Vernon Hills runs to Taylor Invite title
The Vernon Hills girls cross country team has gotten very familiar with one of its fellow North Suburban Conference teams in the first half of the 2014 season.
That was the case Saturday morning at the 16th Annual J.T. Taylor Invitational hosted by Grant.
The Cougars once again faced Lake Forest on the 3-mile Camp Henry Horner course, and the Scouts captured the championship of this 16-team meet by a relatively close 52-72 score.
No. 5-ranked Class 2A squad Vernon Hills is coming off a third-place finish at state last year and elite junior Vivian Overbeck was a big key for the Cougars Saturday.
Overbeck wound up placing second in the meet to individual champion Kittey Allen of Marengo (18:39) as Allen pulled away to win by 16 seconds.
"The first two miles we were stride for stride right next to each other and she (Allen) kept pulling away a little before two and a half miles to go," said Overbeck, who placed 11th in the state as a sophomore. "Lake Forest is very strong this year and we see them in a lot of meets so we're still trying to keep up with them every meet and we're getting a little closer so I think we can catch up with them."
Starting with the first meet of the season at the Lake County meet, the Scouts and Vernon Hills have met every weekend and the Cougars' pack was bolstered by senior Samantha Hershman (fifth), freshman Lauren Katz (13th), and junior Shannon Skeoch (17th).
"I thought we looked good today and it's been great competition with Lake Forest, they've got a strong and deep team," said Vernon Hills coach Suzanne Curry, who is in her 10th season. "We're at a great spot this season, I'm happy with their progress, and their healthy this season."
Marengo locked up third-place in the team standings with 87 points to easily outdistance Richmond-Burton (143 points) in fourth, and Carmel (162) in fifth.
Grayslake Central (174) placed seventh to nip the host Bulldogs (175) in eighth, and Lakes (177) in ninth.
Carmel had a strong effort from the outstanding freshman trio of Aileen Hull (21st), Molly Machala (29th), and Lauren Laughlin (30th) leading its way. The Corsairs also got a 36th-place finish from senior Riley Filicicchia.
"Our goal was top five so we're happy with that and our three freshmen are running really well," said Carmel coach Jim Halford, whose team will compete in the Peoria Central Invite next weekend. "We've got a really young team and it's just a matter of putting everything together like everybody else."
Grayslake Central's pack was led by sophomore Megan Girmscheid in 11th place with good pack-running from teammates Umaiyal Sridas (33rd), Emma Mitchiner (37th), and Sara O'Malley (38th).
"Megan ran a great race and it was a really competitive race," said Grayslake Central coach Jimmy Centella. "We had a solid team race and our No. 2 runner (Lura Quandt) wasn't running today. They key to the rest of the team is they learned to run as a pack, and they closed the gap on our front-runners today."
Grant's push was led by junior Madison Romig in 12th, and sophomore Rachael Temple in 16th.
"We were missing two of our top five today because of injuries, but we kind of faded in the second and third miles more than I would have liked to," said Grant coach Jeff Durlak. "Romig has been running really well and Rachael moved up nicely in the last mile."
Lakes did not have junior standout Kortney Schardt running in the meet. But the Eagles did get strong showings from teammates Danielle Griesbaum (ninth), and Ashley Espinosa (15th).
"She (Griesbaum) was 14th at two and a half miles and she finished in ninth place so she achieved her goals today," said Lakes coach Keith West about his 2012 state qualifier. "Overall I think we're looking pretty good, we're just waiting to put everybody together and you should see our full squad at the Pat Harland Invitational (hosted by Antioch) on Saturday."
Senior Melanie Rogers was Vernon Hills' fifth runner in 35th place while junior teammate Lexie Reich placed 42nd. Lakes' Nicole Towne took 43rd followed by Grant's Kaleigh Bauer in 44th, and Lakes' Hannah Savage-Cooper in 45th.