Libertyville three-peats in North Suburban
There was some doubt as to whether or not the Libertyville girls cross country team was going to be able to capture a third straight North Suburban Conference championship Saturday afternoon at Warren.
But it didn't take long for people to find out that the Wildcats are still the class of the conference as they easily pulled off the three-peat by a comfortable 51-111 margin over Lake Zurich.
The battle for second place wound up being the real thriller as the Bears barely held off third-place Stevenson 111-113 for runner-up honors. Lake Forest was a close fourth with 121 points while Lakes outdistanced Mundelein 143-156 for fifth place.
Libertyville's journey to the title was led by the trio of Megan Janezic in fifth, Erin Jaffke in sixth, and Sarah Farish in eighth. Teammates Nicole Jaffke (11th), Michelle McCracken (21st), Katie McAuliffe (22nd), and Abigail Toohey (27th) all earned (top 30) all-conference status.
"I'm really proud of what they did today and Erin and Megan ran with the leaders the whole race," said first-year Libertyville coach Joe Roth, whose team will host a regional next weekend at Adler Park. "We had a really strong 3-4-5 and that locked up the race for us. Michelle McCracken stepped up today and she ended up being our fifth runner so she had a great race."
Kaitlin Leopold led Lake Zurich's very balanced team effort to second place with a 13th-place run followed by teammates Audrey Smith in 17th, Cassie Houghton in 20th, Olivia Holicky in 25th, and Kelsey Iverhouse in 36th.
"They raced really well, it was a fast start, and they looked good," said Lake Zurich coach Ian Silverman. "We were tightly packed up and regionals are going to be exciting to go out to at Libertyville."
Stevenson really gave the Bears a run for their money Saturday behind freshman runner-up Mackenzie Levy, but the Patriots had to settle for third place in the final team standings.
Antioch senior Erin Poss showed why she is the top runner in the NSC with a winning time of 17:39 on the 3-mile O-Plaine campus course as Poss outdistanced Mackenzie (18:03) and the rest of the field under the roughly 45-degrees running conditions. Poss will be at least a top-five contender at the Class 2A state meet Nov. 6 in Peoria.
"Overall the team did really well and we're all very happy with it," said Levy. "After the first one and a half miles she (Poss) started to pull away, but this was my second best race so I'm pretty happy."
Levy had decent support from her teammates with Samantha Tarnoff taking 16th, Jenna Weiner 26th, and Kristin James 29th.
"Our No. 1 runner (Levy) did outstanding and Tessa Lancaster (40th) helped save us in the last half of the race as our No. 5 runner," said Stevenson coach Don Proft. "We had four all-conference runners which is nice and Samantha Tarnoff probably had her best race of the season."
Gabby Nystrom continued to be a great leader for Warren with a fourth-place finish while Kathryn Dean lead Lakes' surge in ninth place. First-year cross country runner Kelley Gallagher (10th) has exploded onto the scene to lead Vernon Hills' pack Saturday while Marisa Perreault (14th) has been a real leader for Mundelein's squad.
Hannah Wittman continued to put together consistent efforts for Lakes in 15th place while Ali Marks has been a steady No. 2 runner for Vernon Hills in 18th. Audrey Carrothers led Grant's surge in 19th place while teammate Kacie Wodek (28th) also made the all-conference team. Warren's Annie Brandes (31st) just missed the all-conference cut-off after returning from a bout with bronchitis. Lakes' Amanda Timmerman and Mundelein's Stephanie Johnson placed 32nd and 33rd respectively. Mundelein's Kelsey Moon (34th) and Lakes' Kayle Searle rounded out the top 35.