Lake Park’s Flanagan wins at Wheaton N.

The girls cross country state finals are more than a month away, but there was a possible sneak preview of the large-school individual title on display Saturday morning in Warrenville.

Lake Park junior Kaylee Flanagan and Naperville Central senior Amanda Fox had yet to taste defeat this fall at a major invitational, and the Wheaton North Falcon Classic pitted the two in the marquee event of the seven-flight meet at St. James Farm Forest Preserve.

Flanagan, hoping to harness the magic that made her older sister Lindsay one of the most dominant cross country performers in recent memory, captured her sixth major title of the season with her triumph in 16 minutes, 48.2 seconds.

Fox was 10 seconds behind as the two state championship contenders were the lone athletes to break 17 minutes at the 3-mile layout.

“(Fox) was there the entire time,” Flanagan said. “I wanted to go out hard and keep the pace. I didn’t give that much time up (down the stretch).”

Fox was well aware that Flanagan has an unrelenting strategic approach.

“(Flanagan) goes out really fast,” Fox said. “I wanted to close the gap as best I could. I wish I could have gone out a little faster. I’m really happy with the race.”

One competitor for each of the 25 schools was assigned to each flight, and New Trier (15 points) dominated the team competition by capturing five races.

Three points separated an equal number of the top area programs as Glenbard West was runner-up with 35 points; Lake Park (36) edged reigning Class 3A third-place squad Wheaton Warrenville South (38) for third.

“This meet is unique because it counts everybody,” WW South coach Rob Harvey said. “I kind of equate it to match play in golf. It’s like the Ryder Cup.”

St. Charles East was fifth behind a pair of runner-up athletes, while Naperville North and York secured the last area top-10 berths with their sixth- and seventh-place showings.

Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Wheaton North, Waubonsie Valley and Glenbard South rounded out the local squads.

Maddie Nagle and Madeline Perez spearheaded the Glenbard West attack by placing second and fourth, respectively, in the second and championship flights.

“I got the best time of my life,” Nagle said of her 17:38.9 clocking, five-plus seconds behind New Trier junior Jessica Ackerman. “It’s kind of hard out there without your team running. I was very happy with how I ran.”

Kate Majewski was fourth in the seventh flight to further the Hilltoppers’ status.

“To a girl, they all passed another girl late,” Glenbard West coach Paul Hass said. “That was the difference in (defeating Lake Park and WW South).”

Rachel Garippo and Maria Zepeda were second and third in flights Nos. 7 and 6 to complement the championship run Flanagan posted for Lake Park.

Katie Popejoy won the sole WW South title; the freshman dusted the field in the seventh flight by more than 20 seconds.

Senior Hana Lobsinger was runner-up in the sixth flight for the Tigers, who also received a third-place effort from Hope Schmelzle in flight No. 4.

Alex Moxon was second to New Trier sophomore Molly Krueger in the fifth flight to lead Naperville North.

“It’s a stacked field,” Naperville North coach Dan Iverson said of the teams participating. “There’s probably only a couple (of the elite teams in the state) not here.”

Emma Fisher and Kayla Spencer had third-place results in the top-two flights to power York.

Claire Costello (Neuqua Valley), Kate Shikany (Wheaton North), Ashley Bruner (Waubonsie Valley) and Jayme Schlenker (Glenbard South) had the best showings for their respective programs.

“I wanted to break 18 minutes,” said Bruner, who eclipsed the barrier by exactly a second.

Jessica Evans’ season debut for St. Charles East was a testament to perseverance.

The Saints’ lone state qualifier last fall returned to action for the first time this season after being sidelined with a stress fracture to her right shin.

Evans was edged by New Trier junior Julianne Jackson by 1.2 seconds in her bid for the championship in the fourth flight.

“I felt really good considering I haven’t run (competitively) in a while,” said Evans, who was clocked in 18:00.3. “(I wanted) to see what I could do.”

St. Charles East junior Sarah Hill nearly matched Evans’ time with her fellow runner-up showing in the third flight.

Hill was also vanquished by a New Trier runner, freshman Mimi Smith.

“I wanted to stay with the top group for the first mile and a half and then go off,” Hill said. “I was happy with (my race).”

Lizzie Deutsch inaugurated the Saints’ fifth-place team effort by placing sixth in the meet-opening seventh flight.

Kristin Sheehan duplicated the finish two flights later for the Saints.

“(The format) is always nice to give every individual attention as well,” the senior said. “I think our team did very well.”

Toree Scull was fifth overall in the ultra-competitive second flight for St. Charles East; the freshman was in the same general time zone as teammates Evans and Hill.

In the championship flight, St. Charles East senior Mallory Abel placed 12th.

“It was a very hard race,” Abel said of the stellar competition.

Madeline Westerhoff rounded out the Saints’ participants with a 12-place showing in flight No. 6.

“All the girls finished in the top 12,” St. Charles East coach Denise Hefferin said. “(There were) solid performances all around. (Fifth-place) is always going to be a good (team) finish for us.”