Freshman Smith helps Naperville North take flight

In preparing for Saturday's big, flighted meet, Naperville North coach Dan Iverson had some basic advice for freshman Emily Smith: finish ahead of as many girls as possible.

The Huskies' Flight 2 runner took the advice to heart, winning her race at the Falcon Girls Classic at Wheaton's Northside Park in 18:23, just one second better than Sandburg senior and runner-up Kimberly Christensen. Smith's finish was critical, as was each of her six teammates as Naperville North topped the 28-team field by a single point, scoring 23 points to edge York's 24.

Naperville Central, paced by Flight 1 champion Amanda Fox, tied for third at 44 points with Wheaton Warrenville South.

"We really enjoy this meet and it shows," said Iverson, whose deep squad tends to fare well at the seven-flight meet. "(The format) forces them to have to individualize a little bit, and that's not a bad thing. I told Emily to beat as many people as she could and she went out and won."

The Huskies also picked up wins from Adrienne Schertz (Flight 4), Britney Weizeorick (Flight 5) and Marly May (Flight 6), while Christina Rei was second to York's Natalie Mordini in Flight 7.

"Everyone worked as hard as they could," Smith said. "And it was kinda cool for me to take first. I think we can be pretty strong this year."

For Naperville Central's Fox, Saturday's Flight 1 race played out perfectly. She stayed back with the pack for the first mile and then claimed the lead and never looked back. The Redhawks sophomore finished nine seconds ahead of Lockport runner-up Megan O'Brien.

"I stayed way back in the beginning, but that gave me a lot of motivation to start catching people," said Fox, whose team also was boosted by third-place showings from Lina Alvino (Flight 6) and Catherine Finedore (Flight 7).

"Going into this healthy and not feeling sore helped me stay calm, and our team did real well which also helps."

York coach Annette Schulte was thrilled with her team's effort. The Dukes won two flights, had a runner-up and a pair of thirds, and when senior Meghan Frigo was 11th in Flight 1 - four spots ahead of Naperville North's Jamie Schertz - York came up a single point off the title.

In a meet that featured state powers like Naperville North, Sandburg, Lyons Twp., Hinsdale Central (sixth on Saturday) and Wheaton Warrenville South, finishing in second is not too shabby at all.

"I'm very happy. Every single one of them really stepped it up," Schulte said. "I told them it was time to show people what you've got and they did that."

The Tigers were paced by Lauren Mordini's seventh in the top flight and McKenna Kiple's third in Flight 2. The Red Devils, minus injured Jill Hardies, finished second in Flights 3-4-5, and senior Graylin Harrison was eighth in the top flight with a time of 18:27.