2021 First to Finish Invitational Recap - The Girls Races

Ton-That pulls away early to claim 2A win; Final surge gives Grace Erb 1A win; Westlake holds on for 3A victory; Naperville North’s pack difference in 3A win; Winnebago still in charge in 1A; Grayslake Central on top in in high stakes 2A team race

By Michael Newman

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Peoria – The last time that Elia Ton-That of Northside-Prep had raced at Detweiller Park was in her sophomore year in 2019. She ran 18:00 to finish 27 in the state meet. When she crossed the finish line on Saturday to win the Class 2A race at the First to the Finish Invitational, it felt like she had never left.

RESULTS | VIDEOS | PHOTOS

Ton-That was in charge after the first half-mile of the race. She was more than five seconds ahead of Mia Kotler of Latin School and Bella Domier of Grayslake Central at the first mile. The temperatures were warm on this day approaching 80 degrees at race time. It did not seem to bother Ton That as she ran the fastest Girls time of the day on this course hitting the timing mats in 17:15.

“I knew there was going to be good competition here. This is one of the fastest courses in the state. I just wanted to come in here and run a personal best,” Ton-That said. “I knew I just wanted to get out fast. I thought maybe there would be a pack with me but there was not. I felt good so I just kept going.

Kotler pulled away in the second mile with ideas of trying to get to the lead. Ton-That had already erased that thought as she was not close to striking distance. The Latin School freshman still finished second (17:30) that bettered her time the week before at Hinsdale. Isabella Marasco of Lake Forest stayed conservative the first mile, then started to pick off runners in front of her. It resulted in a 17:46 time and a third-place finish. Domier dropped back in the final mile but still ran 18:00 to finish fourth. Colleen Zeibert of Rochester moved in the final mile to finish fifth (18:04).

The 2A Girls team race did not disappoint especially with 20 of the top 30 teams ranked in this race. #2 Grayslake Central picked up their second win of the season scoring 96 points. It looked like Dunlap would in this meet through the first two miles of this race. A final charge in the last mile by the Rams gave them the win. Domier led the team with her fourth-place finish followed by teammate Bryn Sato who placed 11th. Sara Armstrong (17th), Katie Armstrong (26th), and Sofia Witt (38th) followed. Their top five split was 88 seconds. Their split from Sato to Witt was 56 seconds. #8 Dunlap’s aggressive race and pack plan paid off as they scored 114 points to finish second with only a 31 second split on their top five. Freshman Kate Robertson finished 14th to lead the Eagles. Abbie Gleason (19th), Abby Tudeen (20th), Saniya Mathew (29th), and Morgan Phillips (31st) followed.

#1 Vernon Hills was only three points behind in third scoring 177 points. Anna Todd (8th) and Reina Hill (10th) led the Cougars with top 10 finishes. Rose Sheridan (22nd), Jadyn Parker (37th), and Clara Sheridan (41st) were next. Vernon Hills had a 70 second split on their top five. #5 Lake Forest was fourth (172 points) led by Marasco’s finish. The team had a 60 second split from second runner Sophia Lane (24th) and Olivia Palmberg (65th). #19 Nazareth Academy surprised some by finishing fifth (185 points) led by the 12th place finish from Collette Kinsella.

#11 Mt. Zion (291 points), #6 Normal University (308 points), #6 Normal University (308 points), #20 Payton Prep (328 points), and #3 Latin School (345 points) were the teams that comprised the rest of their top 10. Latin School was without their top runner Ava Parekh who was on a college visit.

Winnebago on top again led by Grace Erb Individual Win

A final surge in the last 300-meters of the race clinched the Girls 1A individual win for Grace Erb of Winnebago in the first meet of the day in this meet. You could call her race a work in progress as she moved from 5th after the first mile.

Anna Perry of Eureka took charge of the race early as she opened a lead after the first mile. Erb and Father McGivney freshman Elena Rybak worked together to slowly catch Perry. That is when Erb made her move just after the curve into the home straight. Her winning time of 17:48 was eight seconds ahead of Rybak (17:56). Perry held on for third (18:04) finishing ahead of Kate Ahmari of Urbana University (18:14) and Winnebago’s Marissa Roggensack (18:15).

The top five finishes from Erb and Roggensack along with Kaylee Woolery placing eighth gave the edge for Winnebago in this race. The Indians scored 64 points to claim the meet win. They won this meet even with out one of their top five runners Katie Erb who was held out of this race according to their coach Janet Erb. Renee Rittmeyer (24th) and Sophia Martino (28th) rounded out their team’s top five.

#5 Tolono Unity made a statement in this race finishing second with 89 points placing their top 5 runners in the first 29 with a 54 second split on the group. Erica Woodard led the team finishing 10th. Reagen Stringer was the team’s second runner placing 13th. Olivia Shike (17th), Malia Fairbanks (25th), and Harper Hancock (29th) rounded out the team’s top five. #4 Eureka finished third (117 points) behind Perry’s top five finish. Gabrielle Knapp (11th), Laurel Munson (19th), Claire Albertson (30th), and Meika Bender (60th) rounded out the Hornets top five.

#7 Wheaton Academy finished fourth (226 points) led by Lily Lebo’s finish in 20th place. #8 Urbana University finished fifth (241 points) led by Ahmari’s top five finish. #15 IC Catholic Prep placed sixth (313 points) led by top 20 finishes from Carly Manchester (6th) and Graziella Narcisi (15th). #14 Father McGivney (351 points), #11 Stanford Olympia (357 points), #24 Clinton (380 points), and #27 El Paso-Gridley (392 points) were also a part of the top 10 teams in this race.

Westlake’s win leads Naperville North to the 3A win

Naperville North’s team is used to coming into a meet as the meet favorite with every school giving them their best shot. Saturday’s 3A meet was no exception as the Lady Huskies came away with the team win. It helped that their top runner Lucy Westlake crossed the line for the win in this race.

Conditions were tough with temperatures over 80 degrees with an uncomfortable humidity. It did play a factor in the individual race. The pace was under control as a pack led by Kayla Shea of Lockport, Katrina Schlenker of Batavia, and Westlake rolled through the first mile in 5:38.

The race changed in the second mile when Westlake left the pack behind in the triangle opening a nine second lead at the two-mile mark. Beatrix Gilson of New Trier made her way through the pack and found her way in second chasing after Westlake. Schlenker looked strong at that point in third.

That order did not change in the final mile. Westlake came home with the win running a 17:31 time. Gilson, who is in her first year of cross-country, closed the gap on Westlake in the final mile finishing second (17:33) just two seconds behind. Schlenker finished next in 17:44. It was her first race of the season. Sarah Maggio of Metea Valley ran one of her best races of her career as she finished fourth (17:46) ahead of Lyons Township’s Catherine Sommerfeld who finished fifth running 17:50.

The mentality of Naperville North is work their way through the race moving on teams in the second half of the race. Minooka had a slight advantage ahead of Naperville North after the first mile. After that, it was all the Huskies. They scored 100 points to take the 3A win. Forget the top five split for this team this year especially with Westlake going after low numbers in the front. That split was 89 seconds. Their second through fifth scorers were within 30 seconds of each other all between 20th place and 33rd place. Logan Brennen and Sophie Golobitsh came in together in 20th and 21st. Julie Pilot (25th) and Emma Berres followed (33rd).

#4 Minooka looked strong again in their race and finished second with 115 points. The Indians proved that we will be one of the team’s that will chase after a trophy when they come back to Detweiller in November. Jocelyn Host led the Minooka pack finishing seventh overall. Then came Gabrielle Kics (13th), Gabriella McCollom (14th), Audrey Boles (28th), and Kathryn Cichon (54th) came across the finish line. Their top five split was 83 seconds. Their top three runners were separated by only 15 seconds.

#8 Naperville Central backed up their race at Hinsdale with a third-place finish in this meet with 134 points. The Redhawks put 3 runners in the top 15 led by Liv Phillips (9th) and then Kate Tueting (11th) and Ava Hendren (15th). That top three was only separated by only 14 seconds. They did end up with 5 runners in the top 64 with a 92 second split.

#6 New Trier was a close fourth (144 points) led by Gilson’s second-place finish and 3 runners in the top 22. #13 Lyons Township finished fifth with only a 16 second two through five pack behind Sommerfeld. #22 Batavia (194 points), #14 Barrington (238 points), #17 Libertyville (253 points), #21 Jacobs and #15 Yorkville (256 points) were in the second half of the top 10. St. Joseph-Ogden selected to run in the race in the afternoon. The 1A #6 team in the state finished 15th in this race led by the 26th place finish from Ava Knap.