Girls cross country: Prospect at top of MSL, but don't count Barrington, others out
While Prospect didn't lose a meet last year, the Barrington girls cross country team wasn't exactly sale lunch meat either.
The Fillies went 6-1 in duals, were the Mid-Suburban League runners-up, plus had Top 3 finishes at the regional and sectional meet, the latter would have punched a state bus ticket if COVID-19 hadn't gotten involved.
Coach Debbie Revolta's team features sophomore Kari Drage, and seniors Gaby Andrews and Ella Holtermann back from last fall's sectional qualifier. Look out for ninth-graders Scout Storms, Claire Thome and returning sophomore Sydney Sukel, "they should form a nice pack allowing everyone on the varsity team to make a difference," Revolta said.
"These girls work very hard and they work together. With the track season ending so late, we have not put in the base this summer that we usually have in the past. We may start out a little slow, but should build throughout the season and hopefully have our best races in late October and early November."
Elsewhere in the MSL West, Palatine will be led by returning sectional qualifier Ruth Hall, along with junior Katelyn Whitcomb and sophomore Fati Siddiqui. State track qualifiers Emma Zach and Brooke Donnelly also will help the Pirates, fourth overall in the MSL a year ago.
"We are young and building momentum to become an impressive group," Pirates coach Ruth Spethmann said. "We have a strong class of juniors, and some budding sophomores and freshmen who are determined and excited for the season ahead."
All-MSL runner and sectional qualifier Val Daniel is back for Hoffman Estates, which also will be bolstered by sophomore Bella Ortega.
Conant returns sectional qualifiers in sophomore Andrea Kehaiova and junior Lucy Scales, who both excelled during the 2021 track season.
Schaumburg is led by senior Lexus Gruszka, junior Mary Pfaff and sophomore Grace Schluckbier, along with newcomers Audrey Schluckbier and Jpia Sodimu.
Prospect is the crème de la crème in the East. Headliners and 3,200 relay state champions Audrey Ginsberg, Lily Ginsberg, Cam Kalaway and Hailey Erickson are back, plus sophomore Bridget Derengowski is prime on coach Pete Wintermute's radar after booking 5:18 in the 1,600 during track season.
"2020 taught us a lot about life and about the importance of our team," Wintermute said. "In 2021, we are going to continue to remind ourselves of the importance of being there for our teammates and celebrating in the process. If we take care of these two areas, I believe the results will follow. Of course, we have goals at the conference and state level, but we keep those in our camp, as more so than anything we need to work on being the best version of ourselves on a daily basis and having fun."
Rolling Meadows welcomes back juniors Colette Lampa and Anita Konopka, plus adds freshman Lucy Bollweg, who is pushing the Mustangs' top three runners. Lampa qualified for state in the 800 this spring.
Elk Grove will be led by seniors Megan Shafer and Sarah Damdinbazar, along with junior Maddie Reid and freshmen Emma Somenek and Hannah Varughese.
Maine South was the Central Suburban Conference runner-up. Back are senior Maria Marcucci and sophomore Olivia DeLuca, plus freshman Sofia Arcuri looks to be the team's new No. 1 runner and has clocked 18:36 for 3 miles and 10:36 in the 3,000 meters.
Junior Kennedy Young, all-CSL as a freshman, is healthy and determined for Maine West, coach Greg Regalado noted.
Maine East coach Scott Schultes labels this season a transitional one for the Demons, "with the majority of the team as first-year members. I hope to develop a love of running, that hard work gets rewarded, and how to compete well," he said.