Katelynne Hart shows the determination of a champion with her thrilling Richard Spring victory (Mark Capapas photo)
Peoria IL-
The second installment of the Peoria Detweiller trilogy series better known as the Richard Spring Notre Dame Invitational actually turned out well. The initial thought leading up to the race was how would the course hold up to rain and collegiate racing that took place on Friday. The course had been rolled a few days after the previous weekend's first big race FTTF which destroyed the layout. But on Saturday there wasn't much saturation or foot print ruts from the competitors.
The Richard Spring Invitational has a unique format in which each gender runs all of its races (varsity, frosh, open) in succession. The girls led off and it was not a surprise. #1 3A Glenbard West put three girls in the top 10 followed by two others within the top 40 that tallied 73 points. The boys winner also came from the top ranked team in the state Naperville (Neuqua Valley). The Wildcats were just as dominant as their female counterparts. The 65 points was negotiated using three top 10 finishes and a sweet 21 second split.