Latin High School of Chicago plans on being a fixture once again among the class giants
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Head Coach: Kevin Roche
Last year's finish: 6th- 3A Marist Sectional
Key returners: Marie O'Brien (Sr), Olivia Rill (Sr), Ewa Szeszko (Sr), Maria Quinn (Jr), Katie Cahill (Jr), Mikaela Burns (So), Maggie O'Malley (Jr)
Projected top 7: We will know when we start racing. Everything is earned…nothing is given :wink:
Newcomers: Same as the above answer.
Coach Roche's thoughts on the team: We have been in 3A for seven years with an enrollment of about 1170. This makes us one of the smallest 3A teams and we have enjoyed running with the 'big dogs'. Now in 2A, we expect to be a presence. The captains of Marie, Ewa, and Olivia are going to be potent in cultivating a culture of high performance. Being a regular 2A presence in track and just earning 30th there, we hope to build upon that for a higher performance in the fall. This team is competitive, hard-working, and enjoys the process & one another. It will be a fun and exciting fall.
Head Coach/coaches: Jimmy Centella/Chris Palmer, Colleen Lill, Greg Lannoye
Last year's finish: 8th- State Championship
Key returners: Grace Kokkin (So), Bryn Sato (So), Caroline Kokkin (So), Anissah Groark (Jr), Ruth Baldwin (Sr), Corinne Heidloff (Sr),
Madelynn Struck (Jr), Jenna Dooley (Jr)
Projected top 7: The top four key returners should be a strong 1-4. The remaining spots are honestly up for grabs.
Newcomers: Kailen McGaughy (Fr)
Coach's thoughts on the team: Our trio of sophomores, the Kokkin twins and Bryn had outstanding freshman campaigns in cross country and continued to run very well on track. They have had a strong summer of training and all three have goals of approaching the 18:00 barrier.
Anissah Groark has had some lingering injuries but if she can bounce back this fall, she will do her best to keep the top 3 close to her. Our real question mark lies with our 5-6-7 runners. We had a deep senior class that represented our 6-10 runners last year. We are looking for our freshman newcomer Kailen McGaughy as well as our other veteran returners listed above to help fill the 5-7 spots and hopefully close the gap that we have on paper between our top 4 and the rest of the team. If we can solidify a strong 5th runner, our team can hopefully make a deep run into November and look to improve upon our 8th place showing from last fall. We also hope to contend for conference and regional titles along the way.
Head Coach/coaches: Kristin Allen, Jackie Svetich
Last year's finish: 10th- State Championship
Key returners: Klein Powell, Grace Lietz, Olivia Bunting, Elizabeth Sims, Delaney King,
Emily Bednar
Projected top 7: Sims, Powell, Lietz, Bunting, Bednar, King, Ella Scott/Chloe Allen/Alyssa
Christensen/Ella Wolters
Newcomers: Ella Scott, Callie Jansen, Hannah Hofauer, Ella Wolters
Coach's thoughts on the team: Young team with an amazing work ethic and grit.
Head Coach/coaches: Mike Garber/Caleb Cox, Grant Kaiser
Last year's finish: 11th- State Championship
Key returners: Nia Gibson (So), Kiersten Patzia (Jr), Emma Leahy (So), Reagan Weichold (Jr), Parker Doggett (So), Jade Anderson (Sr), Abby Teaman (Jr), Allison Dollus (Sr)
Projected top 7: Gibson, Teaman, Leahy, Patzia, Anderson, Weichold, Wilcoxen/Doggett/Bell
(Hard to say on the full 7 at this point)
Newcomers:
Carly Wilcoxen is an incoming freshman with a load of talent. She finished off her middle
school running career with a 2:22 in the 800, good enough for 4th at IESA State. Carly is hoping
to have an immediate impact in our Top 7 squad. Savannah Bell is another incoming freshman
that has had a wonderful summer. She is putting in great mileage with our girl's varsity group and
has the drive and natural ability to jump into our top squad this season.
Coach's thoughts on the team:
We are a fairly young squad that continues to set the bar high. Last season we had some ups and
downs. After talking with the girls this summer, they feel like they left a lot on the table at State
after performing very well in the run-up to that competition. Almost the entire Top 7 crew
returns and after solving some health issues with a few of the girls, they are as driven as ever.
The Glenwood girls are looking to beat our best ever State Meet finish of 5th in 2015… and the
way they have been training this summer, I feel like it is very possible. Nia Gibson is ready to
lead a fierce group of young ladies that have a ton of talent, desire, and fire.
Head Coach/coaches: Ken Greenfield/Michelle Roberts
Last year's finish: 15th- State Championship
Key returners: Mackenzie Aldridge (SR), Laina Driver (SR), Emily Jones (SR), Connie Lin
(SR), Olivia Liszka (SR), Bianca Garay (JR), Chelsea Greene (JR), Emma Murphy (JR), Addie
Frisch (SO), Elise Gorman (SO)
Projected top 7: Aldridge, Garay, Greene, Murphy, Frisch, Gorman, Gonzalez
Projected top 7: Aldridge, Garay, Greene, Murphy, Frisch, Gorman, Gonzalez
Newcomers: Jacqueline Buehler (SO), Alyssa Rapacz (SO), Ashlee Murphy (SO), Delaney
Eschman (FR), Bella Gonzalez (FR), Victoria Hoffman (FR), Josslyn Kmitta (FR), Katie Lorenz
(FR), Amy Marzec (FR), Anna McDermott (FR), Gianna Pinta (FR)
Coach's thoughts on the team:
I've been really excited about our numbers this summer. I'm especially happy to have a group of
freshmen that could end up being over 8 strong (we haven't had registration yet so that number
isn't set yet). We had a really young varsity group last season and I feel like we grew up a lot in
the last year. Our returning varsity runners have been very dedicated and focused and that's
rubbed off on the newcomers. I'm looking forward to a fun season with these girls.
Head Coach/coaches: Vince Neil
Last year's finish: 7th in 2A State
Key returners: Erin Jossart, Brooke Barkocy, Lauren Dowd, Avery Andersen, Fiona Pedone, Grace Comparone, Jocelyn Victoria
Projected top 7: Jossart, Barkocy, Dowd, Andersen, Pedone, Comparone, Victoria, Brennan
Newcomers: Tia Brennan
Coach's thoughts on the team: The girls had a great fall last year and carried that momentum into the spring track season. We only graduated one girl from last year's squad. All of the girls are a year stronger and more experienced which we believe will translate into a big success. Look for this team to continue to improve all season long!
Head Coach/coaches: Dan Daly/Amy Merrill, Tommy McHugh, Michelle Parekh, Jim Spivey
Last year's finish: 6th- State Championship
Key returners: Marianne Mihas (Jr), Ava Parekh (So), Mckenna Fellows (So), Lizzie Nash (Sr), Olivia Syftestad (Jr), Claire Hardiman (Sr), Charlotte
O'Toole (Jr)
Projected top 7: See above
Newcomers: Bea Par
Coach Daly's outcome on the team: Solid team, hard workers, motivated to earn a top-three spot at the state meet. This group is eager to
defend conference, regional, and sectional titles.
Tony's thoughts: This is a group with a realistic chance to grab one of the three state trophies in November. The two-headed monster of
Marianne Mihas and Ava Parekh are as tough as any duo in the state. The key is to get three or four members to collectively form a
strong alliance and closeout meets. If this can be done, it will be hard to stop the Romans.
Head Coach/coaches: Matt Haffner/Giovanni Sira, Raymond Lewis
Last year's finish: 8th- 3A Niles West Sectional
Key returners: The top 10 all return; Rhiannon O'Keefe, Lexi Affolter, Mia Trotter, Rosie Sullivan, Maddie Semmer, Kristina Dalton, Maeve White
Projected top 7: Whoever is up for the challenge
Newcomers: To be seen
Coach Haffner's thoughts on the team: Rhiannon O'Keefe (18:03) returns to defend her GCAC title
after having a successful track season (5:10, 11:21). Lexi Affolter (2:20, 5:29, 11:41) looks
to hang with O'Keefe and drop a lot from her 18:57 of last season.
We had a pack of three just over 19:00 which allowed us the win the GCAC meet. I think
that group could grow to 10 girls this season. Mia Trotter, Rosie Sullivan (5:42) and
Maddie Semmer (1:00.66) led that group. Kristina Dalton (5:44) and Maeve White also
earned all-conference honors as did Summer Cardenas in 2017.
The switch to 2A has certainly not hurt team morale. Motivation is high. We hope to have
20 girls under 20 minutes this season.
Head Coach: Scott Brooks
Last year's last finish: 12th- 3A State Championship
Key returners: Meaghan Andrews, Elisabeth Camic, Joy Jackson, Amelia Parisi, Emily Spellman, Kelly Andrews, Beth Croll, Karly Keating, Colleen Lipa, Ellen Nemivant, Mary Weber, Sophia Rigitano
Key returners: Camic, Spellman, Jackson, M. Andrews, Lipa, Keating, K. Andrews
Newcomers: none new to the team that are sure top 7 contributors
Coach Brooks' thoughts on the team: This is a unique year for us, our 1st time ever in 2A for cross country. Usually, we are one of the smallest 3A schools, so this will be a change for us. I really challenged the girls last November to be prepared for that opportunity and most of our top returners rose to that challenge. Most are in much better shape than at this time last year.
It's a long season, though, and health will be a big determiner of how the season turns out for us, as it always is (for us and everyone else). We don't have the depth that we've had on some of our past teams, so that's my big concern right now, but I am encouraged that our top girls have seized the opportunity to get in good shape over the summer and we'll see where that takes us. I'd much rather be concerned about that than our fitness like I was at this time last year. We have a chance to be a really good cross country team this year and this group of girls has great team chemistry, so I'm excited to see how things turn out for us.