Warren's Olson hoping for big finish at Detweiller
Hopefully the third time will be the charm for Warren senior Heather Olson as she competes in her final girls cross country state meet Saturday afternoon in Peoria.
Olson will line up for her third and final state meet beginning at 1 p.m. with awards scheduled for 3 p.m. at Detweiller Park.
After placing 17th in the state under the old Class AA format in 2006 and finishing seventh in the state in Class 3A as a junior, Olson enters the 2008 Class 3A state meet as one of the favorites to win the pressure-packed 3-mile race.
And based on the way she has been running lately, it looks like she is as prepared as she will ever be.
Last Saturday, Olson held off Hoffman Estates junior Melissa Schmidt by less than three seconds to win the powerful Schaumburg sectional crown in 17:22.65.
"I just want a p.r. on the (Detweiller) course definitely and if I can run under 17 minutes that would be a great end to the season," said Olson. "I'm just going to see where I land, and I just hope I'm up there with the leaders."
Olson is not undefeated, but she has put together a stellar final campaign under coach Cheryl Anderson, and Anderson has really seen her top runner evolve over the past four seasons leading up her last meet.
"The nice thing about it is that she is familiar with the Detweiller Park course and it is one of her favorite courses," said Anderson. "It's going to be exciting, and Heather wants that state champion board with her name in our gym."
While Olson will be one of the focal points for Lake County runners in the Class 3A meet, Lakes will be making its first appearance in the Class 2A meet with the starting gun slated to sound at 11 a.m. Awards will take place at 1 p.m.
The Eagles have really soared this fall despite having a very young team under the guidance of coach Keith West.
Senior Ariel Butzine has been one of the experienced leaders for Lakes with some great support from elite freshman teammate Katherine Schenck.
Butzine and Schenck placed 10th and 11th respectively to lead the Eagles to third place last weekend at the Belvidere sectional to earn the berth to the state meet.
Freshman teammates Kathryn Dean and Hannah Wittman were the third and fourth runners for Lakes at sectionals while graduated senior Rachel Dean placed 14th in the state last year.
"The rise to the top has been meteoric and we've just had great support from everybody," said West. "If we can get five to run consistent on the same day we should do well and they have confidence in themselves and their ability."
Juniors Erin McGill and Emma Howard were the Eagles' fifth and sixth runners at sectionals while senior teammate Lauren Hennelly will be running in her final meet Saturday along with Butzine.
"I definitely think we can finish in the top 10 because we have the toughest sectional in the state and we finished third," West said. "They've been fairly consistent all year, Katherine Schenck took third place in regionals, and we won the regional with our top runner (Butzine) being sick."
The Eagles will be running with some familiar faces from the North Suburban Conference Saturday as Antioch junior Erin Poss placed third at the sectional meet to make a return trip to Peoria. Poss placed 18th in the state as a sophomore.
Vernon Hills senior Danielle Dickman will also be making back-to-back trips to Detweiller Park as Dickman placed 13th for the final individual berth out of sectionals. Dickman placed 13th in the state last year.