen Toennies "the chaser."
Every time out, whether it's a Tuesday practice or a Saturday race, Toennies is the runner the Mater Dei girls cross country team chases. She's the one with her foot on the gas and her hands on the wheel.
Kohnen writes the workouts and scratches out the strategy, but when the Knights hit the road for a workout or step onto a 3-mile course for a meet, Toennies sets the pace.
"You've got to have that chaser, there's no doubt," the Mater Dei coach said.
Saturday, Mater Dei's chaser pushed the Knights through an impressive run at the Class 2A Regional at Triad. With Toennies leading from start to finish, the Knights made short work of the regional field. Mater Dei put three runners in the top seven and seven in the top 17 as it cruised to its second consecutive regional title. Mater Dei checked in with 36 points. East St. Louis (68) and Carbondale (93) were second and third.
The win was the Knights' ninth. Coming into the regional, they had won eight of 10 events, including last week's St. Anthony's Invitational at Effingham.
Toennies and Madeline Lager went 1-2 for Mater Dei, and Seantell Johnson of East St. Louis was third.
Mascoutah's Murphy Affolder and Chris Martin ran away from the boys field at Triad. Affolder won in 15 minutes, 37.9 seconds, half a step ahead of teammate Martin. Carbondale edged Waterloo for the boys team title 54-60.
The top seven teams and top five individuals not on a qualifying team earned tickets to Saturday's 2A Sectional at Decatur MacArthur. The state championships are Nov. 5 at Peoria.
The 17-year-old Toennies is more than the Knights' chaser. She also is the team's heart, glue and cheerleader.
Kohnen points out that the senior circles back to the finish line as soon as she wraps up her race. "The first thing she does is congratulate Madeline (Lager) and the others," he said.
The gesture is genuine. Same for the tug, during post-race interviews, back to talking about team scores, team spirit, team goals. Toennies isn't shy about talking about her race, but she'd prefer the focus was on her team.
"There's nothing phony about that," Kohnen said. "She's always been like that."
Saturday was a red-letter day for Toennies. After finishing third at the regional as a freshman and sophomore and fifth last year, Saturday's victory was her first win in a state-series event. The 5-foot-8 senior also was the only runner in the girls race to break the 19-minute mark, finishing in 18:56.6.
"You never get tired of winning races, that's for sure," Toennies said.
With an eye on boosting her chances of winning, Toennies ramped up her running efforts going into her final year of racing. A former soccer player, she ran track for the first time last spring and boosted her summer training pace, too.
"I'm really determined to show what I can do," she said. "I want all my times to be better than they were last year."
Kohnen said the additional racing experience she picked up in the spring has been a terrific help.
"Did I like seeing her in track? You better believe it," Kohnen said. "It's given her that little extra edge."
Turning into the final events of the season, a little extra could make a difference for Mater Dei's chaser and her teammates.
"That sectional is loaded, really loaded," the Mater Dei coach warns.
Toennies isn't worried. When you're winning titles and your team is collecting championships, what's to worry about?
"I'm excited to go up there," she said of the sectional. "You don't get chances like this very often."
