BC, Wave's Lucas on to sectionals

The Burlington Central girls cross country team nabbed second place at the Class 2A Freeport regional Saturday, while St. Edward senior Ashley Lucas is headed to the next level as well.

With two freshman runners among the Top 5 finishers, Burlington Central finished with a collective 61 points to advance to next Saturday's Belvidere sectional.

Burlington's Markelle Turk earned third-place honors, covering the 2.98 mile course in 18:40, and teammate Katie Puccio followed at 19:13 for fourth place.

"We have two freshman runners in Markelle and Katie who are not running like freshmen," said Rockets coach Tom Miller. "Both are running extremely well. They are doing what needs to be done, enjoying themselves and are handling things with a lot of grace."

Lili Castillo (20:05) and Maggie Gannon (20:23) were additional BC runners to finish among the Top 20, filling the No. 12 and No. 16 slots respectively.

"We hope to have some good practices between now and next weekend, and will look to take the next step at sectionals and try to qualify for state," Miller said.

Belvidere was the lone team to finish ahead of Burlington Central with a total 44 points.

St. Edward was also in attendance and while it was unable to advance as a team, the Green Wave's Ashley Lucas and Karoline Kelly will compete at sectionals as individuals.

Lucas finished the regional race with the 7th best time at 19:32.8. An all-state selection as a freshman, Lucas spent her sophomore and junior seasons marred by injury.

Now healthy, she is looking to return to state as a senior for her storybook ending.

"Ashley wasn't feeling her best so we didn't see one of her best runs," said St. Edward coach Bill Lucas, Ashley's dad. "She sometimes has trouble breathing, but she is definitely back on track. I believe her best running is ahead of her. We are also very happy for her and Karoline. They have very similar abilities."

Ashley Lucas was happy to advance, but will look to run a different race next weekend.

"I was a little disappointed in how I ran," she said. "I went out a bit faster than usual which might be something that I will look to do differently at sectionals.

"It will be great to have Karoline to train with this week."

Kelly finished 20th overall at 20:41.5 and will run along side teammate Lucas at the Belvidere sectional.

Girls

At Winnebago: With a combined 99 points, Hampshire earned a fourth place overall finish competing in the Class 1A Winnebago regional which was held at Fuller Forest Preserve, a 2.85 mile course. The Whip-Purs will run in the Aurora Christian sectional next Saturday.

Among the Top 5 finishers was sophomore Holly Plichta, whose third-place finish overall with a time of 18:13 led the Whip-Purs. Chelsey Fulbright collected a time of 20:19 and Tiffany Phu followed at 20:43.

Westminster Christian will send individual Beth Kautz on to compete at the sectional meet. Kautz collected a 25th place finish with a time of 20:48 to earn the sectional berth.

Winnebago won the team title with 24 points.

At Woodstock: Crystal Lake South and Prairie Ridge found success at the Woodstock regional held at Emricson Park (3.0 miles), each advancing as teams to next Saturday's Palatine sectional.

Kristina Aubert lifted the Gators (66 points) to a second place finish earning second place honors as an individual with a time of 18:51.

For Prairie Ridge, it was Danielle LeBreck who led the way, collecting a seventh-place finish with a time of 20:15. The Wolves finished third as a team with 71 points.

At St. Charles East regional: Bartlett's Sam Salinas posted an 11th place finish in the Class 3A St. Charles East regional to earn a bid to the Schaumburg sectional. Salinas finished the 2.94 mile Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve course with a time of 18:46.9. Lizzy Hynes of St. Charles East led all runners with a time of 17:24.4 and the Saints will move ahead as a team after collecting a combined 102 point team finish for third place.

At Rockford Guilford regional: With a second place run from Haley Loprieno, the Huntley Red Raiders earned second place overall honors at the Class 3A Rockford Guilford regional and advanced to the Palatine sectional. Loprieno finished with a time of 18:31.1 helping the Red Raiders to a combined 51 points. DeKalb won the regional just one point ahead of Huntley at 50.

At Lake Park: In 16th place, Streamwood's Mercedes Mancha ran an 18:55 to keep going while Larkin's Britney Whitehead also advanced to the Schaumburg sectional.

"I didn't feel that good," Whitehead said. "My legs felt kind of tight. I think I could've done better. I'm going to definitely (try to improve next weekend)."

Hoffman Estates won the team title with 48 points. Lake Park's Lindsay Flannagan was the individual winner in a time of 17:35.

At Rolling Meadows: Kelsey Seiler (18:38) finished in 10th place to lead Dundee-Crown to a fourth-place finish with 127 points. The Chargers, who will run in the Palatine sectional, took second at the Fox Valley Conference meet and were aided on Saturday by freshman Claire Himmel (18:57), who took 19th after a slow start.

"We really had a team effort," said D-C coach Tom Smith. "We didn't run as well as we've had, but we did a good enough job."

"It wasn't just one girl, it definitely was a team effort," said Seiler of the Chargers' performance. "We knew it was a tough field so we had to get off to a good start."

Palatine won the team title with 58 points while Prospect's Annette White was the individual winner in a time of 18:05.

Boys

At Winnebago: With solid runs from Matt Drendel (16:28), Tanner Holman (16:47), Ryan Smialek (17:08), Kyle Bricka (17:57), Kyle Wiesneth (17:58) and Cody Baccia(18:53), Hampshire earned fifth place honors at the Class 1A Winnebago regional and will advance to next Saturday's Aurora Christian sectional. Winnebago won the team title with 18 points.

Westminster Christian had a big day as well, advancing three individual runners. Zach Holmer, Luke Dallman and Eric Berntson will each represent the Warriors at Aurora Christian next Saturdayl. Holmer collected a 16:07 finish (11th place), while Dallmann (16:46) and Berntson (16:47) finished 19th and 20th respectively.

At Freeport: According to Burlington Central coach Tom Miller, the Rockets might not have run their best races, but certainly ran well enough to advance past the Freeport regional held at Highland Community College (2.98 miles) as a team after finishing with a collective 87 points. The finish was third trailing only Belvidere North (20 points) and Richmond-Burton (82 points).

"Our main goal was to advance to the sectional meet as a team and we did that," said Miller. "We didn't see our best runs, but we felt good about the outcome."

Ryan Phebus recorded the best run for BC finishing 11th with a time of 16:35.36.

St. Edward's Jim Ziesk and Andrew Knapik also advanced, Ziesk running a 17:25 finish which was good for 14th place overall, while Knapik's 18:12 landed him in 23rd.

At Woodstock: Boasting the top runner of the Class 3A Woodstock regional, Crystal Lake South will advance to next Saturdays Palatine sectional as a team after recording 67 points for a second-place finish. Josh Uvodich led all runners as well as the Gators collecting a 16:33 finish.

Prairie Ridge will also compete at Palatine as a team after earning a fourth place team finish with 95 total points. The Wolves' Billy TenBusch finished the race just one second behind Uvodich at 16:34.

At St. Charles East: Bartlett will send Aaric Wilson to the Schaumburg sectional next Saturday. Wilson recorded a 16:04.2 finish which was good enough for 26th place and a trip to Schaumburg. St. Charles North's Chris DeSilva won the event with a 15:06. With 55 points, the North Stars will advance to sectional action as a team.

At Rockford Guilford: Huntley had a big day competing in the Class 3A Rockford Guilford regional and advancing as a team after finishing with a combined 114 points for fourth place. The Red Raiders were led by Todd Farbiak, who finished third with a time of 15:15.3.

At Rolling Meadows: Dundee-Crown scored a surprising third-place finish and will run in the Palatine sectional next Saturday.

Dundee-Crown (111) came into the MSL-heavy race representing the Fox Valley Conference and relying heavily on three underclassmen.

Freshman Anthony Manfrin (ninth) and senior Connor Kustief (10th) led the way. Freshman Jon Keable (29th), sophomore Jon Magnant (30th) and junior Paul Smith (33rd) completed the scoring.

"Our goal was just to get out (of the regional)," Chargers' coach Tom Smith said. "We knew we had our work cut out for us. At the same time, we thought we can run with people. We've had a lot of success all year. We've just been in the shadows."

Palatine (41) and Hersey (45) easily took the top two spots while combining to sweep the top six finishers. Huskies' senior Kevin Havel (14:42) beat the field by 17 seconds after battling the Pirates' Matt Smoody (2nd) for the first 1.5 miles.

At Lake Park: Streamwood's Neil Klein finished fourth in 15:15, giving him the top individual qualifying spot and a chance to represent the Sabres at the Palatine sectional.

"I was pretty tired," Klein said. "I'm pretty happy. I had a pretty slow third mile. I was hoping for a way faster time."

Eric DeNeui (16:10) and Ricardo Mancha (16:17) went 27th and 29th to advance for Elgin.

Schaumburg won the team title with 44 points and Jeffrey Thode of Conant was the individual winner in a time of 14:56.