Glenbard West sophomore Lindsey Payne all alone in record time (Colin Boyle photo)
The girls race on paper was much more deeper than the boys with seven of the top eight teams entered. #2 Palatine was the team that a lot in attendance wanted to keep an eye on as was #3 New Trier, #4 Minooka, #5 Glenbard West and more.
Several pre-meet questions were answered immediately during the first mile. The first one was Glenbard West picking up with sophomore Lindsey Payne who exchanged front running roles for her ailing teammate senior Lindsay Graham. Payne was flanked by the vaulted trio from Minooka (Emily Shelton, Mackenzie Callahan, Ashley Tutt), Palatine senior Kelly O'Brien and a few others through the first mile in approximately 5:46. The second answer was Minooka is a really good team even in the initial stages of the race.
As the first race moved north along the western side of the park, Payne made her move and separated from the pack. At 2m, the soccer standout was all alone in 11:28. Shelton followed suit in 11:35, O'Brien and Tutt were a few seconds back. Naperville Central junior Alana Austin grabbed the fifth place spot with one mile to go.
The team picture was a little cloudy despite Minooka holding three girls in the top six and no other team had more than two in the top 10. Glenbard West was inching in with spread out pack numbers against Minooka's #4 and #5 runners.
The finish seemed to follow what was going on during the second mile except there was a mad dash of course. Payne came home to victory in a meet record and state leading 16:40. Her time was also the second fastest effort ever ran at KLM behind Graham's 16:35 from a year at in a triangular meet. "I played school soccer in the spring but I was able stay in shape by running on my own," said Payne regarding her incredible fitness level. She completely demolished a good field and now has be considered the favorite to win state until otherwise.
Minooka showed they have cause for optimism and concern moving forward in the narrow victory over Glenbard West 72-75. It is a great thing to have three outstanding runners who on any given day could finish in the top five of a major meet, but at the same time the Indians need to sure up the scoring fifth runner. Sophomore Emily Ellis finished almost a minute behind her #4 teammate senior Morgan Crouch. The gap enabled Glenbard West to drive a Sherman Tank through the wedge.
New Trier quietly proved that they are not a fluke in their high pre-season ranking by placing third with 110 points. They had the best scoring split of 54 seconds among the key teams. Senior Oona Jung-beeman lead the way in 11th place for the Lady Trevians.
Palatine Head man Joe Parks admitted that his team has a long way to go in this season. He did not make any excuses in his team's fourth place finish that saw an uncharacteristic 2:29 1-5 split. He will make changes moving forward as needed and hopefully someone will step up down the road. O'Brien netted a third place medal and her low scoring mark will help down the stretch.
Only three points separated teams 5-7 with Naperville Central holding off Wheaton-Warrenville South and Neuqua Valley.