Katelynne Hart did not spare any victims in her quest at dominance.
Chicago- Compared to last year's climes, it was like a heat wave with the temperatures still in the upper 70s with a touch of humidity when the main drag kicked off just past 7pm. Overall, it was another great evening of distance racing at St. Ignatius High School near downtown Chicago.
The sign of what was to come came from the middle school realm. Seventh grader Morgan Mackie of Chicago dropped a serious personal best 5:16.32 and winning by nine seconds.
There were only five girls entered in the freshmen mile but Naomi Ruff of South Elgin came away from the winner in 5:10.93. Ruff was an all-stater in cross country last fall.
The state's top freshman Ava Parekh of Chicago Latin opted to run in the Girls Elite race, though she could have probably run with the Elite Women's group. Parekh went right with the rabbit in a fast 69 seconds through the first 400. The gap immediately formed between her and the chase pack. Parekh hit the halfway mark in 2:25. Her teammate and 1A two-time state champion sophomore Marianne Mihas began to mount her charge. It was all for naught has Parekh cruised home with the "W" in a personal best 4:55.38. Her 1600m time 4:53.58 is the third fastest time in the state. Mihas held off a surging freshman Lianna Surtz of Aurora Rosary who had missed most of the season with growing pains. Surtz proved that she is growing into a superstar just like Parekh and Mihas.
The final race of the evening was the main event. The Women's Elite Mile was the final destination for Katelynne Hart. The Glenbard West junior megastar went right with the supposed rabbit who turned out to be Anna Shields of Pittsburgh, PA. Shields in her own respect has run 4:37 as well as nabbed an indoor 1k title at Park Point University. They hit the first two metric splits in a blistering 67 and 2:16. They were around 2:52 at 1k and then 3:28 on the bell. With 150m to go, Hart bolted away from Shields for the historic win in 4:39.57. It was a new state all-time best for the full mile as well as 1600m in which she hit in 4:38.00. Hart's times now put her in the top echelon of the country.