Girls cross country: St. Charles East on an undefeated run
It's been smooth sailing for the St. Charles girls cross country team this fall.
The Saints were undefeated in all varsity quads to start the week. Marley Andelman and Morgan Sandlund have led the way for East with both not finishing lower than third in any meet this season, coach Brad Kaplan noted.
Andelman ran 17:57 and Sandlund 17:58 at the recent Lake Park quad. Andelman won the Batavia quad, while Sandlund was second. St. Charles East had the first five finishers at Batavia.
"Our top eight continue to get better each week learning to run together as a unit," Kaplan said. "Everyone is doing their job. The girls ae learning to believe in their abilities and not to shy away from being in a certain part of the race, such as up in front near the lead."
Kaplan lauded the efforts of Gia Klasa, Venezia Munoz and Shauna Norgaard at Lake Park. Klasa ran 19:02, while Venezia had a personal-record on that course of 19:17. Kaplan noted Norgaard had a breakout race two weeks prior against Glenbard North, running 19:10 at Camera Park in Glendale Heights.
"This group has been extremely hardworking," Kaplan noted. "They love to be around each other and they feed off each other. We have four girls who have never ran on varsity and are thriving this season, which is great to see. In some cases, we haven't been able to preview courses prior to the race and girls are still stepping up."
Naperville North update:
Naperville North coach Dan Iverson says the defending Class 3A state champions are moving along quite nicely. The Huskies recently won a home meet against Benet Academy, Naperville Central, DeKalb and Rosary.
"We ran very well at all levels," said Iverson. "We are still growing and developing as a team, and we are looking forward to the championship season coming up."
Maggie Gamboa won the five-team race to lead North, while Campbell Petersen was third behind Rosary's Lianna Surtz. Gamboa was 7 seconds faster than Surtz at 17:22.60 on North's course.
"Maggie ran very well," Iverson said. "Campbell has really made some impressive improvements in the last couple of weeks."
Also of note, Madeline Cody finished as Naperville North's seventh runner, catching Iverson's eye. Ade Diederichs won the JV1 race.
One race to keep an eye on for North is the 15-team Twilight invitational at home next Friday and Saturday. "It should be pretty exciting," Iverson said.
VH's Sheridan sets course record:
In Vernon Hills' Central Suburban League win over Maine East, sophomore Rose Sheridan set a new course record of 18:02. The win completed a 5-0 conference run for Vernon Hills. Sheridan also recorded a recent come-from-behind win against Libertyville. Sophomore Anna Todd was 23 seconds behind Sheridan, while sophomore Reina Hill returned from injury and finished third and fifth overall against Libertyville. Freshman Jadyn Parker has been a dependable scorer as well.
Barrington update:
The Fillies recorded recent wins against Palatine (19-43), Stevenson (15-48) and Fremd (15-50). "They are running together and for each other," Barrington coach Debbie Revolta said. "I'm really impressed with their effort day in and day out. They are staying together and everyone is improving."
Barrington has been led by the likes of Anne Berquist, Kari Drage, Gaby Andrews, Maddy Ziebarth, Morgan Margo, Julia Renetzky, Lauren Bergman and Allie Edwards. "Each of them could run in the top seven," Revolta noted.
Glenbrook North update:
The battle of the Glenbrooks went to South this year with the Titans scoring a 25-34 Central Suburban League victory. North senior Natalie Sandlow won the race. Coach Bob LeBlanc noted Sandlow, Kelsey Lundgaard, Vaidehi Patel, Tess Slowinski and Grace Kang have paced the varsity team as its top five finishers this season. "However, there is a large, dedicated group pushing and training each day to continue to improve and run faster," LeBlanc said.
Rolling Meadows update:
Rolling Meadows downed Elk Grove 24-33 behind meet winner Collette Lampa and runner-up Anita Konopka.
Burlington Central update:
The Rockets have been paced by Joceln Victoria this season, along with Lauren Dowd. Corryn Kester and Michaela Kruse also have been progressing, as have Annalise Daniels and Grace Comparone. "The Fox Valley Conference is a great conference for us, but on the girls' side it is loaded," coach Vince Neil noted. "It is great preparation for the upcoming state series, and the improvement each week has been steady." Central hosts the conference meet Oct. 10 at Plato Park.
Glenbard West's Allman sets course record:
Glenbard West junior Aubrey Allman set a new course record in a recent victory, running 15:16 on the 2.67-mile course, breaking the mark that had been set a week earlier (15:37) by York sophomore Brooke Berger. The Hilltoppers recently downed Lyons Township 25-30 and lost to York 20-43. "The team has improved upon developing a pack-running mentality behind Audrey's front-running status," coach Paul Hass said. Sophomore Carlin Hass has been a consistent top-three runner for West, while junior Anna Nickoley has emerged as a stable No. 2 runner and the "leader of the pack in practices and meets," Hass noted. Sophomore Hannah Moffatt has been a consistent top seven presence as well, often getting into the top five.
St. Charles North update:
The North Stars won the recent Glenbard North quad. Freshman Katherine Erickson and junior Bella Dicrosta have been progressing of late. "Katherine is a talented freshman who is so coachable," coach Shari Hayes said. Dicrosta was on the JV last year. Her best time a year ago was 22:31, and this year has run as low as 19:24. "Bella, too, is figuring out how to race on the varsity level. I expect her to run even faster at the end of the season," Hayes said.