Class 3A-
It was once again the Katelynne Hart and Enyaeva Michelin show from the gun
Katelynne Hart may be just a sophomore but she is wise beyond her years. The Glenbard West phenom indicated that she expected Enyaeva Michelin to come and test her early on in the race. The Evanston senior was not deterred by the beating she took in the final mile at last weekend's Lake Park Sectional which had her on the ropes. After some mental preparation she was prepared for one more outcome.
The friendly duo would separate from the pack early and meander their way through the first loop and pass the opening mile in 5:19. In the back loop, Hart would stay ahead by a shoulder's length. It appeared as though Michelin was more confident as the race passed the halfway point. Would she be able to dethrone the defending champion? As both runners hit the second mile in 10:52, it was clear that it was going to take both a physical and mental gear shift for one of the girls to win.
With just a half mile remaining, Hart put in a surge that finally broke Michelin and she sailed home victorious for a second time in 16:22 on the soggy layout. Michelin fought off a fleet of hungry sharks to grab the runner up spot in a personal best 16:30. Emily Shelton (Sr., Minooka) ran her best ever race and erased any lingering "empty nest" feeling with a third place finish in 16:30. After Sarah Schmitt (Sr., Naperville North) ran finished 4th, it was the steady Lindsey Payne (Sr., Glenbard West) with her fourth straight top five finish. Abby Lopez (So., Argo) proved to be no fluke placing an amazing sixth place among the favorites.
| GIRLS THREE MILE RUN FINALS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | POINTS | ||||
| 1 | Katelynne Hart | 10 | Glenbard West High School | 16:22.00 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Enyaeva Michelin | 12 | Evanston Township High School | 16:30.00 | 0 | |||
| 3 | Emily Shelton | 12 | Minooka High School | 16:30.00 | 2 | |||
| 4 | Sarah Schmitt | 12 | Naperville North High School | 16:33.00 | 3 | |||
| 5 | Lindsey Payne | 12 | Glenbard West High School | 16:38.00 | 4 | |||
| 6 | Abby Lopez | 10 | Argo High School | 16:39.00 | 0 | |||
| 7 | Alex Morris | 11 | Naperville North High School | 16:41.00 | 5 | |||
| 8 | Melissa Manetsch | 12 | Libertyville High School | 16:44.00 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Madison Marasco | 12 | Schaumburg High School | 16:54.00 | 0 | |||
| 10 | Olivia Niziolek | 12 | Maine South High School | 16:58.00 | 6 | |||
#1 Naperville North came in as the prohibitive favorite. But just in case they forgot their esteemed coach Dan Iverson reminded them of their tasks to complete the job. 10 minutes before the start of the race, it was Iverson as about as animated as you will see a person with a mild manner personality. He instructed his troops to cover all of their individual and team goals while racing. "Make sure you are looking up," he said in one instance as to be aware of their surroundings.
The Huskies were aware of a tough field that included #2 Yorkville, #3 Downers Grove South, and #4 Wheaton-Warrenville South in particular. Sarah Schmitt and Alex Morris led the way in 4th and 7th place respectively. It was business as usual at the end as the Huskies closed well putting three scorers in the top 10 and all 7 in the top 60. 80 points to Yorkville's 117 was the verdict. The Lady Foxes ran as well as a second place team could. They had three all state runners but could not match Naperville North on closing depth... Lyons Township has improved their program over the past several season and now are the cream of the WSC Silver. The Lions ran very well down the stretch and did it without #1 runner Sarah Barcelona who was out all season with injury. No all staters this time, no problem. They beat out Wheaton South and Downers Grove South for the all important third place trophy.
Danny Kilrea (#1987) was on a mission to win his first championship
Danny Kilrea is a very nice young man with a big smile. But don't take his mild manner persona for a weakness. He was visibly upset last year when he came up short in breaking 9:00 in the 3200m last spring. The Lyons Township senior also wanted to win a state title on the track. This season he has slayed everyone in his path including the recently anointed Dylan Jacobs (Sr., Sandburg). But no fault to their own, it was the hype of the media and fans that made things rather larger than just racing. The endless talk of breaking the legendary Craig Virgin's record (13:50.6) was discussed at length.
It would not happen.
The opening mile got out in 4:35 and then stalled. Jacobs was not there to assist in pressing the second mile. Kilrea got into the back loop triangle and was solo. Jacobs was in second and Clayton Mendez (Sr., Chicago Whitney Young) a close third.
Kilrea increased his lead on the field and passed the second mile in 9:21- more than a dozen seconds ahead of the next runner. Kilrea knew that the record was gone, but he pressed on for the all important crown in 14:08, the same time he ran last year in finishing runner up. Mendez stormed home in second to close out a storybook career. The 14:22 time for Clayton is a CPL record. Tommy Brady (Sr., Maine South) sped home third in 14:29. Zach Kinne (Jr., Neuqua Valley) finished ahead of Connor Perreault (Sr., Niles North) for fourth 14:33-34.
The team race was a good one with #1 Downers Grove North and #2 Neuqua Valley as the big favorites. Would the defending champion Neuqua Valley hold on to their title? For awhile it was hard to determine where Downers Grove North was. The Trojans played the uniform switch up game. They wore dark colored unis which was a slick old school coaching trick. Coach John Sipple earned big points in trying to disguise his strong pack from being spied. But when you complete a 17-second split there is no need to hide. Senior Jacob Ridderhoff led the way in 8th place and Sam McCool finished the 5th man in 27th overall. The Trojans scored a cool 73 points that was of all time fashion.
Neuqua Valley fought like champions are supposed to. Kinne ran well but his crew was too far back from DGS to get it done. But the Wildcats were just good enough to handle Wheaton-Warrenville South for second 149-156.