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Yorkville's First State Trophy
Yorkville Middle School's cross country runners began their preparations for the state cross country meet back in June when summer Endurance Camp began. Almost all of the team's state runners participated in the seven-week-long Endurance Camp, and that wo...
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Yorkville's First State Trophy
October 19, 2014
Yorkville Middle School's cross country runners began their preparations for the state cross country meet back in June when summer Endurance Camp began. Almost all of the team's state runners participated in the seven-week-long Endurance Camp, and that work showed when the Foxes took to the two-mile course at Maxwell Park in Normal this past Saturday.
The girls were led by eighth grader Olivia Borowiak, who turned in an All-State performance for the second year in a row with her 14th-place finish in 11:49, which is the second fastest time ever run by a Yorkville runner on the state course. Olivia finished her running career at YMS with 11 team records, three of the ten fastest times ever run at Yorkville, and two straight years of All-Sectional and All-State performances. Emily Eberhart was Yorkville's next runner and also turned in an All-State performance with her 21st-place finish in 11:52. Emily joined cross country late in the summer this year and turned out to be an integral part of the team. Eighth grade runner Colleen O'Connor was Yorkville's final All-State runner with her 24th-place finish in 11:54. Colleen joins Olivia as one of the most accomplished runners in YMS cross country history. Colleen and Olivia are the only runners to earn back-to-back All-State honors. In addition, Colleen owns five team records and is the only seventh-grade girl to ever break 12 minutes for a two-mile race.
The three All-State girls were followed about 30 second later by Dani Evans. Dani finished in 92nd place with a time of 12:35 to finish a successful season. Dani was a two-sport athlete during the cross country season, splitting her time between running and softball, and she left right after the state awards ceremony to head to a softball tournament. Dani was followed closely by Victoria Crawford in 109th place with a time of 12:43. Victoria was at the state course last season as a seventh grader as a spectator and told herself that she wanted to be running when she was in eighth grade. Victoria ended up as the team's important fifth runner and finished the teams scoring with a total of 202 points.
Roni Bruck and Jazmin Russell were the team's sixth and seventh runners at state. Roni finished her cross country career at the middle school by breaking 13 minutes for the first time. Roni's time of 12:57 in 134th place was a personal record for her and she is one of only 16 runners in YMS history to break the 13-minute mark. Jazmin was the lone seventh grader on the girls team and set a personal record at state by finishing with a time of 13:06 in 160th place, which was the fourth-fastest time for a number seven runner at state. Only five seventh-grade girls have broken 13 minutes so Jazmin is in good company for coming so close.
The girls 202 points left them in fourth place behind Edwardsville Lincoln (178 points), New Lenox Martino (172 points), and state champion Batavia Rotolo (124 points). The average time for the girls top five runners was 12:10, which is the fastest ever for a Yorkville team at state. The trophy for the fourth place finish is the first state trophy ever for cross country at Yorkville Middle School.
The boys team did not have any All-State athletes, but Alex Loos was close. His time of 10:56 was the fourth-fastest time ever for a Yorkville runner at state, but his place of 27th was two spots away from an All-State performance. However, Alex leaves YMS as one of the most accomplished runners in Yorkville history. He is one of only five runners to break 11 minutes in a two-mile race, he set nine team records, ran at state twice, earned All-Sectional honors this year, and has two of the team's top ten fastest times. Close behind Alex was another accomplished runner, Austin Hunter. Austin was one of two seventh graders running for the boys and he was Yorkville's fastest seventh grade boy ever. His time of 11:11 in 54th place was the fastest time ever for a seventh-grade boy in Yorkville and was the 10th fastest time in the meet for a seventh grader. Austin's time also broke the seventh-grade boys team record at state by over 25 seconds. Austin set five team records during his seventh-grade year, including the all-important record at state. Jake Carlson was close behind Austin with his time of 11:12 to finish in 56th place. Jake spends most of the year playing hockey, but he finished his cross country career at Yorkville by running the seventh-fastest time ever by a Yorkville runner at state. Ben Tholen also finished with a great time at state. Ben's time of 11:27 in 87th place was the ninth-fastest ever for Yorkville and Ben dropped his time by 12 seconds from sectionals to state, which was the biggest improvement for any of the Yorkville boys. Ben, along with Alex, was one of the team's captains and was one of the team's strongest leaders. Brett Rhodes was the team's fifth runner, and the only other seventh grade runner on the boys state team. Brett's time of 11:34 in 100th place would have broken the team's seventh grade boys state record if Austin hadn't done it first. Brett and Austin should help lead a strong boys team next year when they are in eighth grade.
Cole Bruck (11:47, 137th place) and Hunter Benesh (11:49, 143rd place) finished their middle school careers by helping the team run the fastest-ever race for Yorkville at state. It was the first time all seven runners for a Yorkville team broke 12 minutes at state. The team's 38 second split between their first and fifth runners was the fourth-best split at state and in most year's it would have been enough to earn the team a trophy. The team's seventh-place finish occurred in one of the closest races in state history. Chatham Glenwood won the state championship with 87 points, Edwardsville Liberty was second with 139 points, and Batavia Rotolo was third with 207 points. Geneseo earned the final trophy with 221 points. Yorkville had 234 points in seventh place, which means there was only a 13 points difference between the final trophy and Yorkville's finish. The average point difference between fourth and seventh was 71 points before this season so Yorkville's team should be proud of what they accomplished in one of the most competitive state meets ever.
Coach Miller on October 20, 2014
The girls did get 4th last year. Before the IESA switched to 3 classes in cross country they gave out trophies to the top 4 teams. When they switched to 3 classes in 2012 they changed it to 3 trophies per class. They decided to go back to 4 trophies this year.
Anonymous on October 19, 2014
I thought the girls got 4th last year
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