Mixed emotions for Huntley's Loprieno
Huntley and senior veteran Haley Loprieno will be a part of the Class 3A St. Charles East girls cross country sectional field at LeRoy Oakes today and Loprieno is hoping for at least one more weekend to the season.
“I've got mixed feelings,” says Loprieno, who helped Huntley to a second-place regional finish. “I'm excited, but at the same time it's my senior year and it could all come to an end. I want to keep going.”
Loprieno, a state qualifier as a freshman, is coming back from a stress reaction to her left fibula that sidelined her over the summer.
“I basically had to take 8 weeks off,” she says. “When I came back I could only run 2 miles a day. It's was terrible. But I've gotten slowly back to the right spot. Hopefully it all comes together (today).”
Jacobs and Streamwood are also part of the St. Charles East sectional field. Freshman Kayla Giuliano led the Golden Eagles at the regional, while Amanda Patterson paced the Sabres in the postseason opener.
Crystal Lake South senior Marianne Collard is one of two Fox Valley-area runners to win individual regional titles (joining Hampshire standout Cassie Kruse).
“I've learned to run races smarter,” Collard notes. “I'm not starting out too fast and I'm learning to listen t my body better. If something is hurting, I know not to push too far. That's helped me out this season.”
Collard qualified for state as a junior last year.
“My goal is to just make it to state,” she says. “I'm going to try and not start out too fast. There are going to be a lot of good runners there. I'm going to try my best and whatever happens, happens.”
Bartlett senior Alyssa Schneider, who finished second at the West Aurora regional, could be a threat for the individual championship today. The Hawks also advanced as a team by finishing fourth at West Aurora. Sophomore Nicole Watkins took fifth place individually and junior Taylor Crawford was 12th.
South Elgin will have individuals Jordan Tuin (junior), Katie Goplerud (senior) and Abby Kenny (sophomore) running in the St. Charles East sectional. Elgin-Larkin co-op sophomore Fabiola Oritz rounds out the area competitors at LeRoy Oakes.
At the Class 3A Schaumburg sectional at Busse Woods, Dundee-Crown will be part of the team field. Claire Himmel was the Chargers' top runner at the regional. Cary-Grove's Megan Cummings (senior) and Kathie Woolney (junior) qualified as individuals.
Burlington Central will compete in the Class 2A sectional at Belvidere. Rockets' senior Markelle Turk is coming off a fourth-place showing at the regional.
“We would like to qualify as a team or get individuals to state,” Turk says. “Hopefully all of our hard work and dedication throughout the year will pay off. I love all of these girls and want what is best from them. The sectional is going to be very tough. We're planning on going out there and doing our best.”
Hampshire's Kruse goes into the Belvidere race fresh off an over 17-second win at the regional. She also won the Big Northern Conference title two weeks ago.
Kruse will face competition for the sectional title from Woodstock senior Kayla Beattie (16:42.3) and freshman Maura Beattie (17:42.7), St. Francis senior Kelly McShea (17:53.4) and Marengo sophomore Katie Adams (17:55.9). Kruse ran 18:18.78 at the regional. However, the Beatties and Adams ran on a 2.9-mile layout at Highland Community College in Freeport. Central ran at Kishwaukee College in Malta on a 3.0-mile course.