Brooke Wilson and her Prospect teammates stride out before the start of the 3A race. Wilson finished third in a school record as well as MSL record 16:33 (Colin Boyle photo)
Championships are won on the course and not on paper. This is an age old fact that we sometimes forget. In the pre-game talk with Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson, he cautioned to never look past anyone. "We certainly would never discount anyone," he said. The bottom line was that Minooka had the arsenal to get it done at the top with Tutt, Shelton, and Callahan. The dynamic trio finished in the top five in most meets and in the top 10 elsewhere. Minooka is the only team in the state that on any given day, have the potential to run its top three girls under 17:00. There are very few teams, if any, with this type of firepower to win a championship without a consistently reliable scoring pack.
Coach Kevin Gummerson said during the pre-meet that his back end scoring girls were improving. "Our 4,5,6 girls have been coming on," he said. Most noticeably was the performance at the Normal Sectional. The team scored an impressive 20 points there. While it was an awesome achievement, it did not garner the same attention or respect that sectional winners did. But looking inside the numbers, the biggest gains was from senior Morgan Crouch. She had been running in the #5 spot at times and getting her time down in the process. The scoring split was a season low 1:20 at Normal. This is very important for a team and a bonus that Minooka has three front runners. However, this is one time that a scoring split would matter for the Indians if they hoped to achieve the dream of a lifetime. The split at state would be 1:14. That was more than enough to get the job done on Tutt's fourth place finish and 16:35 clocking. And with freshman Vivian Van Eck stepping big time in 66th place (17:50), it was a wrap.
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minooka High School | 132 | 3+14+15+47+53 (142+153) | 1:15 1-5 Split | 17:14 Avg | ||
As good as top ranked Naperville North has been this season, they have not been perfect. Yes, they have the benefit of Judy Pendergast who happens to be the best runner in Illinois. But they also have been complacent in the middle of their scoring pack on one or two occasions this season. There is depth among the Huskies with eight girls running under 18:00 and 20 others who broke 19:00. At the state meet, if you don't have more than one front runner you must have a tight pack running up front. The Huskies ran well 2-5 producing a 47 second split from sophomore Sarah Schmitt's 17:02 clocking. Claire Hamilton (Jr.) finished 65th and that hurt Naperville North. She has a personal best of 17:09 from a year ago. The law of averages did not meet. The Huskies fate was similar to the 2013 team that finished second. The pack is the most important part of cross country. It can be good put positioning and how everyone finishes up will tell all.
| 2 | Naperville North High School | 148 | 1+16+39+40+52 (60+102) | 1:56 1-5 Split | 17:13 Avg | ||
Batavia has been on the come up for quite a while now. Back when area foes Geneva and St. Charles East was bagging all of the accolades in the Fox River area, the Bulldogs were building with the likes of Lisa Phillips, Alexis Sampson, and others. Creating and sustaining a quality program takes work. There are going to be more downs than ups in the beginning. Last year Batavia finished 11th in the state and that should have signaled something to the masses. The Bulldogs earned a #9 pre-season ranking. Coach Chad Hillman added: "Strong returning core group with 6 of the top 7 from the state meet returning. Our goals are to win the conference championship and improve last year's state meet place and have individual all-staters." They achieved that and much more.
3 Batavia High School 175 9+22+37+41+66 (68) (118) 1:09 1-5 Split | 17:32 Avg
- Judy Pendergast's coach Dan Iverson said "absolutely" when asked if his pupil could break 16:00 for three-miles. The prognosis would be put to the test right out of the gate. The weather conditions changed a bit prior to the race. It felt a bit windier and cooler adding to the speculation that times may suffer. The opening half-mile told a different tell as Pendergast moved well in under 2:30 and a sizable gap on the impressive field had already formed. It was clear that no one was going to with her. She would motor past the first mile in 5:08 and over and 12 seconds ahead of Caitlyn Shepard (Sr., Lake Zurich). The previous best initial mile holders were Kaylee Flanagan (Lake Park) and Madeline Perez (Glenbard West) who ran step for step in 5:13. Perez ran away to a state record 16:02 in that one back in 2012. Pendergast had no competition but somehow managed to hit 7:46 at the halfway point and then the deuce in 10:26. "I ran a personal best in the two mile," said Pendergast during the aftermath. She was able to keep her form coming up the final quarter-mile incline and smash the old record in a stunning 15:53.8. The first girl under 16:00 was celebrated nationally and it should have been. It is an amazing feat that may stick for more than a few good years, but for the time being Pendergast is the absolute best of all time.
| F Three Mile Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Pendergast, Judy | 12 | Naperville North High School | 15:53.80 | 1 | |
| 2 | Payne, Lindsey | 10 | Glenbard West High School | 16:15.70 | 2 | |
| 3 | Wilson, Brooke | 11 | Prospect High School | 16:33.30 | -- | |
| 4 | Tutt, Ashley | 11 | Minooka High School | 16:35.70 | 3 | |
| 5 | Long, Jocelyn | 10 | Barrington High School | 16:43.00 | 4 | |
| 6 | Revord, Reilly | 10 | Hinsdale Central High School | 16:43.40 | 5 | |
| 7 | Altmayer, Mckenzie | 12 | Geneva High School | 16:45.30 | 6 | |
| 8 | Ernst, Audrey | 10 | St. Charles North High School | 16:48.70 | -- | |
| 9 | Shepard, Caitlin | 12 | Lake Zurich High School | 16:52.50 | -- | |
| 10 | Sparreo, Isabelle | 10 | Stevenson High School | 16:52.80 | 7 | |
| 11 | Milburn, Emma | 10 | Lake Forest High School | 16:53.00 | 8 | |
| 12 | Lau, Rachael | 12 | Plainfield North High School | 16:53.40 | -- | |
| 13 | Stephens, Emma | 10 | Batavia High School | 16:54.00 | 9 | |
| 14 | Romig, Madison | 12 | Grant High School | 16:54.10 | 10 | |
| 15 | Atkins, Sara | 11 | Wheaton Warrenville South High School | 16:55.30 | 11 | |
| 16 | Marrasco, Madison | 10 | Schaumburg High School | 16:57.00 | -- | |
| 17 | Zaher, Anne | 12 | Hinsdale Central High School | 16:57.70 | 12 | |
| 18 | Barcelona, Sarah | 9 | Lyons Township High School | 16:57.90 | 13 | |
| 19 | Shelton, Emily | 10 | Minooka High School | 16:58.20 | 14 | |
| 20 | Callahan, Mackenzie | 11 | Minooka High School | 17:02.30 | 15 | |
| 21 | Schmitt, Sarah | 10 | Naperville North High School | 17:02.70 | 16 | |
| 22 | Ehrhardt, Emma | 11 | Geneva High School | 17:03.40 | 17 | |
| 23 | Scholle, Maggie | 11 | Lane Tech High School | 17:04.90 | -- | |
| 24 | Lechwicz, Sam | 12 | Palatine High School | 17:12.60 | 18 | |
| 25 | House, Kathryn | 12 | Loyola Academy | 17:15.10 | -- | |