St. Charles East's girls, boys run away from field at Lake Park

Due to COVID-19 guidelines, Saturday's Class 3A Lake Park cross country regional was unlike any previous year, split into three flights to limit the number of runners on the course.

For South Elgin's Naomi Ruff, who won the girls race in 17:43, that was just one of the changes.

Ruff said Saturday was the first time she's raced against more than three schools, and the junior enjoyed it, leading from start to finish.

St. Charles North's Rachel Price finished second, 15 seconds back. Having another runner somewhat close helped Ruff, 60th in last year's Class 3A state meet.

"It's definitely a lot different from the races we were having," Ruff said. "It was a lot more fun to actually have a race. It really helped me to keep pushing and having my teammates cheering me on too."

Ruff said her goal was to run a 5:30 first mile and keep that pace. She did despite a course that was a bit wet and muddy in some spots with uneven footing.

The finish, however, was dry as runners entered the track at Lake Park's East campus for the final 300 meters. Ruff only added to her lead down the stretch.

Price also ran an excellent race as did teammate Ella Townsend who was sixth in 18:31.

"My top two did well," St. Charles North coach Shari Hayes said. "They ran strong."

St. Charles East, who won the regional, placed the third and fourth runners, Marley Andelman and Morgan Sandlund in 18:10 and 18:11, respectively.

Bartlett's Jenna Buchanan ran an 18:16 for fifth.

After the first flight, which included the one through three runners, the No. 4 and 5 runners raced.

Running with the 4/5 girls has proved to be a good thing for St. Charles North's Bella Dicrosta, who finished first in that group at last week's DuKane Conference race.

She did so again Saturday in 18:59, a time that would have put her eighth in the first flight.

And a time way ahead of the 22:30s she was running earlier in the season.

"It (flights) gives me a confidence boost in a way," the junior said. "I get that in front of the pack feeling. People are always racing behind me. It's a new feeling though."

St. Charles East sophomore Eleanor Clark (19:21) finished second and teammate Mackenzie Loomis (19:37), who led the first mile, third. Loomis passed North's Katherine Erickson (19:40) on the track to pick up a point for the Saints.

In the final flight race, St. Charles East's Shauna Norgaard won in 19:04, which ended up the third best time for the Saints who scored 42 points to win. St. Charles North (59), South Elgin (96), Maine South (105) and Geneva (120) also advanced to next week's Lyons Township sectional.

Boys race

After the three girls races, the course cleared for two hours and then defending state champion St. Charles East made it a clean sweep for the Saints.

On their coach Chris Bosworth's home course that he ran in high school at Lake Park, the Saints placed the top three finishers: Micah Wilson (14:42), Luke Schildmeyer (14:53) and Zack Loomis (14:54).

"The fact he raced here a lot, it's really nice having him with the experience, he knows what to do," Wilson said. "He knows how to go out, how to come back, what to do, when to go. It's nice to be one of his athletes and run on this course. We're lucky to have him."

Connor Murphy (8th) and Matthew Connell (15th) gave the Saints a winning score of 29, well ahead of runner-up Maine South's 61. Now they get ready for the season-ending sectional, no chance to repeat their state title.

"Just compete, go out there and do what we have all season," Wilson said. "It's supposed to be a flat course. I'm really excited to race and compete."

Maine South, Geneva (101) and St. Charles North (137) also qualified for sectional. Matt Coyle led Maine South in fourth, Ben Calusinski paced Geneva in 11th and fifth-place finisher Noah Eng was first in for the North Stars.