By Michael Newman

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The race last week by Judy Pendergast (Naperville North HS) in Iowa when she ran 17:45 over the hilly 5k Pleasant Valley course was a hint of what was to come Saturday morning at Detweiller Park. The hint perhaps started back during track when she won the 3A 3200 Meter Run State Championship. The senior took command of the 3A race early running an even paced 5:23 for the first mile and then passing two miles in 10:48. She slowed a little in the final mile running 5:31. It was still good enough to cross the line in a head shaking 16:18.9.

 

The time is the fastest non-state meet time for a Girls race. It is the fourth fastest Girls time ever at Detweiller Park ever only trailing Madeline Perez, Maryjeanne Gilbert, and Emma Fisher. It is the fastest time on a three mile course this year in the United States for a high school girl’s runner.

 

“I really do not like to go out crazy fast but the first mile in 5:22 felt comfortable;” Pendergast said after the race. “I really do not have any time goals. Racing my best every meet is something that I am aiming to do.”

 

“This was really no surprise to us,” Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson said. “The time she ran today has been pretty much the way she has been training in workouts. She’s made a real leap.”

 

Conditions were almost perfect in Peoria with temperatures in the low 60’s with light winds. The course was a little soft due to rain that had hit the area two days prior to the meet.

 

There were four other runners under 17 minutes in this race. Jocelyn Long (Barrington HS) continues to impress as she finished second running 16:49.6. Minooka’s Ashley Tutt and Emily Shelton came in together 4^th and 5^th both running 16:55. Emma Stephens (Batavia HS) was one second back (16:56) in 6^th.

 

Expectations of a great 3A Girls team race came true on Saturday. Yorkville’s Coach Chris Muth always has tried to challenge his team. He did when more than a week ago he asked FTTF Meet Director Brien Dunphy if his team could run in the 3A race instead of the 2A Girls race. When Dunphy approved, Muth approached his team with that question. They wanted to. That eagerness showed in the way that the Lady Foxes ran.

 

Yorkville put 6 runners in the first 23 staying together during most of the race. Alexis Grandys led the way running 17:25 to place 9^th. Freshman Nicole Greyer was only 8 seconds back in 11^th. Then came Summer Pierson (13^th), Maddie Dearborn (15^th), Alyssa Edwards (21^st), and Olivia Borowiak (23^rd). Their split on five was only 23 seconds. Their result was 69 points and the race championship.

 

“We are excited that we were able to compete and compete well in the 3A section of FTTF, but we also understand that other teams were missing girls to different things such as the ACT and illness.  We have the utmost respect for all these programs we ran against today and understand they will be much improved come November; but just getting the girls to understand that they can compete with anyone is something that we haven't had in the past,” said Yorkville Coach Chris Muth. “Individually having 6 girls under 17:54 is a first for our program, but it just shows what great kids we have on the team and how well they get along and pull for each other daily.  We were without our normal number 5/6 runner Emily Eberhart, who should be back soon and will make an impact in our top 7 by the end of the year.  This was a very solid start to our season.”

 

#8 Batavia was the first “3A” team in finishing second with 101 points led by top ten finishes by Emma Stephens (5^th) and Dakota Roman (8^th).  #1 Naperville North rebounded from a poor start working their way up through the field placing third scoring 119 points.  The overall five runner split for the Huskies does not really matter especially with Pendergast running the way she is. Still, their 2-5 split off of Sara Schmitt’s 20^th place finish was only 15 seconds.

 

#7 Barrington demonstrated that their race the week before was not an aberration by placing fourth with 135 points. Long led the way placing second. Lauren Conroy was also in the top ten running 17:29. The Fillies have a strong front four with a 66 second split amongst those runners. That is especially good considering where Long is right now. The split between 2 and 4 is only 26 seconds. #15 Lake Forest has made the transition to 3A smoothly demonstrated by their performance in this race. The Scouts placed fifth with 163 points. They put four runners in between 17^th place and 27^th place with only a 14 second split. Emma Milburn and Lauren Garriques led their team next to each other in 17^th and 18^th.

 

#2 Minooka has the best first three in the state right now. The Indians finished sixth in this meet with their fourth and fifth runners in 80^th and 89^th.  MacKenzie Callahan finished behind Shelton and Tutt in 7^th place. “Ashley Tutt and Emily Shelton looked great as they were locked in a good battle with Barrington's Jocelyn Long. They are starting to be more confident in their ability to handle the fast first mile that typically happens at Detweiller,” said Minooka Coach Kevin Gummerson. “We obviously did not put together the perfect team race.  We are looking to see some athletes step up and fill some gaps. There are some kids that are starting to figure things out.”

 

 

Here is a look at the other five races that took place at Detweiller Park Saturday.

 

 

3A Boys – Kevin Salvano (Buffalo Grove HS) and Blake Evertsen (Hinsdale Central HS) broke away from a pack of at least 15 runners in the triangle going through the 2 miles together in 9:39. It was a final burst by Salvano that gave him the win in 14:22.2. Salvano’s time is the fastest Boys time for a three mile course this season nationally. Evertsen was only three seconds back in second (14:25.8).

 

There were many breakthrough performances in this race within the first ten. Vince Zona (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange) came off with a strong race last week with another strong effort finishing third. Only four seconds separated places 4^th through 8^th. CSL rivals Martin Barr (Niles North HS, Skokie) finished 4^th, Brett Davidson (Highland Park HS) finished 5^th, and Josh Derrick (New Trier HS, Winnetka) finished 8^th. Alec Danner (Downers Grove North HS) finished 6^th after his win last week at St. Charles. Danny Rosen (Northside Prep, Chicago) set a school record for 3 miles (14:43.6) to place 7^th.

 

#2 Lyons Township edged WSC-Silver rival #5 Hinsdale Central 80-96 to win the team championship. Their 5 man split went down from 39 seconds in their last meet to 34 seconds on Saturday. Sophomore Danny Kilrea ran a great race as the Lions’ #2 running placing 12^th and a personal best (14:53.4). Connor Madell was close behind in 14^th. Matt Begeman (21^st) and Roland Van Tassel (31^st) were the team’s 4^th and 5^th men.

 

Hinsdale Central ran better than last week but also showed that there is room for improvement. Andrew Irvine (15^th) and Chris Brenk (16^th) were within two tenths of a second of each other. Sam Fathizadeh was the Red Devils’ 4^th man ten seconds behind in 26^th. Sophomore Ethan Planson placed 39^th as the team’s fifth runner. Their overall split was 55 seconds on five. Their split from 2 to 5 was 24 seconds.

 

#11 Buffalo Grove, behind Salvano’s win and Tom Cleary’s 13^th place finish, placed third with 160 points. #9 New Trier was next with 209 points for fourth. Fishers IN, who is ranked 4^th in Indiana by hoosiersxc.com, placed fifth with 231 points.

 

 

2A Girls - #3 Dunlap won the team championship with 163 points using a 10-12 finish by Frannie Verville and Miranda Kruiswyk. “This week the game plan was actually for us to pack a little more, especially from #4 through #8 or so. However, we got spread out early. Even Franny and Miranda were separated,” said Dunlap Coach Chris Friedman. “However, our #4 Ayah Aldadah ran a great race! Her race certainly saved us. Eventually we did pack up #5-#8, but it was a little late for them to move together. Abby Johnson, our #3, ran a steady race and looked like a veteran and not a freshman! I thought we looked a little flat, but this has also been the hardest week of training we have had, including the summer. I’m sure their legs were a little heavy, but that will play to our advantage later in the year.”

 

Abby Johnson was the team’s third runner placing 24^th. Ayah Aldadah, who was noted by her coach for her great race, was close behind in 32^nd. Emilie Olstead finished 85^th as the team’s fifth runner. #9 Vernon Hills was a close second with 167 points only 4 points behind Dunlap. Part of that had to do with the Cougars placing their top two ahead of Dunlap’s first two. Vivian Overbeck placed second overall in the race. Lauren Katz ran 18:04 as the team’s 2^nd runner in 7^th place.

 

#7 Rochester showed that they belong up with the 2A elite placing third with 218 points. Freshman Katherine Perry led the Rockets finishing 8^th. #6 Washington started their season placing 4^th. “FTTF give ours runners a chance to see how they can compete with the other teams in the state and we were very happy with 4th place,” said Washington Coach Troy Walcott.

 

#2 Lemont finished 5^th behind the 27^th place finish by Taylor Campos. Their first four split was only 23 seconds. “We are kind of right where I thought we would be at this time of the season, we have yet to do any speed work and it showed over the last

800m or so. We got a bit swallowed up in the middle of the 600+ mass of runners and had to work hard to get where we wanted to be,” said Lemont Coach Tim Plotke. “We have some work to do tightening up our pack. We did run faster as a whole this year which does bode well for us as the season progresses.”

 

Jenna Lutzow (Belvidere North HS) won the individual race running a fast 17:11.5. Vivian Overbeck was seven seconds behind in second place. Delaney Appino (Boylan Catholic HS) finished third as teammate Grace McLaughlin finished fifth. Kortney Schardt (Lakes Community, Lake Villa) was in between in fourth.

 

 

2A Boys – It was a sweep for Grayslake Central as they captured both the individual and team championships in this race. Jack Aho pulled away from Shane Williamson in the final 800 to win the individual championship by six seconds (14:35.6 – 14:41.5). “Jack ran a great race. The goal was 14:30s and he accomplished that. He seemed comfortable through two miles and then he got to work in the 3rd mile,” said Central Coach Jimmy Centella. “We got his last mile at 4:42. If there was any doubt that he was one of the top runners in the state, there no longer is after that performance.”

 

Jack Aho was followed by his brother Matt in 9^th. Danny Vincent (15^th) and John Girmscheid (17^th) were within four seconds of each other as the 3^rd and 4^th men for the team. Eli Minsky finished 37^th as fifth man. Put that all together for 79 points and a dominating win. “We were very happy with how our boys ran overall as 6 of our top 7 ran PRs!  Our top 4 ran about as good as we thought they could at this point in the season,” said Centella. “The weather was phenomenal and our guys took advantage.”

 

#3 Yorkville ran a 19 second split off of the 19^th place finish of Trevor Willis giving the Foxes a second place finish overall in the “post-Hoffert” era. “Grayslake Central looked extremely impressive and will be fighting for a state championship in November,” said Yorkville Coach Chris Muth. “As far as Yorkville goes, we need to translate practice excellence into racing excellence.  This Boys team has a great work ethic and has been practicing great for weeks, I just feel it’s a matter of time before it starts showing up in their races.”

 

#9 Belvidere North placed third with 203 points. #8 Vernon Hills was next with 217 points. There was more than an 80 point gap before #21 Rock Island Alleman came in fifth with 300 points. #7 Rockford Christian finished sixth in their meet in their new 2A classification.

 

There were five runners that finished 15 minutes or faster on this cool day. Behind Aho and Williamson came Luke Beattie (Woodstock HS) who ran 14:44 in third. Eryk Yunk (Belvidere North HS) ran 14:48.0 to place fourth. Ben Flowers (Jersey HS) ran 14:53.0 to place fifth.

 

 

1A Girls – The first race of the day did not have any surprises. Daly Galloway ran under control with splits of 5:36, 5:56, and 5:51 according to her coach Lawrence Lane. She finished in 17:23.6 more than 37 seconds ahead of 2^nd place Arielle Summitt. “"My training has been great and much improved from last year" Galloway said. “I felt strong and relaxed throughout the 3 miles; much better than my race at Detweiller at Dark in July. I finished with more left in the tank."

 

Third through fifth were separated by only five seconds led by the third place finish of Shelby Siltman (Olympia HS, Stanford) and her 18:14.6 time. Colleen Madden (Carlinville HS) was four seconds behind in 4^th. Eva Bruno (Seneca HS) was half a second behind Madden in fifth.

 

#3 Urbana University showed that they will be one of the teams to watch in November winning the team race with 86 points. Annemarie Michael was also in the top ten with her teammate Arielle Summitt placing 6^th. Katie Tender (29^th), Berit Hudson-Rasmussen (31^st), and Elizabeth Atkinson (33^rd) formed a tight pack behind the two front runners. Only 13 seconds separated the three.

 

#4 Seneca scored 149 points to finish second behind Bruno’s 5^th place finish. #17 Kewanee-Wethersfield and #10 Winnebago both scored 161 points. Wethersfield was awarded third on the sixth runner tiebreaker. #15 Carlinville placed fifth four points behind the two teams paced by top eleven finishes by Madden (5^th) and Jacey Roper (11^th).

 

 

 

1A Boys – Cory Landon (Carlinville HS) pushed the pacing as he broke away from the pack with 800 meters to go running 15:24 for the win. He was patient laying off the pace as he passed the mile in 5:07. He got up to the lead coming out of the triangle biding his time until the 2 ½ mile point. “The pace felt really relaxed so I just decided to sit back until 2.5 miles and go for the win,” Landon said.

 

Wyatt McIntyre (Athens HS) was a surprise in 2^nd eight seconds behind Landon. Matt Stelmasek (Johnsburg HS) placed 3^rd and Matt Osmulski (Elmwood-Brimfield HS) placed 4^th both with the same times (15:36.1). Hunter Cobbley (El Paso-Gridley) finished 5^th.

 

#4 Elmwood-Brimfield, paced by Osmulski’s 4^th and Derek McCoy’s 11^th place, won the team championship with 123 points. Cooper Hoffmann (31^st), Trevor Dunkel (34^th), and Alex Hermann (57^th) rounded out their top five. #10 Carlinville put three runners in the first twenty to place second with 162 points. #7 El Paso-Gridley was only eight points back in third (170 points). Unranked Eureka placed fourth with 258 points followed by Mt. Zion with 341 points.