Girls cross country: Grant wins own invite with ease
Grant's 20th annual James "J.T." Taylor invitational proved to be quite a showcase for the host girls cross country team Saturday morning at the Bulldog Athletic Complex in Ingleside.
Not only did Grant freshman Aly Negovetich roll to first place on the 3-mile course in a winning time of 17:34.5, but the Bulldogs cruised to the championship of the 13-team meet with a mere 37 points.
Woodstock was a distant second with 103 points, as the Blue Streaks held off a strong effort from third-place Carmel Catholic with 113 points in windy conditions.
Wauconda nipped Richmond-Burton 120-121 for fourth place, while Grayslake North (159 points) took home seventh place, despite using only five runners. Round Lake (179 points) placed eighth behind second-place finisher Fatima Giron (17:54.9).
Besides Negovetich, Grant's effort featured a sixth from Jana Niehila, a 10th from Danielle Osmon, an 11th from Eliza Scoggin, a 15th from Laura Bishop and an 18th from Eva Cardy.
Negovetich opened her first high school season by winning the Lake County meet, and she has won every race she has run in except for the Peoria Notre Dame Invite in which she placed fourth.
"I knew it was going to be windy so I wanted to come out here and have fun and focus more on place instead of times today," said Negovetich, whose team competes in Class 3A in the postseason. "I would love to make state, and the team wants to go too. That is a really big goal."
Seniors Osmon and Cardy have already experienced success downstate, as Osmon placed 14th in the state as a sophomore while Cardy (26th) missed all-state by one place that same year.
"Aly has been as good as advertised at the start of the year, and this is probably the best team race we've had this year," Grant coach Jeff Durlak said. "Our two through six runners were all pretty close today, and I still think we're going to improve as the weeks go on. They've been running really well."
Carmel was led by junior Ezzie Posner in 13th place, while teammates Brigid Hull (17th) and Isabelle Ashley (22nd) enabled the Corsairs to edge Wauconda. Carmel's No. 3 runner, Abigail Kuderna, missed the meet.
"She would have been in the top 20," Corsairs coach Jim Halford said. "Ezzie and Brigid ran really strong races, and (Isabelle) Ashley ran her best race ever, by far, in only her third race ever."
Wauconda's pack was led by freshman Jessie Pakaski in 14th place. Grayslake North was paced by 2017 state qualifiers Kelli Tosic (third) and Caroline Riss (seventh).
Last fall, Giron became the first girl in Round Lake history to qualify for the state meet, and she is hoping to return to Peoria in early November.
"We saw her (Negovetich) earlier in the season and she will probably win our conference, but Fatima is doing well after coming back this summer off an injury," Round Lake coach Kevin Brady said. "She's really dedicated herself to running, and we're just getting her back into the groove."
Similar to Grayslake North, Lakes chose to run only three girls, as the Eagles prepare to run in Peoria next Saturday. Lakes junior Olivia Schmitt finished eighth, while teammate Rae Dwyer placed 19th. Lakes sophomore Brooke Stromsland (fourth in Class 2A last year) did not compete.
"Olivia passed about four or five girls in the finish stretch," Lakes coach Keith West said. "Rae is showing steady improvement. It's just another consistent race for her, so things are shaping up for next Saturday."
Wauconda's Dakota Thompson placed 24th, and Grant's Drue Polka rounded out the top 25.
In the boys race, Lake Forest pulled away from the host Bulldogs 83-120 for the team title, while Crystal Lake South (122) slipped past Vernon Hills (124) for third place.
Vernon Hills senior Jimmy McDonald took runner-up honors in 15:52.3. Grayslake North's Connor Riss outdistanced Grant's Justin Splitt by 13 seconds for fifth place. Crystal Lake South was led by Matt Brown in eighth place and Clayton Pfeifer in 14th.
Other top finishers included Grayslake North's Brandt Batteau (15th), Grant's Colton Romig (16th), Carmel's Alexander Speed (17th), Elk Grove's Nate Kraemer (22nd), Vernon Hills' Cameron Overbeck (23rd) and Crystal Lake South's Alex Picchi (24th).