Girls cross country: Hersey strides past Prospect, toward East title
Prospect's girls cross country team has had a firm grip on the Mid-Suburban East, having won nine consecutive division titles.
Hersey loosened that grip on Thursday.
A fast-rising Huskies squad placed four runners in the top six in narrowly defeating visiting Prospect 27-30 at MacArthur Middle School in Mount Prospect.
Senior Hailey Bowes (18:25), sophomore Teagan Beckley (18:31) and senior Sarah Harden (18:33) strung together a 2-3-4 finish, but Katie Fredian (19:16) was the deal-breaker.
The Huskies freshman passed two Prospect runners in the final 10 meters to secure sixth place and cement the come-from-behind victory for Hersey.
"I knew it was going to be a close race," said Hersey first-year coach Danielle Freeman of the narrow victory. "And what Katie (Fredian) did at the end, I had no clue, I knew she had to pass two runners."
The victory puts Hersey in firm control to win its first MSL East Division title since 2007. The Huskies can cement that title with a pair of victories next Thursday at the Elk Grove triangular.
"It feels great," said Bowes. "We have always wanted to beat Prospect, they are such a good team. It's such an honor to compete against them and win."
"It's a big deal," said Harden who was coming off an 11th-place finish at the Richard Springs Invite in Peoria last weekend. "We knew it was going to be close and Katie really pulled through for us."
Prospect senior Brooke Wilson set the tone for the Knights by cruising to a first-place finish in 18:15.
With Wilson leading the way, Prospect was in control of the race entering the final mile with five Knights runners in the top eight.
But Fredian, who was in 12th place at the 2-mile mark, calmly made her move in the final mile, using one final burst to cement the victory.
"We knew they were good," said Prospect coach Pete Wintermute, "and we knew what we had to do, but sometimes it comes down to inches. That was pretty impressive for a freshman."
Sophomore Marissa Valentini (19:15) took fifth place for the Knights, followed by senior Molly Leeney (19:16.39) and senior Aileen White (19:16.64) in 7-8.
"They did pretty much what we expected," said White of the tough challenge from the Huskies. "We have the right pieces for the puzzle. It's just putting enough of those pieces together."