Belvidere, Illinois-This weekend in Peoria the Blue Thunder might find some challenging competitoin.  They haven't found any around the Stateline all season.  The Bucs have dominated from the minute the season began.  Last Saturday, running against the best teams in this area of the state, they dominated the Class 2A Belvidere Sectional.  They placed five runners in the top 11 and they won by 77 points over runnerup Prairie Ridge.

"Our three juniors were up front where we wanted them," said head coach Troy Yunk.  "That looked awesome to see those three together.  Then we had the two freshmen tenth and 11th.  That was huge for them."

Paul Zeman led the way with a second place finish individually.  Bryun Yunk was sixth.  Logan Volkey seventh.  Tyler Yunk tenth, and Paxson Menard 11th.

"We were in a pack," said Zeman.  "We were one through five pretty late in the race.  We all ran really well together."

"We got out good," said Bryun Yunk.  "Our team ran well.  We were pack racing.  It was really windy so we were trying to stay together."

The conditions were horrible...windy, muddy.  But no matter what the conditions these guys are unbelievable fast.

"The mud really took it out of your legs on the back loop," said Zeman.

Despite the fact that North's top five runenrs are all underclassmen North is ranked first in the state in Class 2A.  Two years ago the Blue Thunder finished third at State.  Last year they finished second.  This year it's all about the quest to be number one.

"It was a disappointment last year," said Zeman.  "We only lost by three points.  I didn't have a great race last year.  It takes seven guys to win State, so hopefully we'll all be running good next weekend."

"This year there's some bigger schools," said coach Yunk.  "They've changed the numbers that have dropped down, so there's some schools that weren't in 2A last year that are this year that used to be 3A schools.  So it's a little tougher this year."

"There's some pretty good teams with some pretty good individuals," said Bryun Yunk.  "It's going to be a really good race to see."

The Belvidere North Blue Thunder are our WTVO team of the week.