Jacobs' Van Vlierbergen a regional champ
Lauren Van Vlierbergen, Gabby Juarez and Kelly Meehleib took the first steps toward Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday in convincing fashion.
Van Vlierbergen, the Jacobs senior who finished fourth in the Class 3A state girls cross country meet last season, won the Class 3A Palatine regional Saturday while Juarez, Streamwood's senior speedster who was 49th at state in 2013, was the individual champion at the Class 3A Glenbard North regional. Meehleib, a Huntley senior who did not qualify for state last year, was the champion at the Class 3A Rockford Guilford regional, also leading her team to the title.
Van Vlierbergen ran the Palatine course in 17:06, 26 seconds faster than second place finisher Kelly O'Brien of Palatine. Van Vlierbergen's finish helped the Golden Eagles finish third as a team and qualify for next Saturday's Schaumburg sectional at Busse Woods.
Jacobs finished with 108 points as senior Courtney Eubanks was 23rd, freshman Chloe Walsh 25th, senior Molly Barnes 28th and sophomore Kathryn Van Vlierbergen 31st.
Crystal Lake South, led by a 13th place finish from senior Kiley Britten, took fourth place with 117 points to also advance to Schaumburg. Sophomore Caitlin Bruzzini was 17th for the Gators while junior Andie Kobrick was 21st, junior Jenny Luken 26th and freshman Kayla Ehrenhaft 40th.
Cary-Grove sophomore Sarah Caesar (22nd) and Dundee-Crown freshman Sylvia Waz (27th) also qualified for sectionals as individuals.
Palatine was the team champion with 27 points and Lake Zurich was second with 79.
At Glenbard North, Streamwood's Juarez covered the course in 17:02, which was 14 seconds better than the second place time of Wheaton Warrenville South sophomore Sara Atkins.
The Sabres also nabbed the sixth and final team qualifying spot for the St. Charles East sectional by scoring 130 points. Seniors Samantha Harding (21st), Cassidy Wingerd (33rd), Addie Kelly (34th) and Bernice Cabral (41st) also scored for Streamwood.
Bartlett qualified three runners for the sectional - senior Jess Wittmayer (28th), freshman Jessie Fagan (35th) and sophomore Coral McFarland (40th) - and Elgin will send juniors Anali Cisneros (42nd) and Chloe Burkhardt (43rd) on to the next phase of the state series.
WW South won the team championship with 56 points, followed by Geneva, St. Charles North, St. Charles East and Wheaton North.
At Rockford Guilford: Huntley won the team championship at Guilford with 40 points, nosing out Hononegah by 3 points. South Elgin finished fourth with 123 and Larkin sixth with 150, both advancing to the St. Charles East sectional.
Meehleib ran away with the individual title, posting a time of 18:03.49, some 38 seconds better than Rockford Auburn's Janelle Ferguson. Also scoring for the Red Raiders were freshman Chloe Smith (4th), freshman Megan Hernandez (8th), junior Katie Mitchell (13th) and freshman Olivia Boncoscky (14th).
South Elgin was led by freshman Lindsay Alvarado (19th), freshman Jasmine Hernandez (20th), junior Maggie Vickrey (21st), junior Jackie DeLaMora (28th) and junior Abigail Steffen (35th).
Larkin advanced behind sophomore Tanya Franco (25th), junior Elizabeth Acuna (26th), junior Janet Guadarrama (29th), sophomore Dianne Cruz (34th) and senior Kennya Franco (36th).
Class 2A: Hampshire took the sixth and final team qualifying spot at the Woodstock regional and will run in the Kaneland sectional next week. Sophomore Morgan Richert, senior Natalie Sztukowski, freshman Stephanie Oury, sophomore Marie Mayer and junior Anna Wilson led the Whip-Purs. Burlington Central freshman Chloe Bilyk also qualified as an individual. Yorkville was the team champion.
Class 1A: Harvest Christian finished third at the Aurora Christian regional to advance to next week's Lisle sectional. Chicago Christian was the team champ with Westmont second. Harvest senior Valerie Richter came in second to Aurora Christian senior Becca Wert. Harvest freshman Nygia Pollard took third. Also scoring for the Lions were freshman Rachel Higbee (20th), freshman Rayna Steiner (23rd) and senior Kylee Knox (33rd). St. Edward sophomore Megan Kremer (13th), Green Wave junior Ashley Lopez (39th) and Westminster Christian freshman Sophie Danner (17th) qualified for sectionals as individuals.