Driscoll's Bain goes 'all out'

Driscoll cross country runner Vanessa Bain wanted to, in her words, go "all out" at Saturday's Chicago Jones Class 2A sectional.

The senior did just that and more.

Bain collapsed from exhaustion moments after crossing the finish line in the time of 19:02 to claim the second-place medal among 146 racers.

Julia Buford of Chicago Latin was the individual medal winner in the meet which was held at Niles West.

St. Francis finished in first place in the team category to advance to next weekend's state finals at Detweiller Park in Peoria, as did Wheaton Academy, which finished second.

"It feels good now," Bain said of qualifying as an individual for state. "It didn't feel so good then (at the finish)."

"Its been a tough season for me -- a lot of changes. The training has been tough, and there's a lot of good runners on the boys team I have a hard time keeping up with."

"I didn't expect this second-place finish, but I wanted to go out with no regrets."

Three St. Francis runners, Alysa Robinson, Courtney Trunk and Kelly McShea finished in the top 10.

"Our team has so much depth," said Trunk, a junior.

"This was so cool," Robinson added, "that we could work so well together as a team."

Glenbard South placed eighth in a field of 20 as freshman Karen Lipa crossed the finish line in 25th place with a time of 19:59.

Junior Sarah Daly, who won the Glen Ellyn regional, was fastest for Wheaton Academy with a third-place time of 19:04.

"I wanted to win," Daly said, "but third place is pretty good, and we did so well as a team."