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Detweiller Park; Peoria IL-
It was a gorgeous day for some cross country racing at the iconic landing point along highway 29 just north of downtown Peoria.
How fitting would the day turn out for the #1 Lady Dukes of York when their reserve runners got things started with a dominating performance in the open race. Bella Swanson (Sr.) ran 19:02 and got the win. The Dukes took the first six places in a perfect score match.
Next up was the frosh-soph girls and the stakes got a tad bit higher. Wheaton-Warrenville South freshman
Nicole Poglitsch led at each checkpoint and took home the gold medal in 18:10. Yes, she is the younger sister of the great
Samantha Poglitsch who is now running for the University of Illinois. Prospect was victorious over WWS 58-76.
The main event did not disappoint as a slew of ranked teams and individuals geared themselves for the ultimate battle. The team battle was settled right away as #1 York packed up its scorers and led at every juncture. It was all started by
Ava Parekh (Sr., Chicago Latin) and
Josephine Welin (Sr., Oak Park-River Forest) who opened the first mile in 5:19. The Duke's top six were nestled between 5:38-5:42. Things appeared from a team stand standpoint, a blowout.
As the race entered the south back loop, Parekh and Welin opened more daylight on the field.
Aly Negovetich (Sr., Grant),
Kendall York (Sr., Portland OR),
Lianna Surtz (Sr., Aurora Rosary),
Ali Ince (So., Normal Community), and several others were stringing along about 12 seconds back. Parekh and Welin would hit the halfway point at about 8:01 and that meant if one of them could hold serve, we would see a new season-best.
Parekh's surge back out into the main portion of Detweiller was profound. She appeared to break a tired Welin, hitting the second mile in 10:53 to 10:56. Ms. York was leading the chase pack charge in 11:11. The pace was still entering for the fans indeed to wonder what the final outcome would be.
Katherine Klimek led the Duke's attack going into the final mile at 11:36.
Finally, Parekh streamed home in a state-leading 16:27- 13 seconds clear of Welin's 16:40.
Grace Schager (Jr., Glenbard North) who started rather conservatively in 5:36 and 11:16, made the biggest gains and smartest racing strategy, copped third in 16:42. York made her trip from the Pacific northwest worthwhile took fourth in 16:54 and Negovetich closed out the top five in 16:55.
| Top 5 TEAM
SCORES |
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES |
| 1 | York High School | 93 | 11+14+19+21+28 (30+86) | 0:40 1-5 Split | 17:34
Avg | |
| 2 | Prospect High School | 171 | 10+13+34+52+62 (131+133) | 1:23 1-5 Split | 18:04
Avg | |
| 3 | Hinsdale Central High
School | 235 | 18+38+53+60+66 (102+170) | 1:20 1-5 Split | 18:24
Avg | |
| 4 | Oak Park-River Forest | 282 | 2+35+41+100+104 (152+224) | 2:38 1-5 Split | 18:22
Avg | |
| 5 | Lincoln HS | 302 | 4+56+70+82+90 (201+217) | 2:13 1-5 Split | 18:31
Avg | |
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