First To The Finish Drops Serious Venom On The Girls Side

It was a very intense day of cross country at the legendary Detweiller Park

RESULTS I VIDEOS I PHOTOS

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Peoria, IL

The Peoria Detweiller series has officially begun and it's always interesting how teams populate Detweiller Park and dig into cross country full blast. The First To The Finish edition is an exact duplicate of the state championship in how it is conducted. There are three classifications and the race times are spaced out to provide some break time. The weather, of course, is usually vastly different now than it is in November. The climes were in the lower 80s by the time the last race was underway around 1:30p.

Class 1A-

We all knew that Winnebago was very good when they took over the rankings last week and moved into the #1 position. Well, the Indians put on an absolute clinic and destroyed the field. Aside from putting up dominating numbers in which all seven runners in the top 50. The Indians performance on paper would have won the 2A division and possibly placed in the top five of the mighty 3A! There is still a long season to go, but things are certainly looking stellar for the 'Bagos.

On a separate note, Staunton junior Lydia Roller used splits of 5:37 and 11:27 to win easily in 17:27. Freshman Grace Erb of Winnebago took second ahead of junior Alexi Fogo 17:54-18:01. Freshman Kate Ahmari of Urbana U High surprised with a fourth-place spot in 18:06. Middle distance star senior Payne Turney of Clinton closed out the top five with a time of 18:09.

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Class 2A-

Over the last several years, it has been either been Vernon Hills or Belvidere North for the team title. Belvidere North came in as the #2 ranked team and was looking for a solid victory to prove to themselves that they are still the team to beat. But it was Vernon Hills that dropped the hammer on the field early and often. Freshman Rose Sheridan and sophomore Emma Wakefield paced the squad in third and sixth places respectively. A big surprise was Latin who placed second without the services of their #2 runner junior Marianne Mihas. However, junior Bea Parr stepped up in her place. The Romans are going to be a very dangerous team and trophy contender come November.

Freshman Tatum David of Olney Richland County is the real deal. Many of the patrons had heard of the hype and they were anticipating a great show. David returned to Detweiller to prove that her summer performance was not a fluke. Immediately she separated from her peers and bolted out to a massive lead. Latin sophomore Ava Parekh is a great runner in her respect was supposed to challenge for the win. Unfortunately, she was not able to handle the blistering 5:17 first mile set by David. It was of course all over by the time she hit the second mile in 10:54. The final verdict was a whopping 16:36 time that was the fastest of the day and the only one under 17:00. As the great Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West begins her high school exit tour, we may be witnessing the entrance of David as the next superstar. Parekh took runner up honors in 17:07.

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Class 3A- 

The top team in all of Illinois marched into Peoria as if they were on a business trip. The Huskies were without preseason #1 runner junior Campbell Petersen for the second straight week. Just like Winnebago overpowered the field by packing up at the first mile, it really wasn't a contest against a solid field that included #3 Yorkville. It's hard to beat a team that runs five scorers in the top 25. The Lady Foxes ran well with heavy numbers up top in distancing itself from Barrington and the rest of the bunch. New Trier was a surprise fourth ahead of Batavia who did not have their top two runners. 

Junior Molly Fitzpatrick of Barrington waged a tough battle over the second half with fellow juniors Maggie Gamboa and Brooke Stromsland of Lakes. Stromsland elected to compete in a deeper 3A field. She held her own until the end but Fitzpatrick won in 17:02. Gamboa's third place (17:09) paced her team.