Same winning result for Warren's Olson
She might have been sporting a bit of a different look from last season, but Warren senior Heather Olson turned in the same type of performance people have grown accustomed to Saturday morning at the Warren girls cross country invitational.
Wearing a white headband and with longer hair, Olson pulled away from the rest of the field late in the 3-mile race on the grounds of Warren High School to capture first place in 18:07.
After winning the race under the hot and humid conditions, Olson was clearly exhausted in the chute, but she was able to outdistance runner-up Kristina Aubert (18:15) of Crystal Lake South and her Gators sophomore teammate Marianne Collard (18:21) in third for the individual title.
Olson's illustrious cross country career includes a 17th-place finish in the Class AA state meet as a sophomore before placing seventh in the state in Class 3A last year in Peoria.
"The heat and humidity definitely affected me a little bit, but I just wanted to make sure I didn't break down in the end form-wise," said Olson, whose team placed third in the 18-team field. "I knew all the Crystal Lake girls were around and I started to pull away at the last mile."
With four runners taking places 7-10, Crystal Lake Central was the class of the field as the Tigers rolled to the championship with 50 points to easily topple crosstown rival and runner-up Crystal Lake South (88 points).
The host Blue Devils placed third with 106 points to barely edge North Suburban Conference rival Stevenson (109 points) in fourth place.
Evanston had a solid fifth-place showing with 121 points, followed by Grant (137 points) in sixth. Antioch placed eighth with 241 points, followed by area squads Grayslake North (274) ninth, Fenton (343) 12th, and Mundelein (344) in 13th.
Besides Aubert and Collard, CLS's effort was bolstered by Stephanie Woods in 20th, and Emily Lenzini in 23rd.
"I'm proud of my girls and our third or fourth runner was sick and did not run today so that hurt a bit, but some other runners stepped it up," said CLS coach Niki Lydon. "Aubert dropped back with about 800 meters to go, but she looked strong and she likes to run against Heather."
After Olson, Warren featured a solid group of runners behind sophomore Gabby Nystrom in 21st, Annie Brandes in 28th, Sarahbeth Jones in 29th, and Jessie Buhmann in 31st.
"It was very warm out there, there is no doubt about it, and there was no breeze," said Warren coach Cheryl Anderson. "Heather went out there and did what she wanted to and that was an interesting duo with Aubert and Collard which we hadn't seen before."
Stevenson's surge was aided by No. 3 runner and freshman Emily Cunningham in 30th, while junior Paige Ekenberg (33rd) and sophomore Anna Franke gave the Patriots scoring support with their pack running.
"Our 1-2 punch ran an outstanding race especially in the last half of the race," said Stevenson coach Don Proft. "The key for us to do well as a team is our 3-4-5 and they are definitely showing signs of being able to run with the good teams' 3-4-5 too."
Grant's top trio helped carry the Bulldogs' scoring, as junior Alexis Capps was their top runner in 11th place. Senior Kendra Kennedy added a 14th-place finish to go along with an 18th place from senior teammate Alyssa Pasiewicz.
"They ran pretty much how we expected today and they did a really nice job," said Grant coach Jeff Durlak. "They're gradually improving, and it seems like the gap between our third and fifth runners is starting to close, which is good to see."
Antioch junior Erin Poss had an impressive fourth-place showing in one of her first big tests of the 2008 season. Grayslake North was led by a 16th-place finish from Kimberly Denikas. Kelsey Moon led Mundeleinin 27th place.