Jacobs' VanVlierbergen pushed but defends title at Leavey invite
A little of the old and a little of the new turned St. Charles East's Jeff Leavey invitational into must-see viewing Saturday morning at Leroy Oakes.
St. Charles North freshman Audrey Ernst continued her blistering start to her high school career, while Jacobs senior Lauren VanVlierbergen showed she is ready for challenges of any kind.
VanVlierbergen defended her title though not before Ernst ran with her for the first two miles. VanVlierbergen pulled away slightly to win in 17:06 with Ernst taking second in 17:15 — 27 seconds ahead of the next closest runner.
VanVlierbergen won her third race already this fall, though this was the first time she has been pushed.
“It was awesome to be able to run with her,” said VanVlierbergen, who set a fast pace early with a 5:20 first mile. “We were pushing each other the first two miles. She's only a freshman. She's got a great future. I kept hearing people cheer for her behind me. It helped push me more. That's amazing she can already run with upperclassmen.”
Ernst, who won the Elgin Invitational earlier this week, turned more heads by competing with VanVlierbergen who finished fourth in the Class 3A state meet last year.
“She's amazing,” North Stars coach Shari Hayes said. “She's going to get better as she learns to race. She's going to get better and better. But it was pretty impressive she went out with Lauren and had that confidence to do that knowing that Lauren is No. 1, No. 2 in the state right now. I think that's pretty aggressive from her and shows pretty good confidence. That's gutsy for a freshman with no experience and stay with her as long as she did.
“She's good. I don't know what else to say about her except she's good. She's the real deal.”
Ernst, a world class triathlon competitor for her age, was all smiles Saturday.
“I really tried to do my best and go as fast as I could and see where I ended up because I really didn't know how it would end up,” Ernst said. “I knew all the great runners and I was just nervous. They are really good runners. It was amazing, it was really fun to race against them.”
Jacobs, after winning its county meet last week, took sixth as a team. Molly Barnes was the next finisher for Jacobs in 22nd.
“I'm really excited for this season,” VanVlierbergen said. “We have a younger team so we're going to have a great future too. We're looking forward to a great season.”
Host St. Charles East claimed the team title in convincing fashion with 58 points ahead of Batavia (90), Barrington (96), Geneva (99) and York (123) in the 12-team field.
Senior Torree Scull led the Saints in third with a time of 17:47, just .7 ahead of Batavia freshman Emma Stephens. Scull passed Stephens in the final few seconds of the race.
“I really wasn't feeling that great today,” Scull said. “After the first mile I was hurting bad. When I was at the end I just had to finish strong. It had been so painful I just said it can't get worse than this.”
Sophomore Hannah Ewald (seventh, 18:22), sophomore Anastasia Honea (12th, 18:49), senior Anna Arrick (13th, 18:50) and sophomore Lauren Woelffer (23rd, 19:11) made up the Saints' top five.
“Hannah ran a great race. She's tearing it up ever since last track season. Her confidence has just grown,” Saints coach Mike Arenberg said.
Honea moved from the sixth spot into No. 4 with a strong close.
“She moved up really smartly and ran a great race,” said Arenberg, obviously pleased with the team title.
“That is absolutely the goal,” Arenberg said. “It's a single day. We're pointing toward the end of the season. This is a good point to build from for us. We didn't have our best team race. There's still quite a bit of room for improvement.”
Chad Hillman felt the same way about Batavia even though the Bulldogs finished second despite missing one of their normal top-five runners.
After Stephens in second, junior Dakota Roman took 10th (18:31), freshman Mary Grace Golden was 11th (18:46) and senior Miranda Rea 18th (19:00).
“It wasn't how we have looked at practices,” Hillman said. “Our No. 1 ran really well. Our No. 2 and 3 weren't all that happy. Overall we did very well. A lot of them it was their first big invitational in high school. Really pleased in that regard but I know they aren't that thrilled with it.”
Geneva coach Bob Thomson also has a couple freshmen he said can be in his top seven later this year. He chose to run them in the frosh-soph race Saturday, something he has done all the way back to his state championship team.
“We're just not in a rush to do that,” Thomson said. “Our history has been let's do the best we can when it matters most at the end of the season. We use all these seasonal meets to find the best group we have and the ones that blend the most and work the hardest. I think they all ran well (today).”
Junior McKenzie Altmayer and sophomore Emma Ehrhardt led Geneva in sixth and eighth place, respectively.