Girls cross country: Northwest state meet preview
Class 3A girls cross country state meet
Where: Detweiller Park, Peoria
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Team outlook: Palatine, Hersey, and Barrington qualified out of the Class 3A sectionals and will represent the Mid-Suburban League in the 20-team field. Palatine enters the state meet on a roll. The Pirates are coming off back-to-back victories at the regional and sectional. Senior Colleen Standridge has paced Palatine, but freshmen Becca Sund, Sarah McIntosh, and Courtney Brown have strengthened the Pirates' attack. Hersey has looked just as impressive finishing second behind Palatine at both the regional and sectional. Junior Megan Gojney leads the Huskies and is complemented by junior Georgia Wiard and freshman Salena Clohisy. Barrington, which finished second in state last year, struggled at the regional but the Fillies came back with a strong sectional performance. Junior Rebecca Tracy leads the attack for the Fillies, and senior Molly Glantz looked strong at the sectionals. Defending state champion Hinsdale Central finished third at the Schaumburg sectional, but the Red Devils were missing No. 2 runner Roey Hines. If Hines is healthy Hinsdale Central will be the favorite. Geneva won the Schaumburg sectional with 7 freshman runners but can the Vikings' youngsters duplicate their performance in Peoria? Stagg has been strong all season and won the Niles West sectional, and Neuqua Valley will also be in contention after winning the Normal sectional. The meet looks to be wide open and it depends on which team hits on Saturday.
Individuals to watch: This could be Sandburg senior Kristin Sutherland's year. Last year Sutherland finished second to Peoria Notre Dame's Caitlin Comfort, but this year Comfort is running in Class 2A. Sutherland's only loss this season has been to Comfort in mid-September. Warren junior Heather Olson, St. Charles East junior Lizzy Hynes, and Andrew senior Kailyn Kuzmuk will also be in the hunt for the 3A title. The dark horse special is Moline's senior Aisha Praught, who won the Woodruff Invitational title at Detweiller in early September. Prospect sophomore Annette White had back-to-back victories at the MSL conference meet and regional before slipping to fifth at the Palatine sectional. Standridge has been on a tear for Palatine, finishing in the top five at conference, regional, and sectional. Don't discount Wheeling's Amber Stack, who won the 2004 state title. The senior has made a late-season push including an MSL title. Leyden's junior Jamie Johnson qualified for her second consecutive state meet finishing eighth at the Niles West sectional. Barrington's Tracy and Hersey's Gojney will also contend for all-state honors.
What they're saying:
"I have never seen a field more wide-open and I think we have a better race in us than we had on Saturday." --Palatine coach Steve Currins
"State has been the goal all along. We still believe we're Barrington and we have standards to live up to, so we still want to put on a show at state." -- Barrington senior Molly Glantz
"They've (Hersey) worked hard all summer and all fall, they communicate with each, and at the end of the year it's about the team. They care about each other so they are going to make it happen." --Hersey coach Jim Miks
"It (sectional) definitely makes me want to go after it. I don't want to feel this again so I want to do well at state." --Prospect sophomore Annette White
"We took a step in the right direction and now it's do-or-die time, but I think we'll be a little more relaxed this week and that's a good thing." --Barrington coach Deb Revolta