Girls cross country: Barrington runs away with MSL title
The pieces all fell into place for Barrington on Saturday.
Junior Molly FitzPatrick (17:23) and senior Allison Drage (17:39) went 1-2 in powering Barrington to the Mid-Suburban League girls cross country title with 25 points on a sunny fall morning at Deer Grove East Forest Preserve in Palatine.
The Fillies placed five runners in the Top 10 in rolling to the title, followed by a young Prospect team (57 points). Fremd (72), Hersey (94) and host Palatine (130) rounded out the Top 5.
"They were motivated and ready to go," said Barrington coach Debbie Revolta of her team that won its second MSL title in three years. " Everybody stepped up in some way and we put it together."
FitzPatrick won her second consecutive MSL title using a surge with 800 meters remaining to pull away from Drage.
"I am ecstatic to be able to retain it," said FitzPatrick. "The first mile was pretty fast and I fell off a bit in the middle, but I got my second boost of energy and I made my move."
Drage set the tone early and finished strong to give the Fillies a nice 1-2 punch.
"We are over the moon," said Drage of the Fillies' title run. "We really focused hard the past two weeks with unity as a group and getting closer together as a pack."
Senior Alyssa Norris (17:46) ran up top for the entire race, adding a fourth-place finish. Junior Anne Berquist (18:32) ran her first race since October 1 and shook off the rust for an eighth-place finish, while junior Morgan Magro (18:38) completed the scoring with a 10th-place finish.
"This is awesome," added FitzPatrick. "Anne (Berquist) came back and gave us a huge lift. It's amazing to get the title back."
Sophomore Audrey Ginsberg (17:43) took third to pace Prospect. The Knights' sophomore closed hard in the final mile and was followed by a trio of Knights freshmen. Cameron Kaleway (18:36), Hailey Erickson (18:40), and Shannon Walsh (18:45) went 9-12-16. Junior Annika Erickson (18:45) completed the scoring with a 17th-place finish.
"I just tried to stay confident and run for my teammates in the final mile," said Ginsberg. "The freshmen have really improved so much and have really added to our attack."
"It was a good day and the freshmen matured a lot," added Prospect coach Pete Wintermute. "It was fun."
Fremd has been without its top runner, Emma Beaupre, since early September, but the Vikings showed a bit of spunk with their third-place finish.
Senior Julia LaDuke (18:17) had a breakout race in finishing in sixth place and set the tone for the Vikings.
"It was better than I expected," said LaDuke, who made a nice move in the final two miles. "I picked it up and tried to finish strong."
Senior Rebecca Markham (18:41, 13th place), senior Marissa Ban (18:42, 15th place), senior Julia Finegan (18:45, 18th place), and freshman Amanda Markham (18:48, 20th place) packed it together to complete the Vikings' scoring.
"The seniors are really setting the tone and are super-motivated to make a deep run in the postseason," said Fremd coach Joe Marcin. "We have depth so it's not all on one runner."
Freshman Anna Harden (17:56) continued her breakout season by capturing fifth place and powering Hersey to a fourth-place team finish.
"My goal was top five, so I'm pretty happy," said Harden. "I tried to go out hard and then hold the pace for the final two miles."
Senior Hannah Kersemeier (18:41, 14th place) and junior Jane Stephaniak (18:46, 19th place) also secured all-conference honors for the Huskies.
Junior Anne Marie Jordan (17:56) took 11th place to pace host Palatine to a fifth-place finish. Junior Ellie Roy (18:50) added a 21st-place finish for the Pirates.
"I wanted to attack the last 800," said Jordan.
Wheeling freshman Brenda Torres (18:21) ran an impressive race in finishing in seventh place. Schaumburg junior Ashlee Jenks (18:57) captured 22nd place.