St. Charles East wins 2nd straight UEC title

St. Charles East used its star power to push to its second-straight girls conference championship.

Saints' sophomore Malory Abel took the individual crown with a time of 18:04 and teammate Holly Robertson (18:26) finished fourth. The places were enough for the Saints (57) to edge out Lake Park (65) and St. Charles North (76).

"It was out stars that ended up winning it," Saints' coach Denise Heferin said. "Mallory and Holly were who ended up winning it."

The victory was especially appreciated by Abel, who has had her share of misfortune this season to say the least. Heferin was debating if she wanted to allow Abel to run last week, but allowed her to compete. The result was some much needed confidence.

"I fell. I tripped. I was tired of everything going wrong," Abel said. "My confidence was pretty bad going into (last week's) race. (Then) I knew if I could do that, I could do anything."

Abel defeated North Stars' Meghan Heuer (2nd, 18:20) and Bartlett's Alyssa Schneider (3rd, 18:25). Although Lake Park did not place a runner in the top 9, the Lancers did take spots 10-13 to push to second place.

Streamwood's Amanda Patterson (9th, 19:07) wanted to make sure to keep ahead of that Lake Park pack.

"I was hoping to keep up with the girls I knew I could keep up with," Patterson said. "I kept pace, I knew where I should be."