Girls cross country: Streamlined Stevenson wins; Manetsch takes 3rd NSC triumph
Rain caused the North Suburban Conference girls cross country meet to be moved from Saturday morning to Monday afternoon.
It turned out to be worth the wait, however, as the 3-mile race on Warren's O'Plaine Road campus turned into an exciting one.
Defending champion Stevenson was without top runner Isabelle Sparreo, but the Patriots still managed to hold off Libertyville by a 40-45 margin to capture back-to-back crowns. Lake Zurich outdistanced Mundelein 85-120 for third place, while the host Blue Devils (128 points) placed sixth.
Libertyville was paced by Melissa Manetsch, who won the NSC title for the third time in her four years. Manetsch pulled away from runner-up Brett Chody of Lake Forest in the final half-mile to win in 16:46.6.
Stevenson's pack featured Natalie Sorenson in third, Kendall Roberts in sixth, Natalie Sparreo in seventh, Camin Xi in 11th, Lauren Appell in 13th and Gabriela Jagielo in 19th. All six made the all-conference team (top 22).
"They looked really strong, and they didn't go out too fast in the first mile so I was pretty happy with their performance," said Stevenson coach Maureen LeVanti., who expects to have Isabelle Sparreo back soon. "We're feeling pretty good going into the state series. It's not ideal to be running on a Monday, but we should be fine for regionals on Saturday."
After taking first place in the NSC meet as a freshman and a junior, Manetsch was determined to race well.
"I was just really happy that I was mentally strong throughout it," Manetsch said. "I really wasn't thinking about winning it three times. My main goal is just for our team to go to state, so I'm really focused on that."
Libertyville also boasted Nora Tucker in fifth, Jenna Ocheltree in 10th, Maggie Shutts in 14th, Brilynn Dawson in 15th and Margaret Buchert in 23rd.
"Winning three out of four just shows that she has been at a high level since she was a freshman, and she is just a phenomenal talent," said Libertyville coach Bill Etnyre, whose team runs in the Lake Forest regional on Saturday. "Stevenson's pack was just a little bit farther up than ours, but that was without Isabelle."
Lake Zurich had a strong 1-2 punch behind Emily Burns (fourth) and Hayley Burk (eighth). Melody Multra (18th) also made all-conference for the Bears.
"(Burns and Burk) have been running really well all season, and they have been very competitive," said Lake Zurich coach Ian Silverman, whose team is at the rugged Palatine regional next weekend. "We expect to advance (to sectionals). We just have to keep our 3-4-5 a little tighter."
Senior Andrea Cordova led Mundelein in 12th place, followed by all-conference teammates Jeanelle Jimenez (17th) and Claire Schoenfield (22nd).
Warren wound up with two all-conference runners, as junior Ashley Kachurik placed 16th and freshman Taylor Latza took 20th. Libertyville's Annalese Chudy was 25th.