Cross country: Team-first run nets Prospect girls first place at sectional; Barrington earns second
The rivalry between Prospect and Barrington continued Saturday morning at the Class 3A Elk Grove girls cross country sectional at Busse Woods.
The Knights took home the championship by a 61-80 margin for their eighth sectional title. Hersey (101 points) edged Lake Zurich (102) and Maine South for third place, while seventh-place Schaumburg also earned a berth to state next Saturday.
Prospect was led by freshman Milly Kronforst in seventh, Ali Kalkwarf in eighth, Sami Lobacz in 12th and Adelaide Galla in 13th.
“We talked about running for each other and running a team race, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome,” said Prospect coach Pete Wintermute. “Milly (Kronforst) had a hard charge in that last mile, and I'm excited to see her run next week.”
Barrington's duo of Victoria Tarara (16:14.8) and Angelica Hil placed 1-2. Teammate Ashleigh Forbes placed fourth.
“We had five personal bests, and I'm really proud of every single one of them,” said Barrington coach Debbie Revolta. “(Tarara and Hil) established themselves early, and they work together in practice all the time.”
Tessie Bradley led Maine South in fifth, while freshman Maddie Serur (sixth) led Hersey. Hersey's Gracie Mabry took ninth to edge Lake Zurich's Celia Blaylock in 10th.
“We ran well. This was the first time this seven ran in the same race,” said Hersey coach Mikayla Olsen. “I think they are very capable of getting top three in the state for sure.”
In Class 2A, St. Francis won the Kaneland sectional, while Cary-Grove took fourth at the Woodstock North sectional.
Boys cross country
It was a close race to the finish, but the Prospect boys cross country team won its seventh IHSA sectional title by a score of 103-105 over New Trier.
Also qualifying for state next Saturday were Fremd (118) in third, Maine South (145) in fourth, Hersey (146) in fifth, Lake Zurich (153) in sixth and Barrington (154) in seventh.
“I'm super happy after finishing second in conference, and I'm just proud of the guys,” said Prospect coach Jay Renaud. “Our top three was within five seconds of each other and our one through seven was 30 seconds, so that was really good.”
Lake Zurich's Karanveer Patil (14:20.6) took first place at Busse Woods by 14 seconds to outdistance Fremd’s Jack Jennings (second) and David Moore (third). Gabe Gronski led Hersey in sixth.
“My overall plan was just to come here and get an easy win, let the crowd do the work, and do what I always do and move up,” Patil said. “I think I can win (state). I would like to go for the state record, and overall I just want to go out there and get the title.”
Libertyville's Taylor Rihm was the second individual state qualifier in ninth place, while Kyle Kroupa led Barrington in 10th. Lake Zurich's Luke Marshall, Maine South's Collin Frye and Prospect's Bobby Wintermute took places 13-15.
“It was nice to see them (Jennings and Moore) work together for about 2.5 miles, and they both felt very comfortable,” said Fremd coach Matt Zaluckyj. “I think we are definitely in contention to get a trophy (at state), and we have to get our three through seven guys running together.”
In Class 2A, Kaneland took second place in its own sectional as Glenbard South's Thomas Jochum beat Kaneland's Carson Kaiser by 11 seconds for first place.