Geneva girls head state list

Three full cross country teams from the Tri-Cities Area -- the Geneva and Aurora Christian girls and the St. Charles North boys -- are heading to Saturday's state cross country meet at Detweiler Park in Peoria.

A handful of individuals from Classes 2A and 3A are also making appearances, some for the first time. There's a few potential all-staters and even a few freshmen who are ending their first year of high school cross country on a positive note.

Here's a look at who is going to this year's state meet.

Class 3A girls: Geneva has been on a roll all year after placing first in the Western Sun Conference, St. Charles East regional and Schaumburg sectional, which a lot of coaches called tougher than the state meet.

The Vikings have been led by a pack of freshmen with one in particular, Kelly Whitley.

"She's a gutsy performer out there," Geneva coach Bob Thomson said. "She might be our first all-stater since 2001 on the boys side. We haven't had an all-stater on the girls side since the Rebecca Mitchell days. She was all-state all four years, so we'll see."

Geneva also received great performances from freshmen Liza Tauscher, Rachel Hammond and Tess Ehrhardt, who all placed in the top 20 at Schaumburg.

Geneva's last appearance as a team at state was in 2004.

St. Charles East's Lizzy Hynes won the Schaumburg sectional overall with a time of 17:41, 10 seconds before Whitley.

Hynes, a junior, placed 19th at state in 2005 and sixth in 2006.

"It will be great to have girls ahead of me (at state) to push me because it is kind of hard to run with the lead," Hynes said. "I'm excited and nervous. I definitely think I might surprise some people instead of the one kind of being surprised. I really hope I can set a huge (personal best at state)."

Sophomore Stephanie Strasser also qualified as an individual out of the Schaumburg sectional after she placed eighth.

Strasser finished eighth at state as a freshman last year.

"I think she will do as well as she did last year, even though the field is a lot stronger this year," St. Charles North coach Shari Hayes said. "She's running faster times. I don't think she ran her best race (at the sectional). She'll do better this week than last week."

Class 3A boys:ŒSt. Charles North has gone through three boys coaches in three years. In all three years, however, the North Stars made it to state.

In 2005 under Reed Vostal, they placed third at state. In 2006 with Joe Parks, they took second. In 2007, under new coach Steve Imig, their fate is to be determined.

St. Charles North finished third at the tough Schaumburg sectional behind Naperville North and York. The North Stars were led by Chris DeSilva's third-place showing, followed by Scott Speare and Mike Strasser.

Imig, who was previously the girls head coach at Bartlett and an assistant track and cross country coach for both the men's and women's teams at Greenville College (in Greenville, Ill., near St. Louis), said he didn't want to change what already worked for the North Stars and their successful seasons in getting to state.

"The foundation was already established," Imig said. "I do think success breeds success. The kids have positive expectations at this point in the year. We have a lot of confidence coming in."

DeSilva, a senior, has been there and done that when it comes time to state success.

"We certainly expect to go to state and come together," he said. "We hope to get in the top five."

Individually, Marmion standout senior Josh Stein entered the Schaumburg sectional as an individual and ran out of there with a fifth-place finish. This is his second appearance at state, as he took 53rd last year.

"Last year was a good experience for him," Marmion coach Bob Rebensdorf said of Stein, who has Division I potential, but is still undecided. "This year, we knew he'd fill the role (of departed senior Dave Grange), and he certainly didn't disappoint us. He came out very strong (at Schaumburg) and had an overall great performance."

Rebensdorf thinks Stein has an excellent shot at making all-state (top 25) and maybe even top 10 or 15.

"I think he's going to have a great race," Rebensdorf said. "At state, he'll be more focused and more determined to do well."

Class 2A boys:ŒSt. Francis is sending a Spartan team packed with local names to state after placing second at the Niles West sectional.

St. Charles residents Garrett McKnight (senior) and Joe Giamberdino (freshman) run for the Spartans, along with senior Kyle McKenna (Geneva), senior Chris Sullivan (Batavia) and sophomore Joe Germanos (Wayne).

Class 2A girls: Aurora Central Catholic's Valerie Cintron and Kaneland's Andi Strang got out of the Belvidere sectionals as individuals.

Cintron, a senior, qualified for state for the first time when she placed 10th at Belvidere. She dealt with illness in early September and is finally at the point where coach Troy Kerber thinks she should be.

"She's just getting back into form and running at a high level at the right time," Kerber said. "If she comes out focused, top 25 (all-state honors) is realistic. She'll be ready to go."

Strang, a freshman, is heading to state after placing 11th overall. She was the final individual to qualify, just beating out the next runner by a mere foot or so.

"She's just gotten better and better," Kaneland coach Doug Ecker said. "We figured she had a chance. It's pretty amazing she qualified. Top 50 would be nice."

The St. Francis girls team placed first at the Niles West sectional, paced by Geneva resident Meg McKenna.

Class 1A Aurora Christian girls: The Eagles were confident going into their own sectional and did not let down, as they placed second behind Winnebago and advanced to state for the second consecutive year.

Aurora Christian finished sixth at state last year, the first year the Eagles qualified a whole team.

"We really want to do better than last year," Aurora Christian coach Pricilla Copple said. "We are very thrilled."

The Eagles have been running without Anne Schuette (stress fracture) and Anna Morgan has been running injured with a broken ankle.

This is Morgan's second time at state (she placed 33rd last year) after she went 18th at the sectional. Deanna Jimenez placed second overall for her second consecutive state appearance (she took 52nd at state last year as a freshman).

Copple is hoping for all-state honors from at least Morgan, Jimenez and Kaitlin Bellak and all others to clock times under 20 minutes.