McIntosh's return bodes well for MSL West champ Palatine
The Palatine girls cross country team is looking at two keys in its drive for a second straight state title.
One is the healthy return of senior Sarah McIntosh, and another is the addition of a couple of young runners to bolster the attack.
Both were on display at the Conant triangular on Thursday.
McIntosh took first in 18:27 in powering Palatine to 15-50 victory over Hoffman Estates and a 15-50 victory over host Conant at Busse Woods.
Junior Katie Johnson (20:36) took ninth place to lead a conservative Hoffman attack to a 15-50 victory over host Conant.
Palatine held out five of its top seven runners, but the Pirates' depth helped secure the Mid-Suburban West Division title.
"That was one of our goals today, to find out what our other pieces are," said Palatine coach Joe Parks. "The depth thing definitely plays in our favor, and hopefully as the season goes on it adds to some of the pieces we've been missing."
The first piece that has been missing is McIntosh, who has been dealing with heel injuries on both feet.
But the senior, who finished fourth in Class 3A in 2008 and 15th in Class 3A in 2009, is rounding back into form and eased to first on Thursday.
"I was very encouraged by her run today," added Parks of McIntosh. "We don't need her to be No. 1 at state or even be number one on our team. Hopefully today was a building block; I see signs and potential of her being back."
The second piece was also on display as freshman Cassidy McPherson (19:13), freshman Elizabeth Cox (19:26), sophomore Jacqui Paneral (19:28) and freshman Jessica Lincoln (19:35) finished second through fifth.
"We have a lot of young talent, and I think we can add to the team," said Paneral, who finished 28th at the Palatine Invite, which was her first major invite. "There's a lot of pressure to defend our title, but we're a good team."
Hoffman, a team that has finished 12th in Class 3A the past two season, is also looking to make a late season run.
The Hawks took second at the Oak Park-River Forest Invite last Saturday, but held back on Thursday.
"We're still confident and we're still working hard," said Haley Goers, who finished 23rd in Class 3A last season. "We're looking at closing the gaps and finishing hard. We haven't shown our full potential yet."