Judy Pendergast enroute to a record setting run (Colin Boyle photo)
It has been quite a while where the top four teams in the state regardless of classification met in a regular season tilt, much less a mid-week competition on a Wednesday night. Well, it all went down at the Naperville Twilight meet.
The host Naperville North Huskies did not play around in the debut of their newly constructed home campus course which was finished less than a week. "The course was designed by me and it was test run on Saturday," said head girls coach Dan Iverson. Although it was a bit dark in spots and the junior varsity boys made a wrong turn causing them to run well past 5k, the course was fan friendly.
Naperville North got out impressively on the strength of senior Judy Pendergast's lightening fast start. Pendergast and her teammates made the most of the opportunity against 2A #1 Yorkville, #2 Glenbard West and #3 Minooka. As the race progressed it was a stream of consistent orange tops and blue bottoms which was a delight for the home fans. It looked like all seven runners were in the top 25. They would stay consistent throughout the competition and place within the top 30. Actually all 10 runners broke 18:45- which means if Naperville North was slapped with a handicap they would have still won!
Yorkville ran solid but the Lady Foxes did not run their best race despite producing a 25 second scoring split. The did not get out as well as Naperville North and by the time they moved up the race was over. This was a case where the scoring split lied. It was not as close as the final score indicated.
Minooka held on to beat Glenbard West for third. The battle between these two teams was better up front running by Ashley Tutt (Jr.) and Emily Shelton (So.) who canceled out Glenbard West sophomore Lindsey Payne. The Indians did not the dominating performance from Mackenzie Callahan (Jr.) who faded to 14th.
| Team Scores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times | ||
| 1 | Naperville North High School | 56 | 1+6+10+17+22 (23+30) | 1:42 1-5 Split | 17:22 Avg | ||
| 2 | Yorkville High School | 73 | 8+12+13+19+21 (27+49) | 0:25 1-5 Split | 17:41 Avg | ||
| 3 | Minooka High School | 100 | 3+4+14+39+40 (47+60) | 1:36 1-5 Split | 17:42 Avg | ||
| 4 | Glenbard West High School | 107 | 2+18+24+31+32 (43+44) | 1:43 1-5 Split | 17:45 Avg | ||
| 5 | Wheaton Warrenville South High School | 132 | 7+9+34+37+45 (53+55) | 1:14 1-5 Split | 18:04 Avg | ||
| 6 | Metea Valley High School | 149 | 16+20+28+35+50 (52+64) | 1:04 1-5 Split | 18:11 Avg | ||
| 7 | Neuqua Valley High School | 163 | 11+29+36+41+46 (48+58) | 1:10 1-5 Split | 18:15 Avg | ||
| 8 | Hinsdale Central High School | 173 | 5+25+26+56+61 (62+63) | 2:11 1-5 Split | 18:23 Avg | ||
| 9 | Naperville Central High School | 200 | 15+38+42+51+54 (57+59) | 1:19 1-5 Split | 18:31 Avg | ||
| 10 | Waubonsie Valley High School | 299 | 33+65+66+67+68 (69+70) | 1:52 1-5 Split | 19:34 Avg | ||
The individual match up between Pendergast and Payne did not materialize. Pendergast put her foot on the gas from the gun and it was over 500 meters in the race. All she had to do was run steady and maintain the scorching pace that brought her through the first mile in 5:17. Payne moved up and was in second at the mile (5:22). Tutt trailed a few ticks back.
Pendergast indicated that she fed off of the tremendous amount of fan support each step in her one and only race at home. It seemed like Pendergast continued to increase her lead at each check point. The second mile was negotiated in a swift 10:50. Contrast the 10:46 she ran at Detweiller a few weeks ago, it appeared as though she could run another super time.
The final verdict was 16:16- another US#1 time and another all-time best pre-state series time. Although Payne looked strong in her race, she continued to lose ground to Pendergast and the deficit stretched to nearly 15 seconds at the end.
Judy Pendergast interview:
Top 15 finishers-
| F Three Mile Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Pendergast, Judy | 12 | Naperville North High School | 16:16.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Payne, Lindsey | 10 | Glenbard West High School | 16:30.00 | 2 | |
| 3 | Tutt, Ashley | 11 | Minooka High School | 16:53.00 | 3 | |
| 4 | Shelton, Emily | 10 | Minooka High School | 16:59.00 | 4 | |
| 5 | Revord, Reilly | 10 | Hinsdale Central High School | 17:16.00 | 5 | |
| 6 | Schmitt, Sarah | 10 | Naperville North High School | 17:25.00 | 6 | |
| 7 | Atkins, Sara | 11 | Wheaton Warrenville South High School | 17:27.00 | 7 | |
| 8 | Grandys, Alexis | 11 | Yorkville High School | 17:28.00 | 8 | |
| 9 | Mcgrath, Allison | 11 | Wheaton Warrenville South High School | 17:28.00 | 9 | |
| 10 | Griffin, Emory | 12 | Naperville North High School | 17:29.00 | 10 | |
| 11 | Horn, Caitlin | 11 | Neuqua Valley High School | 17:31.00 | 11 | |
| 12 | Greyer, Nicole | 9 | Yorkville High School | 17:34.00 | 12 | |
| 13 | Pierson, Summer | 12 | Yorkville High School | 17:42.00 | 13 | |
| 14 | Callahan, Mackenzie | 11 | Minooka High School | 17:43.00 | 14 | |
| 15 | Austin, Alana | 11 | Naperville Central High School | 17:43.00 | 15 | |