Hart was flanked by Taylor Ewert (left) and Alex Morris (right) for most of the race
The race of the day, came last with the girl's race. Just like the boy's race, there was lots of hype surrounding this race. How fast would Glenbard West superstar Katelynne Hart be able to go, would IL be able to sweep this race? And with the movement of the Ohio state meet, how would this affect the "dual threat" Beavercreek junior Taylor Ewert? Well, all of these questions got answered in under 20 minutes of the gun going off.
Through the first mile, there was a strong pack of about 4-6 runners going through in about 5:22. At the second mile, a few of the girls and fallen back a little and left Hart running alongside Ewert and Naperville North senior Alex Morris a stride behind them. Jump ahead to the 4K mark, Hart kept leading the race, just as she is used to doing throughout the entire season and pretty much her whole high school career thus far, coming through with a total time of 13:43. By now Ewert had dropped back just a little, about 10-15 meters back. In 2nd though was Morris just a stride behind Hart. Morris didn't let off and just let Hart take home another win, she kept right with her all the way through, with Hart winning in 17:14.9 and Morris in 2nd in 17:17.4. Ewert ran her race, taking 3rd in 17:33.7. Greencastle IN senior Emma Wilson, who was runner-up last year took 4th in 17:41.8.
The girls team race was tough to count as they came through, but it appeared it was going to be another IL show with two of their teams grabbing auto-qualifying spots. In the end, Naperville North, who took 2nd at nationals last year, pulled off the win, led by Morris with just 69pts. In 2nd, another Illinois team, Yorkville managed to score just 84pts. In 3rd, potentially up for an at-large bid, was Downers Grove South with 128pts.
Probably some of the more impressive performances came out of the teams and individuals who made the trip from Ohio after running in their state meet just 24 hrs before. The Davidson girls managed to take 4th in the championships race, with four of their scorers scoring in the top 45.