BC's Gannon brings home 8th place medal from state
Burlington Central senior Maggie Gannon didn't just run to all-state honors again Saturday, she claimed a Top 10 finish to boot.
Gannon, who took 19th place at last year's Class 2A state girls cross country meet, ran the course at Detweiller Park in Peoria Saturday in a time of 18:15, finishing eighth in the race and earning herself another state medal.
"I was just a lot more confident and knew what the pace would be like," said Gannon. "I made a surge in the back that put me in the Top 10 pack. It was so hot today. About a mile into it I was sweating like crazy but it was my kind of weather. My goal was just to be all-state again but (coach Vince Neil) told me to shoot for Top 10 and that's what I shot for."
Gannon ran a 15:45 first mile and said she was in about 15th place at that point.
"The second mile I really decided to hammer it," she said. "That's where I dropped the most bodies and turned it into gear."
Hampshire senior Holly Plichta (18:53) finished 29th.
Springfield won the team title with 124 points while Yorkville was second and East Peoria third.
Woodstock junior Kayla Beattie won the race in a time of 17:14 and her senior sister Elise was third in 17:35.
In Class 3A, Bartlett ran to a 21st place finish as a team. Sophomore Taylor Crawford (80th, 18:42) and junior Alysa Schneider (18:58, 101st) led the Hawks.
Crystal Lake South's Marianne Collard was 53rd.
Palatine won the team title with 99 points, while Sandburg was second and Wheaton Warrenville South third. Lavinia Jurkiewicz of Chicago Whitney Young was the individual champion in a time of 17:11.
Michael Eaken constributed to this report