Palatine MOC turns out to be a classic fall affair

The ideal cross country race conditions on a beautiful Saturday morning were bound to produce some fast times and competitive races. The athletes enjoyed the 65 degrees, sunny weather while competing. 

The freshman boys got things started as Ben Crane of New Trier won by 20 seconds in the 2.5-mile race with a time of 13:27. Barrington's top two runners would place third and fourth helping them win the team title with 92 points. 

The frosh girls' 2.5-mile race would precede the varsity. Sophomore Lily Ginsberg from Prospect was the Knight's top runner at the Richard Spring Peoria Notre Dame Invite last weekend. However, many coaches tend to keep their young talent down here. Ginsberg quickly moved to the front and had the race under control by the mile in the 5:40s. She would go on to win by over a minute, finishing in 14:29. The Knights would also take the team title, scoring 53 points. 

The boy's soph race featured some big firepower. #13 Plainfield South kept three of their top runners down and they placed 1,2,3. Camyn Viger (So), Gavin Borger (So), and Dylan Maloney (Fr) controlled the tempo throughout the three-mile affair. They clocked 15:40, 15:42, and 15:53 respectively. However, it was a tie-breaker on the sixth man by New Trier that pushed them past Oak Park-River Forest with 92 points. The Cougars took third with 96 points.

For the third week in a row since the start of the cross country invitational season, York's dominant pack sprung into action. In the varsity girls' three-mile race, the Lady Dukes bid their time well in the opening mile. Led by Katherine Klimek (So.), the killer bees-like squadron hit the first mile in 5:38-5:48. While all five were in the top 20 at this point, the sixth runner, Maggie Owens (So), wasn't too far behind. Assumption HS of Louisville, KY put up the best fight they could, eventually managed to place second behind York. The final tally was a dominating 48 point attack by the Dukes- placing all five of their scorers in the top 15. 

As far as how the individual race went down, this one will be discussed for ages. Josephine Welin (Sr., Oak Park-River Forest) and Mary Grace Hegberg (Sr., St. Viator) are two of the top runners in the state. Hegberg had been out of action since the first weekend of the season and Welin started her campaign just a week prior. As expected, both runners traded blows in the opening mile which was 10 seconds faster than the field in 5:15. Brooke Johnston (Jr., Lake Zurich) and Nicole Poglitsch (Fr., Wheaton-Warrenville South) were linked in the first pack chasers.

Welin began to separate from Hegberg just prior to the second mile- achieve that feat in 11:00 and ten seconds in the clear. It appeared with just three-quarters of a mile remaining that Welin had everything in the bag. Little did everyone know, Johnston had begun making her move. She closed the gap under 10 seconds with around a half-mile to go. And with just the crest of the hill with less than 200m to go, she pulled in front of Welin and broke home for the win in 16:53. It was an incredible feat that had everyone in attendance buzzing. Welin was in serious discomfort afterward but she copped in 16:56. Hegberg took third with a time of 17:19. Klimek earned fourth in her tough efforts with a time of 17:25. Jones College Prep junior Evelyn Hett ran a school-record 17:26 to finish fifth.