Celebrating Palatine High girls cross country excellence at French Market
After going on a jaunt with a running club, Palatine High School's girls cross country team gathered where they finished at the downtown French Market in the village train station for a celebration of state and national achievements Saturday.
Senior Kara Burton said the success was a result of dedication by the entire team, which returned only three varsity runners.
"Everybody comes out and does 6 a.m. practices all summer long," Burton said amid the French Market's bustling Saturday morning atmosphere. "And then we meet every day after school and once to twice a week before school at 6 a.m."
Palatine High's girls took second in the Illinois High School Association's Class 3A cross country championships in Peoria in November. The Pirates placed 12th in a 22-team field in a Nike national cross country competition in Portland, Oregon, this month.
"We wanted to have our best performance at state and we did," said senior Megan Beach. "And we're happy with that."
Palatine's girls cross country history includes seven IHSA championships.
HIP Athletic Association, which serves Hoffman Estates, Inverness and Palatine, organized the public recognition for the girls' state and national success this year. Adult HIP members joined the girls on a run before Saturday's train depot gathering, which included a canned food drive for a suburban homeless agency.
Mark Lechowicz, whose daughter, Sam, is a junior on the cross country team, was among the proud parents at Saturday's festivities. He said he's been impressed with how the teammates care about each other.
"The girls really have jelled," Lechowicz said. "I mean, it's not like some other sports teams you hear about where there's a political atmosphere. This is really a family atmosphere. They have pasta dinners before big races. They are friends in the off season. And you do things like this (Saturday gathering), where the parents and the kids kind of get together and support each other."
Leo Tyska founded HIP about 2½ years ago to serve as a way to connect runners in Hoffman Estates, Inverness and Palatine. He said runners from Fremd and Palatine high schools often join the adults on the pavement.
"We love running with them because they make us feel younger," Tyska said. "And I think that we give them a sense of, hey, this is not just something for today. This is something for a lifetime that we can do."