Scouting: Fox Valley girls cross country
Top 2007 team finishes: Burlington Central (state qualifier), Cary-Grove (sectional), Crystal Lake South (sectional), Dundee-Crown (sectional), Huntley (sectional)
Names you will be hearing: Kristina Aubert (Crystal Lake South), Emily Cummings (Cary-Grove), Maggie Gannon (Burlington Central), Haley Loprieno (Huntley), Molly MacInnes (Cary-Grove), Mercedes Mancha (Streamwood), Holly Plichta (Hampshire), Katie Puccio (Burlington Central), Sam Salinas (Bartlett), Kelsey Seiler (Dundee-Crown), Markelle Turk (Burlington Central), Britney Whitehead (Larkin)
Area outlook: Burlington Central finished sixth in Class 2A and has the majority of that team back, including the talented trio of Turk (11th in the state), Gannon and Puccio. Look for the Fox Valley Conference to be competitive as usual with teams like Woodstock, Crystal Lake South, Cary-Grove, Dundee-Crown and Crystal Lake Central fighting for the upper tier. Crystal Lake South returns junior state standout Kristina Aubert, who along with sophomore Marianne Collard were all-conference runners last year. "I feel we will be very competitive," said South coach Nicki Lydon. "We have more depth this year than we have had in years past. We are young, but experienced team." Cary-Grove returns key runners in Molly MacInnes and Emily Cummings. "If we are patient and work hard, I believe we can be solid at the end of the season," said Cary-Grove coach Mark Anderson. "We also have a nice mix of experienced runners and youthful potential." Dundee-Crown has 5 runners back who logged varsity experience, headlined by senior Kelsey Seiler (state qualifier in 2007). "We really came on as the season went on," said D-C coach Tom Smith, whose team missed state by 3 points last year. "I told the girls that's what we want to do again." Youthful Huntley took seventh in the FVC last year and is led by sophomore Haley Loprieno (state qualifier as a freshman) and has an influx of new freshmen runners. Hampshire is paced by juniors Holly Plichta, Margaret Wians and Tiffany Phu. Plichta was 32nd in the state in cross country last year and took 10th in the 3,200 this past spring. In the Upstate Eight, the Larkin-Elgin co-op team is bigger in numbers. That squad is led by returning sectional qualifier Britney Whitehead (Larkin, Sr.). Junior Christine Heiser (Elgin) and newcomers Elizabeth Serna (Elgin, Fresh.) and Kelly Patchett (Elgin, Jr.) will also help. Bartlett took fifth in the UEC last year and started the season by logging 1st (Alyssa Schneider, Soph.), 2nd (Sam Salinas, Sr., sectional qualifier) and 3rd (Kristen Schneider, Sr.) place finishes at the Elgin City Classic (Bartlett won the team title). Senior Mercedes Mancha, a returning sectional qualifier, leads the way fro Streamwood, which has seen its roster balloon from 12 last year to 27 this year. Sophomores Ashley Rosch and Jesse Prinner are also back for the Sabres. Westminster Christian is led by Beth Kautz (sectional qualifier) and Tanya Rogers.
- Mike Miazga