IHSA Recap: Winnebago Girls Show Dominance In 1A Final

RESULTS I VIDEOS I PHOTOS I RECAP VIDEO

-----------------------------

Coming into the state championships' opening race, all eyes were on the individual race. That factoid was more than validated with a traffic jam entering the venerable Detweiller Park that stretched several miles. Once inside, it would be like a cinematic experience for all of those lucky ones.

The gun went off, and the runners who shaped the opening half mile were who we expected: Sundara Weber (Sr., Sandwich), Isabella Keller (Jr., Effingham St. Anthony), Kate Foltz (Sr., Tuscola), Kyla Babb (Sr., Westmont), and Tessa Bowers (Sr., Shelbyville). They were all under 5:20 with Foltz leading the herd in 5:16. The tables turned during the next half mile as Sunny and Keller put a little distance on the field, hitting the halfway point in 8:02.

Weber had discussed breaking the all-time record (15:53.4) set by Mia Sirois (Jr., Barrington) last year. For that to happen, she would need to get things going. Ironically, they both hit the second mile in 10:40, the same time the class record holder, Foltz, ran en route to 15:59 last year. Both were 10 seconds slower than Sirois' 10:30.

With a half mile to go, Weber had the momentum after downshifting along Highway 29, which is on the east side of the park. She was in the clear from Keller, and the attention was on the finishing clock. Oh, there wasn't one on, and Weber was smart enough not to check her watch; she just ran through the finish line. Weber's official time would be 15:54.4, taking over the class record and supplanting herself as the third-best performance of all time. 

Keller took second in a personal best 16:06, 14 seconds better than Babb's 16:20. Bower's was the first team scoring finisher, taking fourth in 16:20.7. The fifth finisher was the defending state champion, who ran a fine 16:30.

Coming into the fray was #1 Shelbyville and its star runner, Bowers, who were the pre-meet team favorites. The Rams were undefeated and poised to win their first title. The key to winning, of course, is closing out the race, and that has been a severe Achilles' heel. The scoring split has been over three minutes on average. As it turned out, it would not even be close as the "Bagos won at each mile stanza. The lead over the Rams was insurmountable, finally peaking at 60 points, netting 150 points.