Katelynne Hart And Glenbard West Mates Win In Peoria


Peoria IL

Coming into the Richard Spring Invitational, the strobe light was not shined bright on Katelynne Hart and her teammates. Of course, everyone knows who Hart is. They understand that she is a national level superstar in her junior season. But even after posting the top time in the state of 16:34 last weekend at Lake Park, Hart was still overlooked. Glenbard West, as a team was frowned upon by some pundits because they took hits to their distance stock via graduation.

Hart said she was mind sharing the spotlight with some of the super talented runners in the making. But it did not take her long to make a statement. The fleet-footed Hart quickly opened the race up and separated herself from the stream of hundreds of runners with 2:32 and 5:10 splits. This is the fastest that Hart has ever opened the first mile. To keep things in perspective, only the all-time record-setting Judy Pendergast of Naperville North ran faster with a blistering 5:08 at the 2015 state meet. 

Hart did not loosen the onslaught of her opponents as she entered the "Bermuda Triangle" for the second half of her race. The chasing field led by sophomore Alice Abbott of St. Charles East was already 13 seconds back. At the two-mile mark, Hart crossed in 10:40- Abbott 11:09. Once again from the bird's eye view, it appeared as though Hart was in throttle back mode. The victory was imminent and there was no need to push things completely into the red zone. Hart cruised home to a nice cheering crowd in a meet record and her Detweiller personal best 16:14. Abbott ran well in own respect coming home in 16:47. Three other girls broke 17:00 in their chase to greatness. 

GIRLS THREE MILE RUN FINALS
PLACEATHLETETEAMRESULTPOINTS
1Katelynne Hart11Glenbard West High School16:14.701
2Alice Abbott10St. Charles East High School16:47.102
3Samantha Poglitsch10Wheaton Warrenville South High School16:53.803
4Aly Negovetich9Grant High School16:58.204
5Katie Hohe12Glenbard West High School17:00.605
6Lianna Surtz9Rosary High School17:02.606
7Anne Marie Jordan10Palatine High School17:07.807
8Mckenna Revord11Hinsdale Central High School17:26.608
9Isabelle Christian12Oswego High School17:28.709
10Rachel Price9St. Charles North High School17:33.1010


#5 Glenbard West took down the defending meet champions #2 Wheaton-Warrenville South 131-133. Despite a frightening scoring split by the Hilltoppers, it was a little deceptive because of Hart and senior Katie Hohe's top-five finishes. The #5 runner senior Chloe Connolly was the real hero. She closed things down with a good 52nd place second-place finish. The Tigers got a third place from sophomore Sam Poglitsch and 11th from senior Laurel Moneysmith. But the back end scorers were pretty far off... Oswego took third in their best invite performance in many seasons. How about Oak Park-River Forest? The Huskies have been competing well in the early going and with a 4th place holding, they may get a surprise in the upcoming rankings sweepstakes.

TEAM SCORES
PLACETEAMPOINTSSCORERSTIMES
1Glenbard West High School1311+5+26+47+52 (81+93)2:23 1-5 Split | 17:41 Avg
2Wheaton Warrenville South High School1333+11+20+44+55 (67+125)1:48 1-5 Split | 17:55 Avg