Sampson shines at Royal-Cadet
With the championship of the Royal-Cadet invite Saturday morning at Marmion in hand, Benet's McKinzie Schulz said she only had one regret.
Geneva's two-time defending state champs ran their top lineup at Peoria, leaving Schulz to run by herself with nobody to push her for first.
"I was a little disappointed about that," said Schulz, the reigning 800 meter state champion and 1,600 runner-up who won with a time of 19:02.7.
"I had a good first and second mile and I think the third mile I think I was, 'whatever' and was just jogging it."
Not that Schulz doubts her Redwings, which included freshman Maddy Gilleran in fourth, and Gina Brown, Liz Johnson and Daiva Siliunas in ninth through 11th - and others missing taking the ACT - will be able to challenge for a state championship.
"I'm pretty sure we're going to win state," Schulz said.
"It wasn't really (a) tough (course) but I think I can go a lot faster," Schulz said. "It was a good race but I wasn't really happy with my time."
Benet won with 35 points, with Oak Park (57), Oswego East (100) and Batavia (103) following.
Senior Alexis Sampson led Batavia with a third-place finish in 19:30.4.
"McKinzie is one of a kind," Sampson said. "It's not to say we don't want to be catching her down, but she's definitely a quality runner. Each person has to go out and fight through and get the best you can get."
Sampson, who placed 16th last week at the St. Charles East invitational, was followed for Batavia by freshman Rachael Spalding in sixth (20:28.3). Hailey Clabough (23rd), Bari Robinson (32nd) and Abby Schulz (39th) rounded out the Bulldogs' top five.
"It was good but (I'm) not completely satisfied," Sampson said. "I still have a lot of work to accomplish this season. Something I just have to keep working on each day in practice."
Sampson wants to make sure her season ends in Peoria.
"Ultimately I want to be at state competing; my goal is not just to qualify, it's to compete there," Sampson said.
Rosary's Kelly Kieffer said she ran her best race of the season, placing eighth. She had the Benet pack on her back from about the mile mark on, but took advantage of knowing her home course.
"There's a lot of curves and I know just where to run because there's a lot of ruts and to use the hills," Kieffer said. "We've done a lot of hill work in preparation for this. It was my best race of season so far. I think I just pushed myself."
Sophomores Kristi Shogren and Cory McLauchlan led sixth-place Geneva taking 13th and 19th, respectively.
Boys race: Glenbard East's experienced lineup is beginning the see the results of its off-season work.
Nate Young led an impressive team effort for the Rams by winning the race in 16:03.9. Young said he ran 750 miles this summer getting ready for his senior year.
The Rams placed 10th in the sectional last season and want to make a significant move up to qualify for state.
"Our whole team has really come around this year," Young said. "We are more mature."
Young started his season last week taking 14th at the Hinsdale Invitational. He placed 20th in state last fall and is the eighth best finisher from last year's state meet returning.
"We are all really looking forward to the season," Young said. "We came here to dominate today."
Junior Nathan Peterson finished fourth for the Rams, whose 40 points beat runner-up Wheaton North's 66. Marmion took third, Batavia sixth and Geneva 11th.
Sophomore Mike Fahey (sixth), and seniors Brad Magnetta (14th) and Luke Chvatal (15th) rounded out Glenbard East's top five, while Wheaton North's James Waterman took second to Young.
Marmion's 5K course was the longest Glenbard East will run.
"It was hard," Young said. "Lots of rolling hills. We're not used to 5K. At the three mile I was ready to die. I just had to keep going that last .1 mile."
Zach Young led Marmion by taking fifth. He ran with Glenbard East's No. 3 runner Fahey most of the race.
"They are a solid team, great competition for us to see," Young said. "We have a solid group of guys. We're going to compete with anybody. The Royal-Cadet is always a good invite. This year is no exception. We face some of best in state."
Marmion wants to be one of the best in the 2A state meet, running for a goal in the top three, said Young.
"We're looking forward to make a push for the state meet and hope for a top-three finish," Young said. "We'd like to win our regional and compete for our sectional and go downstate and hopefully do some damage down there."
The Cadets placed six runners in the top 27 Saturday: Matt Wenzel, Bennett Marsh, Trevor Stein, Chris Hebert and James Duhig.
They all felt at home running on their school campus.
"I know what I'm doing on this course, it's nice to know where to go and kind of get a feel for it," Young said. "Especially this point in the season, it's a tough course to run but we do a good job on it."
Senior Sam Stoner placed 21st to lead Batavia, while freshman Nathan Wendt took 52nd for Geneva, who like its girls team, sent its fastest runners to Peoria.