St, Charles East's Abel glad to be back

After a junior year filled with way more bad luck than anyone should find, St. Charles East's Mallory Abel is ready for a fresh start as a senior.

So far, so good.

Abel, who placed top-40 at state as both a freshman and sophomore, missed her junior cross country season. She was diagnosed with IT Band Syndrome, a condition where her brain couldn't send information to her hip to keep her hip level.

Then during the track season Abel got mono. So needless to say, her senior season couldn't arrive soon enough.

Abel returned Saturday morning at the Jeff Leavey Invitational at LeRoy Oakes. She and York's Emma Fisher staged a back-and-forth battle for most of the three miles.

Fisher pulled away for good in the final mile to win in 17:22.3 with Abel coming in second at 17:29.4.

“Everyone wants to win. I can't say I'm upset, it's hot, an OK time, but everyone wants to win,” said Abel, who said she had a few more jitters than usual running on her home course.

“I was so nervous today,” Abel said. “It was kind of nerve-wrecking being back because it is so different than track. I didn't know what to expect. It's been two years. I've matured, I don't know where I'm going to be, where everyone else is.”

Abel was hoping to come out fast Saturday but got boxed in for the first 600 meters.

“I had a terrible start,” Abel said. “The race plan was to go out and see what I could get. I got the lead but I couldn't shake her (Fisher). She's good. We went back and forth a lot in the woods and in the end she got the better of me. When she went, she went.”

The good news for Abel is her left hip feels fine.

“It's completely gone. I go back to doctor to make sure the hip is level,” Abel said. “It was a tough year last year. Senior year is going to be different.”

St. Charles North senior Sydney Stuenkel stayed close to Fisher and Abel most of the way, taking third in 17:33.

“I thought the race went really well,” Stuenkel said. “I went into it hoping to get top five. I didn't realize how fast it was going to be. It ended up being really fast. I could see them the whole time so I just held on. I felt a little dizzy today but I knew I was pushing myself really hard.”

Stuenkel's strong race Saturday followed her title Tuesday at the Elgin City Meet.

After moving up from 11th as a junior at the Leavey Invite to third this year, Stuenkel has a big season in her sights.

“Now I know I can run fast I just need to continue,” she said. “I need to continue with my mental toughness, continue pushing it because sometimes I get a little scared to push my limit. Now I know I can.”

Ericka Laviste led Montini with a fifth-place finish in 17:50.8. Teammate Theresa Connelly ran an 18:39 to take 14th.

“I'm just glad we had some days of practice just like that (with high temperatures) otherwise I'd been unprepared (for the heat),” said Laviste, who upped her finish from top 20 last year to fifth by passing five runners in the second half of the race.

“My last year here, I wanted it to be my best. I went out a little fast but not too fast that I can't get faster and faster throughout the race. I tried to make the second part faster than the first.”

Waubonsie Valley's Ashley Bruner rounded out the Top 10 in 18:25. St. Charles East junior Sarah Hill just missed, taking 11th in 18:28.2

Lauren Van Vlierbergen turned in the best finish for a freshman, pacing Jacobs with a 12th-place finish in 18:30.

“It was really hot, no shade,” Van Vlierbergen said. “Going down the hills was easy but when you start going up you are just dying. But I just pushed because I wanted to get under 18:30.”

Van Vlierbergen was glad to see how she stacked up against some of the area's other top runners.

“It really helps me push my time because I'm a lot faster than some of the runners I run with,” Van Vlierbergen said. “Here I'm running with people of the same competition has helped me decrease my times.”

Junior Rachael Spalding took 13th for Batavia. Freshman Lexi Slome was next in 25th in 18:59 followed by another freshman Alicia Grant in 39th.

Seniors Hailey Clabough and Abby Schulz rounded out the top five in 69th and 76th for the seventh-place Bulldogs.

“We have a nice mix from each class, freshmen through seniors we have really good balance,” Batavia coach Chad Hillman said. “From every race we have girls battling for the top seven. You have to be on your game every week to hold your spot.”

Batavia also had an excellent fresh-soph race, winning the team championship. Hillman credits Rotolo Middle School starting a cross country program five years ago with all the good runners now coming through the high school.

“We were excited about what we had returning and knew we had a nice freshman group,” Hillman said. “Collectively they had a good summer and understanding what's on the line. Seniors know this is it an they have to get it done and they have so far.”

York took the team title with 86 points followed by Barrington at 93, St. Charles East (122), St. Charles North (144) and Benet (152).

Besides Abel and Hill, the Saints were led by Lizzie Deutch (32nd), Kristin Sheehan (35th) and Madeline Westerhoff (42nd). The North Stars' top five after Stuenkel were Ashley England (19th), Kelly Manski (33rd), Jessica Sheets (36th) and Megan Young (53rd).

Rebecca Batliner paced Barrington in sixth (17:58) coming off an injury in track.

“I thought she did really well today. We had some new kids to the varsity who did a nice job,” said Barrington coach Debbie Revolta, whose team was supposed to run Thursday but it got canceled because of the heat.

“We had some new kids at the varsity level who didn't know how to judge things so I'm real happy with the way they ran.”

Caroline Carley (18th, 18:45), Rachel Simon (22nd, 18:51), Ashleigh Kleinjan (23rd, 18:52) and Elizabeth Tracy (23rd, 18:56) gave Barrington a pretty tight pack.

“I thought we were close together one to five,” Revolta said. “Ashleigh had her first varsity race, Caroline is in much better shape and stepped up big time, they all did a good job. It's early in the season. I know we still have a lot of work to do.”

A 24th-place finish by sophomore Kathryn Adelman led Geneva as the Vikings begin a new era with the highest number of runners they've had out for the team. No other Viking finished in the top 93 as the team finished 18th out of 20.

Coach Bob Thomson's program recently was honored by Dyestat who voted Geneva's 2008 team the best in state history.

“They are gone now. When you lose a team that is ranked best ever, that is pretty impressive,” said Thomson, who liked what he saw from some of his younger runners in the fresh/soph race and said they will be challenging for varsity spots going forward.

“Two or three freshman girls, I think you'll see a different team (next week),” Thomson said. “We're going to get better either by the team getting better or kids will move up. It was an eye-opener for some kids today.”

Nicole Watkins placed 26th to lead Bartlett.