Lakes' Schardt musters up winning effort
With the Warren football game being canceled due to lightning and heavy rain Friday night, it was a sure thing that the weather would affect girls cross country runners Saturday morning at the Blue Devil Invite in Gurnee.
With the course being so damp and muddy, the varsity race was moved up to the first 3-mile race of the day on the grounds of Warren's O'Plaine campus. That suited elite Lakes senior Kortney Schardt just fine.
Schardt pretty much led from wire to wire under the near-60-degree conditions. She easily held off runner-up Caitlin Bruzzini (17:50) of Crystal Lake South by 15 seconds to take home first place.
The battle for the team championship was a great one, as Glenbrook South held off Carmel Catholic's young team 91-101 for the crown of the 21-team meet. Evanston was only one point behind the Corsairs in third place, while Grayslake Central (117 points) had a strong fourth-place showing.
With Schardt leading the way, Lakes (145) placed fifth followed by Rolling Meadows (156), Fremd (195) and CLS (198).
"It was pretty muddy out there with a lot of big puddles, and I had to almost stop a few times going around turns because I didn't want to fall," said Schardt, who placed seventh in Class 2A as a junior. "I think I'm on schedule with my training right now. My goal is to place in the top five at state."
Carmel's push for second place was led by freshman Zella Stockhausen in seventh and sophomore Aileen Hull in ninth. Freshman Gabby Terselic was the Corsairs' No. 3 runner in 23rd place.
"It was only Zella's second (high school) race ever so she looked very good," said Carmel coach Jim Halford. "Aileen and Zella train together so they are interchangeable, and it won't surprise me if (Aileen) finishes ahead of her some day."
Grayslake Central junior Megan Girmscheid continued to shine for the Rams under the treacherous conditions, as she navigated her way to a fourth-place finish.
The Rams also got a 13th-place effort from junior Elizabeth Aho and a 16th from senior Lura Quandt.
"Megan Girmscheid had an awesome race. She's taking it to another level this year, and it's nice to see all of her hard work pay off," said Grayslake Central coach Jimmy Centella. "Elizabeth and Lura pushed each other, and that really helped them run fast times and get high places."
After Schardt, Lakes' pack was bolstered by freshmen Rae Dwyer (22nd) and Simone Lippman (24th).
"Kortney looked really strong. She is continuing to build, and now we're going to start with the faster workouts and hills, so I'm excited," said Lakes coach Keith West, whose team did not have Alyssa Stromsland for the meet. "Rae Dwyer got 22nd place and she was pacing the rest of our freshmen. I'm just really proud of the way she ran."
Senior Gaby Sanchez led Rolling Meadows with a strong sixth-place finish, while teammate Megan Martin placed 21st for the Mustangs.
"Gaby Sanchez looked good, she's where we expect her to be right now and she had a great summer," said Rolling Meadows Kevin Young. "Megan (Martin) is super-competitive. Every race she seems to surprise us, and she's slowly moving up closer to Gaby."
Fremd also had a strong duo in the meet, as Nora Finegan placed 11th and Linda Varela 17th for the Vikings.
"We ran some of our young girls down at the fresh-soph level today that are typically on varsity," said Fremd coach Joe Marcin. "(Finegan and Varela) are right where they need to be. We're being conservative, and the course was deteriorating after the first race."
Buffalo Grove placed 10th, as Alexis Opperman finished 32nd for the Bison. In her first meet this season due to a stress fracture in her shin, Buffalo Grove senior Kaitlyn Ko was 37th. Ko placed seventh in Class 3A as a sophomore.
"Today was just about getting used to being in a race again because we don't want to push her too fast, and we are looking toward the end of the season," said Buffalo Grove coach Martha Kelly. "Alexis is only a sophomore. She's running really well, and she didn't run in the first few meets because of a pulled hamstring."
Antioch was led by Natalie Hill in 18th place, while Crystal Lake South's Andie Kobrick placed 19th.
Cary-Grove No. 1 runner Sarah Riley missed the meet due to illness, but Sara Caesar was solid for the Trojans in 20th place.
Lakes' Megan Knuettel placed 28th followed by Carmel's Molly Machala (29th) and Warren's Emily Jahn (30th).