Fremd runs to title at Warren; CL South's Collard individual winner
Both the team and individual girls cross country races went down to the wire Saturday at the Warren Blue Devil Invitational in Gurnee.
In the team competition, Fremd was able to hold off runner-up Glenbrook North 70-72 for the championship of the 19-team meet while Crystal Lake South was a distant third with 131points.
The 3-mile individual race was basically a photo finish as Crystal Lake South junior Marianne Collard (17:40.78) nipped Antioch junior Erin Poss (17:41.15) entering the chute to take home the individual crown.
CLS once again had its strong 1-2 punch in the meet as Kristina Aubert placed third in 18:04 to help carry the Gators to third place in the team standings. "I thought it was going to be a tie, but it was fun to have good competition today," said Collard. "Last year I ran about an 18:21 on this course and I got in the 17's today so I'm really happy."
Cary-Grove out-dueled Buffalo Grove 157-177 for fourth place place followed by Niles West (180) in sixth, Mundelein (189) in seventh, Rolling Meadows (226) in eighth, the host Blue Devils (241) in ninth, and Antioch (251) in 10th.
"I'm really happy and the second place is kind of disappointing when you are that close, but I beat my time here from last year by about a minute," said Poss, who is one of the top Class 2A runners in the state. "I tried to stay in contact with the Crystal Lake South girls and we were neck and neck down the stretch, but she (Collard) edged me by a toe."
Gabby Nystrom was Warren's top finisher in seventh place while Brianna Hewett led Fremd in eighth place. Fremd also had strong finishes from Kelly Breen in 10th and Emi Sudo in 12th.
"I'm very happy today and our girls have been facing some of the tougher teams in the state lately," said Fremd coach Mark Anderson, whose team had five runners in the top 23. "We don't have a real front-runner, but we've got a very nice pack and the times were very good today."
Mundelein had a strong individual performance from Stephanie Johnson Saturday in 14th place while freshman Caitlin Kelley was Buffalo Grove's top runner in 16th place. Claire Brady led Rolling Meadows in 17th place followed by Cary-Grove's Megan Cummings in 18th and Fremd's Bridget Dincher in 19th. Olivia Jones did not compete for Buffalo Grove Saturday.
"They did really well, they followed the plan, and they had some great races," said Buffalo Grove coach Sara Cleveland. "I was very impressed by Katie (Donnewald) today, they ran hard, and I was happy with them today."
Senior Erin Cleary added a 21st-place run for the Bison while Cary-Grove's Katie Boyd edged Fremd's Victoria Moroney for 22nd place. Donnewald wound up placing 26th for Buffalo Grove to edge CLS's Nina Wajrowski in 27th. Rolling Meadows' Rebecca Zych placed 29th followed by Mundelein's Marisa Perreault in 30th, and Rolling Meadows' Colleen Vrshek in 31st.
Fremd's Samantha Bartolai placed 34th to outdistance Buffalo Grove's Cari Geyer in 35th, Grayslake Central's Miranda Gomez in 36th, Warren's Annie Brandes in 37th, Grayslake North's Kimmy Denikas in 38th, and Fremd's Megan Moroney in 39th.
"Next week there is room for improvement and all I can do is stay positive," said Denikas, who was running with a tight calf. "I was strong at first, but I kept getting cut off and pushed, and I fell right before the mile mark."