Neuqua Valley races to Stampede crown

For much of the West Aurora Stampede Saturday at Stuart Sports Complex in Aurora, Streamwood senior Gabby Juarez looked around and didn't see anyone in sight.

That was both a good thing - Juarez won the 14-team invite in 17:32, 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Emily Martin from Rosary - and a bit of a letdown that the competition she was hoping would push her did not race.

"I think it was an OK race for me," Juarez said. "For the most part I was running by myself at the end of the race. That's the hardest part is to push yourself. I was struggling a little there. It helped the (pace) car was there driving so I had something to pace off kind of."

Juarez was hoping to see runners like St. Charles North freshman Audrey Ernst but several coaches opted to rest their top runners ahead of next week's conference meets.

"A Fremd girl, a top Yorkville girl, St. Charles North, they didn't run," Juarez said. "I thought they were going to run and I would have that competition but I ended up not having it. I was disappointed because most meets I feel I don't have that good of competition so when I know there are some of the best runners in the state I get excited."

This was the first year West Aurora hosted the meet at Stuart after running it in previous years on the campus at Marmion or Waubonsee Community College.

The new course suited the runners fine. The times were fast and the PRs plentiful.

"I didn't know what to expect," Juarez said. "We came out and walked it and it was pretty flat so I knew it was going to be a good race."

The Sabres finished sixth as a team led by Juarez, Addie Kelly (14th) and Samantha Harding (15th).

"Much improvement from last week (at the St. Charles North invitational)," Sabres coach Dennis Lau said. "Way better. I think everybody had almost a 25-, 30-second PR."

The Sabres and the rest of the field found themselves looking up at Neuqua Valley who defeated runner-up Glenbard East, 79-104.

"It's been a hard week for us," Neuqua Valley coach Tim McCoskey said. "We worked hard on Monday, we had Twilight (race) on Wednesday. For us we knew we'd see pieces of teams, we knew a lot of teams are missing a piece or two but for us our momentum is starting to roll so we wanted to keep it together."

Neuqua Valley also won an invitational earlier this year at Joliet. One impressive race Saturday came from freshman Corina Pena who has closed the gap with the Wildcats' top four and finished as the team's No. 5 in 23rd.

"We knew at the start of the year we had some freshmen that could help us," McCoskey said. "We looked at our team early and thought this is a team that's going to change throughout the year. Freshmen tend to charge and that's kind of the fun time of the year when teams get into a rhythm and you can feel yourselves getting a little bit better each week."

Senior Anastasia Bernat led the Wildcats in third place with a time of 17:49. She was in seventh place with a mile to go and passed four runners.

"At the two-mile mark I really kicked it in and made sure I got a lot more momentum so I could finish strong," said Bernat who enjoyed talking about the team's title more than her own race.

Julia Pena finished 13th, Lauren Penkala 18th and Caitlin Horn 22nd for the Wildcats' second through fourth runners.

"It's pretty exciting," Bernat said. "We've been having a really good pack with the team so far and a lot of hardworking girls. Today what was interesting is now we have a good fifth girl come in. At Detweiller (the First to the Finish race) - that's where we really saw a good shift and mentality in our team and knew we were going in a good direction. We're really focusing on closing the gap between the one and five girls."

Senior Allison Hansen led Glenbard East in eighth place with a time of 18:02.

Batavia finished fourth as a team with 125 points despite resting Emma Stephens, Dakota Roman, Marygrace Golden and Miranda Rea.

"Just ironing out kinks and making sure everybody is ready for the stretch run," Batavia coach Chad Hillman said.

Three freshmen turned in Batavia's top three finishes: Daphne Kolody (16th, 18:22), Anna Malay (17th, 18:26) and Erika Mansfield (24th, 18:42).

"We did all right," Hillman said. "They have been feeling good and running well and it was a good race experience for them. They did very well. It's a fast course. The kids like to see times and everybody does. It was a great confidence builder. We ran super fast."

Martin's runner-up finish placed eighth-place Rosary (195 points). Madison Ronzone wasn't far behind in sixth in 18:00.

"Madison is more closer to what I think she should run," Rosary coach Vic Meade said. "Madison and Emily are looking really good."

Junior Shea Vero (33rd), Mallory Rettenmeier (71st) and Claire Hengesbaugh (96th) made up Rosary's top five.

"They are in their right positions," Meade said. "They are just faster today. Good day for the Royals."