St. Charles schools eyeing a showdown
Cross country is often viewed by many as an individual sport. Although teams send seven runners to the starting line for each race, it's often the standout individuals who garner the most attention.
St. Charles East and St. Charles North each have a very talented runner leading their team, but they both view cross country as a team sport.
Saints junior Lizzy Hynes and North Stars sophomore Stephanie Strasser will both be looking to help their teams improve this year after successful 2006 seasons.
Hynes finished sixth at the state meet in Peoria a year ago in a time of 17:13 and spent this summer focusing on training more than competing.
"Lizzy is looking to improve on what she did last year, but she's also made it clear to the team this year that she wants them to join her downstate," said first-year Saints coach Denise Hefferin. "She's really focused on helping her teammates improve."
Hefferin was an all-state cross country runner for the Saints under Tom Roderick and will now get her opportunity as the head coach.
"It's been great so far," Hefferin said. "I'm fortunate to have a great team and they help me out a lot. I think I bring a lot of what I learned from coach Roderick, like having a competitive and team spirit, but I'm sure I'll also add some things of my own. Roderick told me the night before our first practice to make the season my own, so I try to do some new things too."
Hefferin's experience should pay dividends for a young Saints team that surpassed expectations last year to finish 22nd in the state. The Saints have 10 runners vying for the top seven slots, but only one is a senior.
"I think it helps that I've felt the same feeling at the beginning of each race," Hefferin said. "I've been on that starting line at Peoria, so I think that helps in how I coach."
Joining Hynes will be senior Stephanie Sands; juniors Dayna White, Lauren Hoepper and Lizzy Stefen; sophomores Holly Robertson, Grace Gordon and Lauren Tomstock; and freshmen Morgan Ketterling and Gina Bartindale.
Strasser finished eighth in the state last year as a freshman in a time of 17:19 to help lead the North Stars to their first ever place at the state meet at 13th.
Strasser suffered a stress fracture during the track season that kept her from putting in the miles over the summer, but the sophomore worked in the pool and bike to keep her endurance up and coach Shari Hayes thinks Strasser looks even more fit than she did a year ago this time.
"This is probably the most fit that she's (Strasser) ever been," Hayes said. "She looks stronger than she did last year at this time, and I don't think the layoff has hurt her endurance."
Although Strasser had a lot of personal success a year ago, her focus remains on helping her team to continue to improve as well.
"She would like to get into the top five downstate, but she also wants her team to be with her," Hayes said. "She's a very good role model and a great athlete to have on your team."
The North Stars had their most successful season in school history last year when they finished 13th in the state, and now they're looking to improve on that ranking.
"The girls have set a clear goal this year that they would like to return to the state meet and finish in the top 10," Hayes said.
Joining Strasser will be seniors Claire O'Brien and Jamie Pfeiffer, who was the North Stars' fourth runner a year ago until suffering a season-ending injury. Juniors Emily Frieny, Ashley Capone and Nicole McSweeney all ran in the top 12 last year, and sophomores Catherine Sullivan and Christy Strasser are returning as well.
While the season ended on a positive note a year ago for St. Charles East and North, the season ended in disappointing fashion for Batavia. The Bulldogs missed the state meet due to an early collision with one of the runners at the sectional meet.
However, with six of those seven runners returning for the 2007 campaign, coach Chad Hillman is hoping they remember the experience enough to be motivated by it, but to also realize that this is a new beginning.
"I don't want them to forget it about it necessarily, but I want them to realize that each year is different," Hillman said. "We'll need to learn how to be a team all over again and try to find the identity of this team."
Like some of the other top teams in the area, the Bulldogs will run only two seniors in their top seven runners. Hillman said running against the top competition in the state will give them valuable experience that could help them as the season progresses.
"We've set up our schedule to be difficult to give the girls a chance to run against the top teams," Hillman said. "Our goals will remain consistent as they have always been. Each year we try to win our conference and try to qualify for the state meet, so those will be our goals this year as well."
Returning for the Bulldogs will be seniors Anna Sutphen and Teresa Orlow; junior Amanda Good; and sophomores Alexis Sampson, Sarah Freundt and Dana Landem. Junior Sydney Spain transferred over from Waubonsie Valley and freshman Kathryn Skleney could see action in the Bulldogs' top seven.
Geneva returns four of its top seven for the 2007 season. The Vikings finished fourth in the Lake Park regional in 2006 and will be led by two sophomores.
In addition to their returning four runners from the 2006 team, the Vikings will also get senior Caitlin Guinan and junior Sarah Cable back, who both ran at the state meet when they were freshmen.
Kelly Shogren and Myra Yelle came on strong over the last four weeks of 2006, and will be joined by junior Emily Byars and senior Glenna Murphy.
With only two seniors on their team this year, and senior captain Murphy battling through a stress fracture injury, Vikings coach Bob Thomson will be looking to a group of underclassmen later in the season to help carry his team.
"We have an extremely talented freshman class of 10 girls and I thinking four to five could end up running with our varsity group by the end of the season," Thomson said. "The experience of Caitlin, Sarah and Glenna running at state will be very valuable to those girls."
West Aurora junior Charlotte Smith finished 29th at the Wheaton North regional and will be the Blackhawks' top runner.
Aurora Central Catholic has been assigned to Class 2A this season and will be the second smallest school in the newly created class.
However, the Chargers will be returning five of their top seven from last year's team that placed 11th at the state meet, which provides a lot of optimism for coach Troy Kerber.
"The girls have phenomenal potential," Kerber said. "This group is very talented and has this unique ability to hammer on each other and push each other, and that's a great thing."
Senior Valerie Cintron led the Chargers throughout the 2006 season, and this year appears to be no different. Cintron was 40th in the Class A state meet a year ago in a time of 19:02, and Kerber is expecting an even better season from the senior this year.
"She's (Cintron) gone up a whole other level since the track season," Kerber said. "She's really excited to be running in her senior season and we're very excited about her potential."
Fellow seniors Jamie Nagel, Gina Alosio, Liz Kottkamp and Kelli Schmidt will provide veteran leadership, while juniors Meghan Kelly and Alyssa Shaff will stabilize the front seven.
Sophomores Melissa Lindsay and Bianca Guzaldo, along with freshmen Jacqueline Nagel, Alexis Anthony, Allison Alosio, Kayla Fortier and Nicole Bohr could also see time in the top seven.
Aurora Christian went to its first state meet in school history a year ago and finished sixth in the Class A meet.
The Eagles will run the 2007 season in newly created Class 1A, and could possibly have an even better team than they had a year ago.
The Eagles return six of their top seven, including seniors Ann Schuette and Anna Morgan. Schuette was fourth overall at the state meet in a time of 17:50, while Morgan was 33rd in 18:59. Sophomore Deanna Jimenez was 52nd at Peoria in 2006 and should build off of what she was able to accomplish in her freshman season.
Other Eagles runners include seniors Elizabeth Capp and Whitney Christian, juniors Kaitlin Bellak and Lindsay Miller, and sophomores Danielle Gorder, Michelle Bird and Stephanie Perik.