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2009 YMSXC Alumni
November 17, 2013
Last year was the first year that we had a class of graduating seniors from the high school who also ran on the middle school cross country team. This year, we would like to celebrate the accomplishments of the second crop of seniors who ran cross country at Yorkville Middle School and also ran at the high school level.
Kate Allen, YMSXC Class of 2009
Kate joined cross country when she was in eighth grade, which is when most of the 2009 class started cross country in the middle school. Kate started the 2009 season running around 20 minutes for two miles, but she set her two-mile P.R. at the Troy Invite with a time of 16:59. She ran all four years in high school, and set her high school three-mile P.R. at the Northern Illinois Big-12 Conference meet at Morris with a time of 22:32. Kate ran track in high school, as well, and mainly focused on the long jump and hurdles.
Rayne D'Alessando, YMSXC Class of 2009
Rayne also joined the middle school team when he was in eighth grade, and became one of the stronger runners on the team. He ended the season as one of the team's Sectional alternates for the team's first year in the IESA. Both the girls and the boys finished sixth in the Troy Sectional, but it was the only year the YMS cross country team wouldn't send anyone to State. Rayne set a two-mile P.R. of 13:21 at the Prairie Conference meet at Thompson Junior High in Oswego. In high school, Rayne set a P.R. his junior year with a time of 16:29 at Aurora Central Catholic's Charger Classic.
In track, Rayne became one of the team's top 800 runners, and ended up running the open 800 for the team at Sectionals, where he ran a P.R. of 2:08.37. Unfortunately, because of a boundary issue Rayne was not allowed to run his senior year of high school, but based on his efforts his junior year he probably would have been a part of the 2013 state championship team had he been allowed to run.
Sara Erskine, YMSXC Class of 2009
Sara is the only member of the class of 2009 to have run middle school cross country in seventh grade as well as eighth grade. In seventh grade, she set her two-mile P.R. at the Troy Invite with a time of 16:56. She also earned the Future Potential award that season. In 2009, she ran a P.R. during the last meet of the season with a time of 14:40 at the Prairie Conference meet in Oswego. She was also named as one of the team's alternates for Sectionals.
In high school, Sara ran a three-mile P.R. of 21:29 at the NIB12 Conference meet at Morris in 2013. She ran distance events in track with Coach Miller's group, and earned the Most Improved Award during the 2012 track season. She hopes to eclipse her mile P.R. of 6:38.7 or her two-mile track P.R. of 13:47 during track in the spring.
Vicki Granat, YMSXC Class of 2009
Vicki joined the middle school team as an eighth grader, and ended up earning a spot as an alternate at Sectionals that season. She ran a two-mile P.R. of 14:55 at the Prairie Conference meet in Oswego. In high school, Vicki ran cross country all four years and ran a three-mile P.R. of 23:47 at the NIB12 Conference meet at Morris.
During the track season she mainly focused on the 400m dash. She ran a P.R. of 1:05.45 during her sophomore year, but struggled with injuries during her junior year. Vicki is hoping to come back strong during her final year of track and set some more P.R.'s.
Kaelyn Scull, YMSXC Class of 2009
Kaelyn joined the team late during her eighth grade year, and ran a P.R. of 16:46 at the Tiger Trails Invite at Thompson Junior High in Oswego. In high school, she set her three-mile P.R. of 19:39 at the NIB12 Conference meet in Morris, and was the team's seventh runner on the 2013 state championship team, running a time of 20:01 to finish 133rd at the State meet.
In track, she ran distance events with Coach Muth's group, and had a P.R. of 5:44 in the 1600, which she set at Sectionals her junior year. She also had a P.R. of 12:37.3 in the 3200, which she set at a home meet in April last season.
Nolan Tweedy, 2009 YMSXC Alum
Nolan is the only member of the 2009 YMSXC class who ran at the team's first IESA Sectional meet. Nolan ran a 12:52 at the Troy Sectional, but had set a P.R. of 12:51 at the Prairie Conference meet in Oswego two days prior to Sectionals.
In high school, Nolan made huge strides. By his senior year he had established himself as the team's clear third runner, and set a P.R. of 15:10 at the NIB12 Conference meet in Morris. He finished 19th at the State cross country meet to earn All-State honors with a time of 15:21, which helped the boys earn the team's first State cross country championship. Nolan focuses on distance events in track, and spent a brief time in Coach Miller's group before moving to Coach Muth's group where he has been focusing on the 4x800 meter relay and has a split P.R. of 2:02.3.
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