Spartans runners take 2nd
With the exception of the meet at Kaneland last weekend, the Burlington Central girls cross country team has won first place at every meet. The Rockets can even count winning in Maple Park last week, because they were the top Class 2A team present.
On Saturday at Aurora Central Catholic's Charger Invite at Oakhurst Forest Preserve, the Rockets kept their winning streak intact by placing five in the top 18 for a first-place score of 59. They edged St. Francis, which tallied a 62.
"I thought we ran well," Burlington Central coach Tom Miller said. "We have some kids who are starting to come along. We are pleased with where they are, but we just have to keep working. There's still more work to do."
St. Francis placed five in the top 20.
"We knew (the Spartans) were going to be tight," Miller said. "At the mile mark their kids were ahead of ours, but our girls battled back and worked their way up just enough to edge them out. (St. Francis) is a very good team. For us to beat them is a big accomplishment. That just means next time, they'll want to beat us."
Wheaton Academy placed third with a 127, followed by Yorkville, ACC, Aurora Christian, West Aurora, Oswego, Timothy Christian, East Aurora, IMSA, St. Edward, Rockford Christian, Lisle and Westmont.
"We are very excited about third," Wheaton Academy coach Martha Van Zee said. "We have a pretty strong core, and (Sarah Daly) is running really, really well. We were missing our (No.) 2-3 girl, so to finish third without her is pretty incredible."
East Aurora's Janelle Morga won the 2.99-mile course with a time of 17:52. Daly set a personal record with her third-place time of 18:23.1. Aurora Christian's Deanna Jimenez went fourth and a pair of Burlington Central runners, Markelle Turk and Maggie Gannon, went fifth and sixth.
St. Francis followed with Kristin Barth and Courtney Trunk going seventh and eighth, with ACC's Valerie Cintron placing ninth. The Spartans' Erin McShea rounded out the top 10 finishers.
In addition to its top 2 runners, Burlington Central was led by Katie Puccio, Emily Zipoy and Lili Castillo. For the Spartans, Alyssa Robinson, Maria Diamond and Meg McKenna contributed.
Wheaton Academy's next finisher after Daly was Anna Curato in 26th place, followed by Rachel Reichman, Katy Emerson and Hannah Huff.
Aside from Cintron, the Chargers' fifth-place finish can also be credited to Alyssa Shaff and Jacqueline Nagel.
"Given the circumstances, we ran fairly well," ACC coach Troy Kerber said. "We aren't healthy (Cintron and Nagel are both battling illness). We were probably 40-50 points off. But the positive flipside is we think we'll be running well by the end of the year."
Aurora Christian's second finisher was 19th-place Kaitlin Bellak. West Aurora's top two were Elisia Meyle and Charlotte Smith for its seventh-place finish. Timothy Christian had Leah Bosman leading the way.
St. Edward was paced by 13th-place finisher Ashley Lucas. Lisle's best runner was Eileen Nouffer.