Rockets figure to soar again

Burlington Central's girls cross country team took sixth in the state in Class 2A last year.

And out of the 7 runners that competed in Peoria, 5 return, including the Rockets' top 4 place-finishers.

That's a math equation that adds up to plenty of excitement abounding on Rocket Hill this fall.

"Talent-wise, it's there," said new Central coach Vince Neil, a former assistant who took over for the retired Tom Miller. "They are all on board to do well. We had a team meeting recently. They want to go after it and place higher at the state level. It's a matter of making sure they do all the right things and train as hard as they can and work together as a team. If we do that, I think we can do pretty well this year."

One major plus in particular for the Rockets is their top 3 runners. As a freshman last year, Markelle Turk finished 11th at the state meet, while classmate Katie Puccio took 27th. Maggie Gannon finished 39th in the state as a sophomore in 2007.

Also back from the state 7 are seniors Lili Castillo and Vanessa Perez (state hurdle qualifier in track).

"It helps a lot that we only lost 1 senior from last year," said Gannon. "We've also gained a lot freshmen. Our summer training is going to make us great. We've put in so many miles. I think that is really going to help us. We're really confident this year. We're hoping to do even better than we did last year at the state level."

Gannon, who was part of a Central team that won a sectional cross country title (first in school history) and finished second at the regional level in 2007, really turned things on during the track season this past spring.

"I'm coming off the end of a great track season," said Gannon. "I'm trying to convert that confidence into cross country."

Gannon, who was part of Central's state-qualifying 3,200 relay team with cross teammates Puccio and Meghan Thommes, ran in the Midwest Distance Gala over the summer at Benedictine University in Lisle and logged a 2:18 time in the open 800.

"Maggie is getting better and better," said Neil, who said Katie Flannery will also be a key contributor to the team. "She's coming off a heck of a track year. Her coming out party was in track. She ran that 2:18 in the half and that wasn't a split. She's going to be tough this year."

Gannon has also stepped into a leadership role this year along with Castillo. They must fill the shoes of graduated senior Emily Zipoy - a key cog in last year's strong season.

"Emily was a huge part of this team," said Gannon. "Besides being a runner, she was a great leader for us. That was really a loss for us as far as that. I'm a captain this year and am trying to take a leadership role. Emily did a great job of leading us last year. Lili and I are going to step up and fill those huge shoes."

Turk is also coming off a strong track season where she qualified for state in the 3,200.

"I did really good last year," said Turk. "I was pretty happy with myself. Hopefully this year I can do the same or hopefully 10 times better."

Turk knows more must happen than simply running races for the team to succeed once again.

"We're pretty talented. But we have to stick together and work as a team," said Turk. "We have to push each other and encourage each other. That will help us."

"We've got a lot of nice people on our team that help each other out and keep each other prepared," said Puccio.

While a return trip to the class 2A state meet (and third in school history; 1995 team coached by Paula Mytych was the first to qualify for state) is most certainly on the agenda, the Rockets would also like to add another championship to their resume this year - that being the Big Northern Conference title.

Perennial state power Winnebago edged the Rockets for the 2007 title by single digits last year.

"That's one of our biggest goals," said Puccio.

"We lost by under 5 points to Winnebago," said Gannon. "That's one of our major goals that we talk about trying to accomplish. We would like to try and take the conference title."

But to check off the items on the goals list, Turk knows it will take a team effort to do so.

"In cross country, you are a team," said Turk. "You can't win conference with just one person. You need the whole team to do that. I think the girls we have on this team will take us pretty far."

And the term pretty far has been bandied around by the Rockets.

"We're looking forward to having a great year and to do better than last year if possible," said Puccio.

"We had our team meeting at the start of the season and laid down some goals," said Gannon. "We started thinking about possibly being in the top 3 at state or taking the state title. We're starting to get excited."

That tends to happen when a team returns what Central does.