Cross country: Barrington girls defend state championship over runner-up Prospect; Hersey boys edge Lake Zurich for third place

Could the Barrington girls cross country team capture back to back Class 3A state championships Saturday afternoon even without injured record-setting Mia Sirois in their lineup?

The answer to that question was "yes we can" as the Fillies were able to win the team title by a 144-159 margin over runner-up Prospect on the 3-mile Detweiller Park course.

York took third place with 187 points followed closely by Hersey (199) in fourth, and Lake Zurich (209) in fifth.

"It was a great race. Our kids did what we had to do, and all seven of our kids had their best race of the season," said Barrington coach Debbie Revolta, whose team won their third state crown in school history. "It was a team race, everybody did the job that they set out to do, and we just hit on the same day."

York's Karlin Janowski was the individual champion in 16:10 while Barrington was led by all-staters Victoria Tarara (eighth), Angelica Hil (22nd), and Ashleigh Forbes (23rd).

Prospect's squad was led by senior Meg Peterson in seventh and freshman Adelaide Galla in 24th.

"Our girls ran a great race and just hats off to Deb Revolta and the entire Barrington program, they just had a better race than us today," said Prospect coach Pete Wintermute, whose team took second in 2021 and first in 2022. "Meg (Peterson) was a four-time all-stater, our girls ran great today, and there are a lot of teams that reload year to year."

Hersey was led by freshman Graceleen Mabry in 14th, Alexa Izenstark in 32nd, and JoJo Messer in 39th. Lake Zurich was paced by Avery Muhr in 21st and freshman Chloe Wettstein in 27th, but York's strong third mile carried them to third place.

Maine South's Tessie Bradley (19th), and Warren's Kaylee Wilson (20th) made the top 25 all-state team. Elk Grove's Reagan Malone took 36th place while Barrington's Abby Lewis was 46th.

Glenwood rolled to the Class 2A title by an 81-129 margin over runner-up St. Francis while Montini's Sydney Gertsen ran to the individual crown in 16:34.79.

St. Viator took fifth place with 232 points behind Breanna Klokkenga (54th), Jada Baer (59th), and Emily Walberg (61st).

Vernon Hills' Estella Ollinger (20th), and Grayslake North's Madison Petersen (25th) made the all-state team while Lakes freshman Maddie Schrader took 39th place.

Boys race: The battle for the top three trophies came down to the wire Saturday afternoon at the 79th IHSA boys cross country meet, and it was Plainfield North that held off two-time defending state champion Downers Grove North 149-169 for the championship.

The battle for third place was even closer, but Hersey was able to topple Lake Zurich 198-211 to take home its third top-three trophy in school history.

Prospect took seventh place with 262 points while MSL counterpart Fremd (364) placed 12th.

DGN's Philip Cupial took first place in 14:03.20 while Lake Zurich senior Gordy Libby placed second in 14:07.50.

The Bears also got all-state performances from Karanveer Patil in eighth and Luke Marshall in 11th. Fremd's Jack Jennings (12th), Grant's Maxx Haas (19th), and Hersey's Mateus Salomao (25th) were also all-state.

The Huskies' road to third place also included a 47th from Gabriel Gronski, a 53rd from Elliot Baik, and a 71st from Nathan Marotta.

"They ran incredible. A lot of people thought it was a shock, but they believed in themselves and everybody hit on the same day," said Hersey coach Mike Glosson, whose school won second-place trophies in 1972 and 2018. "We knew it was going to be close and our spread from 1-5 was only 25 seconds. To bring home a state trophy is just a testament to everything they did."

Conant's Charlie Calderon placed 29th followed by Prospect's Luke Robinson in 35th, Fremd's David Moore in 39th, Buffalo Grove's Riley Wold in 41st. Prospect teammates Quinn Davis and Brody Cushing finished 64-65.

"It was very close and our top three guys were spectacular," said Lake Zurich coach J.B. Hanson. "Our fourth guy (Sushant Kesavan, 80th) ran great, Carson (Porter) probably ran the second best race of his life, and Hersey ran a great race."

Libertyville and Palatine placed 24th and 25th, respectively. The Pirates were led by James O'Sullivan in 69th while Libertyville's Filip Vojvodic placed 79th.

In Class 2A, Dixon won the championship by a 115-143 score over Mahomet-Seymour while Deerfield placed third with 155 points.

Grayslake Central senior Adan Cordova earned all-state honors in 19th place while Lakes junior Cooper Summy placed 42nd. Antioch senior Carson Lanners placed 43rd while Vernon Hills' junior Will Gagamov placed 63rd.

"He (Cordova) ran really well today, I'm really proud of him," said Grayslake Central coach Jimmy Centella. "He started a little bit farther back, he was patient with his race, and he moved up well in the second half of the race."’