‘Fire over fear’ pep talk produces race of a lifetime for Barrington girls at state cross country finals

Barrington’s girls cross country team wasn’t expected to win its second straight title, and third overall.

It wasn’t necessarily because the Fillies lacked defending state champion and record-holder Mia Sirois. She hadn’t run with them all season after getting hurt in a Colorado cross country camp in August.

Without Sirois, Barrington had won meets at St. Charles, Palatine and Loyola. It won the Class 3A Grant regional.

But it also had placed third at First to the Finish, the early preview of Peoria’s state course, Detweiller Park. Barrington had come up second to Prospect both at the Mid-Suburban League championship and at the Hoffman Estates sectional.

Prospect, led by Knights great Meg Peterson, was “definitely the favorite,” said Barrington coach Debbie Revolta, the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Famer leading Fillies cross country since 1991.

“They had beaten us twice, so why wouldn’t they be the favorite?” Revolta said Tuesday. “They were looking really good, they’re a great team, (coach) Pete (Wintermute) does such a great job with his kids.”

Speaking to her team the night before the state meet, Revolta used a challenger’s mindset to her advantage.

“Basically when we were all in the hotel room on Friday night we just told them we don’t have any pressure on us, we’re not picked to win this thing,” Revolta said.

“What we came down here to do is run our best race. The goal was, we were chasing PRs (personal records). The goal was to see if we could get all seven kids to run their best race of a lifetime.”

She discussed some strategy — stay on the outside of the course so they could see their teammates more easily, and stick to a pack as much as possible — but mainly she emphasized simply running their own race.

“Just to focus on ourselves,” Revolta said.

“At the end I told them, ‘Fire over fear.’ You can’t be afraid of this, you’ve got to have fire. It’s got to be in your heart, it’s got to be in your gut, you’ve got to have that fire.”

The Barrington girls performed just as Revolta had hoped.

Victoria Tarara, Angelica Hil, Ashleigh Forbes, Abby Lewis, Madison Miles, Cece Babel and Hannah Forbes all ran personal-best times. The Fillies’ scorers achieved one of their best splits of the season, a 59-second gap between their first and fifth finishers.

Meanwhile, York’s Karlin Janowski was heading to the individual title. The sophomore won the Class 3A race and led the Dukes to a third-place team finish after Barrington and Prospect.

“I told the team that we built confidence during regional week” (a win), “made a statement during sectional week” (another), “and state week was our turn to shine,” said York coach Lauren DeAngelis.

“Specifically, I told Karlin to find the front of the pack, stay on their shoulder through the mile and then do what she felt was best,” DeAngelis said.

“Karlin can overthink, and I always tell her that I believe in her and that if she crosses the finish line giving her best, that is all that matters.”

Another successful pep talk.

Revolta, whose team will be running Sunday at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest regional in Terre Haute, noted another aspect of the state meet: the element of chance.

“You’ve got to have a little bit of luck on that day,” she said.

“I think with the kids being motivated and everything it just came down to that little bit of luck on our side. And the kids, they pulled it off.”

All-American kickers

Micah Drescher of Hinsdale Central and Lucas Tenbrock of St. Charles North both have been selected to play in the Navy All-American Bowl.

The 26th national all-star game will be played Jan. 10 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and shown live on NBC and Peacock.

Tenbrock, still active with the North Stars in the Class 7A playoffs, is headed to Northern Iowa to play his college football, according to Rivals.com. He’s on the bowl’s East roster as a punter, ranked No. 5 in the country by Rivals.

Drescher, committed to Michigan, is Rivals’ No. 12 kicker in the nation. He’ll be playing on the West side at the All-American Bowl.

Both players — “combo specialists” skilled in both kicking and punting — were named preseason first-team All-Americans by Chris Sailer Kicking this summer, Tenbrock as a punter and Drescher as a kicker.

They also were the rare specialists nominated by their coaches for Illinois High School Football Coaches Association all-state awards. Rarer still, Drescher and Tenbrock each were honored, respectively Class 8A and 7A honorable mention selections.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com