Yorkville Girls, Lake Zurich Boys Win Tough Palatine MOC Titles

It was a fast start and then close finish between Kaitlyn Lacy and Brooke Wilson

RESULTS

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The festivities at Deer Grove East finally came down to the MOC better known as the Meet Of Champions varsity race. The girls race was the first to go off on time at 10:20am. The 200+ runner field got out well without any hitches. The team favorite #3 Yorkville got out was patient out of the gate and packed together just after the initial 1/4 mile of the race. By the time the field separated going into the woods just past 1k, it was apparent that it would take a supreme effort to beat the Lady Foxes. Yorkville ran their top runner sophomore Nicole Greyer upfront while the 2-5 scorers laid back together through the first two miles. It was hard to decipher some of the other teams in the sea of colors. But just after two miles Hersey and Lyons Twp came out of the mix together. Palatine coach Joe Parks  got in on the action too. He made his presence felt on the back side of the course. He shouted furiously at his charges to get things going. It did not appear as though many Lady Pirates were in the top 20-30 with less than a mile to go.

At 2m, Yorkville continued to run well with 2-5 runners coming through in 11:55. The other contending team's pack was well over 12:00.

The finish did not really change much either. Yorkville streamed home in a steady order with all scorers in the top 25 that created a spread of 39 seconds. 

Lyons' Sarah Barcelona led her team with a 11th place overall finish. This was a much better run for the standout sophomore since running 18:50 at FTTF several weeks ago. The Lions took second place as a team for the second straight year, and it now appears their stock will rise a bit in the next rankings.

Sarah Harden is making the most out of her senior season for Hersey. Last year she ran 19:13 and finished way back in 177th place. This year in a big turnaround she grabbed 13th place and led her team to a third place finish ahead of upstart Palatine 199-204. Of course Harden's strong placement assisted in the strong performance. But let's not count out her supporting cast. Two other Huskies were fighting to stay in the top 20. Haley Bowes and Teegan Beckley bridged the gap between Harden and the fourth and fifth runner. Hersey is the surprise of 2016. The Huskies are ranked 21st in the 3A poll.

#6 New Trier placed 12th with 299 points. However, the Trevians did not run three key runners including #3 Grace Fagan. Rachel Weix and Ellie Finnigan were also held out.

The individual race was a dandy to say the least. Things started out fast perhaps for positioning but quickly settled down after the first 600m. There was a tight pack of runners featuring Kaitlyn Lacy (Jr., Louisville Male), Jocelyn Long (Jr., Barrington), Brooke Wilson (Sr., Prospect), Isabelle Sparreo (Jr., Stevenson), and a few others.

The first mile was a solid 5:35 for the leaders. Long came in as the supposed favorite but she did not make a move to separate herself from the pack of talented runners. Not much changed in positioning from 1.25 miles to the second mile which went through in 11:25.  Lane Tech senior Maggie Scholle was next in line 10 seconds back and looking calm and relaxed. 

The last half mile is where things began to separate. Wilson and Lacy moved together, but it was Wilson who was leading the charge. As the two runners crested the top of the hill about 200 meters from the finish line, Wilson and Lacy were charging home. Wilson placed second last year and appeared poised to get the first slot this time around. Lacy, though, had other ideas and switched track to Wilson's right side and nudged ahead by the slimmest of victory in 17:02. The victory seemed like a surprise to Lacy afterwards. It was a big come up from last year's sixth place finish.