Schardt is sharp with seventh-place finish
With a lot of confidence and plenty of determination, Lakes junior Kortney Schardt was ready to make headlines Saturday morning at the 36th annual girls cross country state meet.
Schardt proved once again that she was ready for prime time as she ran a personal best time of 17:33, breaking her own school record by seven seconds on her way to a fantastic seventh place in the Class 2A state finals on the 3-mile Detweiller Park course.
Yorkville continued its dominance with a fourth consecutive team title as the Foxes (79 points) easily outdistanced runner-up squad Lake Forest (165) for top honors.
Then came a logjam of teams with Dunlap (187 points) in third, Lemont (191) in fourth, Belvidere North (194) in fifth, Chicago Latin (195) in sixth and Crystal Lake Central (205) in seventh.
Behind junior Vivian Overbeck's 13th-place finish, Vernon Hills (246) was not too far behind the Tigers in eighth place as Overbeck became the second Cougars' runner to earn all-state (top 25) status twice.
Overbeck placed 11th in the state as a sophomore.
After being at less than 100 percent and not qualifying for state last fall, Schardt was especially motivated to reach for the stars this time around.
She placed 77th in the state as a freshman in 2012.
"I'm very happy with how today played out, I worked really hard and it's good for it to pay off in the end," said Schardt, who became the top state finisher in Lakes girls history. "I've had a goal to be all-state since freshman year and I could not do it without the coaches help."
Lakes coach Keith West was just ecstatic and overwhelmed with pride following the race on this chilly fall day as West saw his top runner truly reach her full potential in the historic, pressure-packed meet.
"From my standpoint, I'm elated and thrilled, and it's been an amazing season from start to finish," said West, who has guided numerous runners onto the all-state podium. "She was able to improve in every part of her race - her training was better, her ability to press in the middle of the race and finish strong improved too."
As expected, Peoria Notre Dame junior Maryjeanne Gilbert completely ran away with the individual crown in 16:12 as she beat runner-up Alexis Grandys of Yorkville by exactly one minute.
Schardt was able to hang tough down the stretch to pull away from the eighth-place finisher by nine seconds while only finishing four seconds from fifth place.
"She got out in the top 25 right away, she was in the perfect spot when everybody merged together, and at the half-mile she was in fifth place," said West. "Kortney was part of an eight-girl chase pack and she ran a 5:35 first mile which is very fast. Top 10 was her goal, and I'm just ecstatic with the seventh-place finish because she reached all of her goals."
With one more year ahead of her, the future looks very bright for Schardt with a "sky is the limit" attitude to drive her going forward.
"True to form she finished strong and you could see at the finish line she was close to fifth place, but she just ran out of real estate," added West. "She will continue to focus on herself, she's not worried about other runners, she's just worried about running her own race."
After Overbeck's 13th-place run, Vernon Hills was also led by senior Samantha Hershman in 51st and freshman Lauren Katz in 68th.
The Cougars' top seven also featured junior Shannon Skeoch (97th), senior Lauren Kim (107th), senior Melanie Rogers (166th), and junior Lexi Reich (181st).
"The girls were all close to their best times and we had to race very hard just to get here so it was very mentally and physically draining," said Vernon Hills coach Suzanne Curry, whose team placed fifth at the powerful Kaneland sectional. "Vivian (Overbeck) got off to a tough start today and she never quite found that front pack of runners so it wasn't her day. We lose three seniors out of this bunch and we'll miss them a lot."