It was a busy and festive day of non-stop cross country at the Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational
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Terre Haute IL--
The small continent of Illinois teams and individuals that made the trek across state lines to "Cross Country Town USA" made the most of their trip in various events amid warmer-than-normal temperatures this time of the season. The Mercury hit a maximum of 86F during the peak of the day and was 76F during the championship races after 9:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Girls-
After a series of undercard races, it was time for the main event, the championship race. The Mt. Prospect Knights needed a signature performance to solidify their confidence as one of the elite teams in the state. A top-three performance would also go far for future reference in the Nike Cross Regionals at-large standings.
The Lavergne-Gibson course is like a second home for Prospect. Team leaders Veronica Znajda (Sr) and Meg Peterson (Jr) did not waver in leading their peers to a wonderful performance. Respectfully, they scored sixth and ninth for the team, clocking 17:53 and 18:07 over the 5K distance. The Knight's scoring split was a bit high at 1:41, but they kept all five scorers inside the top 90, tallying 197 points. Indiana's top-ranked team, Carmel, won with 172 points.
Individually, it was one of the fastest races in meet history. US#6 Jane Hedengren (Sr., Timpview, UT) competed against a strong field that included nationally ranked senior Abby Faith Cheeseman of Tennessee, junior Libby Dowty of Indiana, and sophomore Isabella Keller of Effingham, IL.
Hendengren ran 5:17 and 10:46 for her first two-mile splits. She would finish in 16:50, and new personal best. Chicago St. Ignatius junior Annika Swan ran well in the race; it may have been her best performance of the season and one of the greatest of her career, taking sixth in 17:16. Keller, who ran a bit conservative until the final mile. She passed Swan at the finish line to take fourth in 17:15. Junior Molly Farrell of Marshall was also in the race; she took 16th in a season-best 18:05.
Boys-
The team side of the game was not as fruitful as the boys, as no one finished inside the top ten finishers. IL 3A #4 Plainfield South took 11th with 393 points. Senior Dylan Maloney led his team with a strong performance, placing sixth in 14:53. Fremd took 13th with 399 points, ahead of Prospect's 432 points.
New Trier senior Ben Crane returned from a long break and placed fourth in a personal best 14:49. His team was 21st overall with 498 points.