Hynes wins girls race;
Lake Park had a pair of impressive seconds at Saturday's Upstate Eight Conference girls cross country race in Roselle.
Lancers junior Lindsay Flannagan ran a fast 17:22 race on the 3-mile course, but took second to St. Charles East standout Lizzy Hynes, who flew to first place in 17:05.
The Lancers team, meanwhile, placed three runners in the top 12 and five in the top 21, yet had to settle for second place as Neuqua Valley claimed top honors with a wining score of 52 that edged Lake Park's 64. St. Charles East was third at 86, followed by St. Charles North in fourth (98), Bartlett in fifth (138) and Waubonsie Valley was sixth at 149.
"It was a great race," Lake Park coach Harvey Braus said in speaking of both the individual and team competitions. "Lizzy and Lindsay both ran great and 17:05 is a course record. The weather was great, and so was the competition."
Hynes, who claimed her third straight conference crown, was not planning to go out quite so fast early in the race, but Flannagan set a fast pace.
"It was a very fast course, and (Flannagan) was really pushing it," said Hynes, who took sixth in the state last fall. "I finally decided to go for it around the 2-mile mark. I felt real good and I was surprised by my time."
A lot of good times were turned in, including a 17:43 by St. Charles North's Stephanie Strasser, who was third overall, a 17:45 by Neuqua Valley's Megan Taylor, and a 17:46 by Bartlett's Sam Salinas.
Strasser was eighth in the state in cross country as a freshman and third in track in the 2-mile. On Saturday the North Stars star looked like she's over a nagging stress fracture that sidelined her all summer.
"I felt really good," she said after recording her best in-season time. "It's a fast course, and there's fast competition with Lizzy and Lindsay. I could tell it was fast and at first tried to stay with those girls, but then I let them go and made sure I could just hang on to third."
Claire O'Brien was the North Stars' second finisher with a time of 18:23 that was good for 14th place, one spot ahead of the Saints' Grace Gordon. Lake Park's Ashley Prochazka and Trisha Ehrhardt helped the Lancers place second in the team race.
Girls race:ΠNeuqua Valley's Danny Pawola was anxious to see his team put on a good postseason show, and Saturday's Upstate Eight Conference meet was as good a time as any.
In fact given the strength of the UEC this fall and the fact that the top-ranked Wildcats have not been assigned to the toughest regional and sectional meets, Saturday's race at Lake Park may prove to be more competitive for Neuqua Valley than any other race left shy of the state finals.
Neuqua easily defended its league crown with a score of 26. Waubonsie Valley (59) and St. Charles North (61) each had strong showings but could not slow the Wildcats much on this day.
Waubonsie Valley -- paced by Mark Schumacher, who was sixth in 14:55, and David Schumacher, ninth in 15:04 -- just did edge out St. Charles North for second place. For the Stars, Chris DeSilva (fourth in 14:41), Scott Speare (seventh in 14:58) and Michael Strasser (10th, 15:08) each finished in the top 10.
"I tell you, we knew coming in that it's a great conference," St. Charles North coach Steve Imig said. "We have our work to do in the weeks ahead, but five of our seven guys had lifetime PRs today. You look at Chris and Scott and you see two guys who expect to do well at state. This just shows the depth of our conference."
Streamwood's Neal Klein turned in a strong 14:51 effort to place fifth, while Lake Park was led by Alex Rummelhart, who took 17th in 15:32.
-- Stan Goff