A Cross Country State First
November 10, 2013
Yorkville High School's cross country team didn't just accomplish a first for Yorkville at Saturday IHSA Cross Country State Championship, they accomplished a first for the IHSA. Since cross country was split into three classes in 2007, no team has won both the boys and the girls race in the two upper classes, until this year.
In the girls race, Yorkville was led, as usual, by sophomore Skyler Bollinger. Skyler was fighting through injury, but still finished as an All-State runner in 16th place with a three-mile time of 17:54. Former YMSXC runner and sophomore Erin Reynolds (2011) also turned in an All-State performance with her time of 18:00 to finish in 20th. Maddie Dearborn (YMSXC 2012) was the lone freshman runner on the team and finished in 29th place with a time of 18:20. Senior Kelsey Leedy finished one place behind Maddie in 18:21. Julia Schultz (YMSXC 2011) was the key fifth runner for the team and finished in 61st place with a time of 19:04. She was followed by fellow sophomore Becca Jasutis (YMSXC 2011) who finished in 105th with a mark of 19:32, and senior Kaelyn Scull (YMSXC 2009) in 133rd with a time of 20:01.
Yorkville had lost to Glenbard South at Regionals two weeks before State, but had defeated them the week before State at Sectionals. Most were expecting the State championship would go to Yorkville or the team from Glen Ellyn. After the results were tabulated, Glenbard had a total of 130 points, but Yorkville won a third State championship in a row with a total of 104, a fairly close race for State. Vernon Hills came in third to take the last trophy with a total of 181 points.
The boys team was led by the Hoffert twins (YMSXC 2010) who finished back-to-back as the top juniors in the race. Jake Hoffert finished in 3rd with a time of 14:40 for three miles, and his brother Luke finished 4th with a time of 14:43. Their All-State performances were joined by senior Nolan Tweedy (YMSXC 2009), who finished in 19th with a time of 15:21. Sophomore Trevor Wills was next for the team (65th, 15:53), and senior Richard Skogsberg (71st, 15:56) sealed the team's placement as the fifth runner. Sophomores Jake Firrantello (YMSXC 2011) and Thor Hester (YMSXC 2011) finished in 135th and 181st with times of 16:28 and 16:51, respectively.
Everyone knew the team race would be incredibly close, and it held to form as it was very difficult to tell who won when it was all said and done. Illiana Christian had been ranked first the entire season, and even though Yorkville had tied them at Sectionals the week before, Illiana was still favored to win. After the scores were tabulated, only 54 points separated first place from fifth place, which is a small gap for the State meet. The Yorkville boys took home the team's first State championship with a total of 119 points to Illiana's second place score of 134. Vernon Hills also took third in the boys race with a score of 136.
Congrats to all of the former YMSXC runners who ran for the State championship this past weekend, as well as all of the runners and coaches from the Yorkville High School team!
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