Bartlett, Burlington Central advance teams to state meet
Led by sophomore Kelly Whitley, the defending state champion Geneva Vikings placed four runners in the top 20 to win the Class 3A St. Charles East girls cross country sectional Saturday and advance to the state meet in Peoria next weekend.
Whitley cleared the three-mile course in a time of 17:40 to win the sectional, breaking the course record that was just set last week by the Saints' Lizzy Hynes.
Bartlett sophomore Alyssa Schneider finished second in a time of 17:41 to lead the Hawks to their first girls cross country state appearance in school history. Bartlett finished second as a team with 132 points, placing three runners in the top 15.
"I felt really good today," Schneider said. "I knew that I wanted to stay up there and I wasn't going to let down. I did what I wanted to do today, so I felt really good. I didn't get to go this far last year, so I'm so pumped about going to state."
Schneider indicated that qualifying for state for the first time accomplished a season-long goal the team had for itself.
"It feels great to have this opportunity and we're all so excited," Schneider said. "It means so much that we're the first team from our school (to qualify for the state meet in cross country). We know we're right there, so we're going to keep working hard."
Bartlett coach Beth Emody was inspired to see her team achieve a season-long goal.
"It's overwhelming," Emody said of her team earning their first trip to the state meet. "It's something that we've worked for since June, so we're just so excited. Hopefully, the energy that we've showed today will carry over to next week as well."
Kristen Schneider (8th), Sam Salinas (16th), Taylor Crawford (55th), and Janessa Baker (61st) were Bartlett's top five runners.
St. Charles East, Naperville North and Wheaton Warrenville South were the other team qualifiers.
Other runners advancing onto the state meet next weekend were Elise Beattie (4th) and Kayla Beattie (7th) from Woodstock, Kristina Aubert (6th) from Crystal Lake South, Ariel Michalek (9th) from Oswego East, Kelsey Seiler (10th) from Dundee-Crown, Amanda Fox (11th) from Naperville Central, and Megan Taylor (14th) from Neuqua Valley.
Class 2A at Belvidere: Having a beefed up sectional cross country field can do wonders for some teams.
Several area teams, including Burlington Central, Hampshire and Wheaton Academy, took full advantage of the new look of the Class 2A Belvidere sectional.
The Rockets girls team finished fifth (168), while Wheaton Academy (123) was second and Hampshire junior Holly Plichta (18:30) finished fourth individually Saturday. All advanced to next weekend's state meet in Peoria.
Plichta's fourth-place finish came with some assistance from conference rivals. Richmond-Burton's Lindsey Wilkins (18:12) finished first and set the pace, with Burlington Central's Maggie Gannon (18:35) coming in sixth. Having familiar faces surrounding her was a huge difference for Plichta, who ran in Class 1A last season.
"Last year I was 10th and this year I was fourth in a tougher field with bigger schools," said Plichta, who also qualified for state as a sophomore. "(Wilkins) is always a good pace setter and (Gannon) and I have been back and forth all season. We really pace each other."
Central qualified for state for the second year in a row and overall. The Rockets edged out Kaneland (172) by just 4 points. Crystal Lake Central (84) won the title, with Lakes (145) and Sycamore (161) rounding out the state qualifiers.
The closeness of the field had the Rockets sweating out their final team position for most of the morning.
"We pulled out the video tape and calculated to see the score," Gannon said. "We didn't really run well. A lot of the girls are kind of banged up."
Central got the extra boost it needed from Meghan Thommes (21st, 19:24.6) and Vanessa Perez (78th, 20:51). The Rockets also counted scores from Markelle Turk (39th, 19:50.6) and Katie Puccio (47th, 20:06).
"We survived today," Central coach Vince Neil said. "Meghan Thommes is our No. 4 runner and she finished No. 2 today. Vanessa Perez stepped up in the No. 5 spot. If she didn't pass three people at the finish line, we wouldn't be going to state."
-Matt Stacionis