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Two Trophies for YMSXC!
October 16, 2016
Last year I talked about how we had our most successful season ever even though we didn't come home with any State hardware. This year, I can once again say we had our most successful season ever, but this year we came home with six individual medals and two 2nd-place State trophies! It was probably the most exciting day ever in our team's history and everyone stepped up and ran great races against the best competition in the state of Illinois!
The girls started the year with a goal of earning a trophy at State. As the season went on the girls remained unbeaten they raised their expectations. After winning their first Sectional championship since 2012, the girls set their sights on winning the IESA State championship. As usual, Helena Kleronomos led the team, running 5:41 over the first mile of the race and 5:51 over the second mile to finish in a school State record of 11:33 in third place. Helena's place matched the highest place finish for a Yorkville Middle School runner in the team's history. Hailey Simmons wasn't far behind Helena, though, and Hailey's fifth-place finish in 11:40 marked the first time in the school's history two Yorkville runners were in the top five at State. Sara Klemm ran a masterful race, and pushed hard in the final stretch to ensure an All-State finish in 25th place with a time of 11:59. Sydney Peterson was the team's top seventh grader for the season, and finished in 53rd place with a time of 12:21. Nikki Vergara was the team's final scorer in 70th place with a time of 12:32. Seventh grader Brooke O'Carroll (104th, 12:49) and eighth grader Jinnaea Richardson (140th, 13:07) were the only runners on the team to run a faster second mile than their first mile.
In a race with nearly 250 runners the winning team scores can be pretty high. The winning team score is typically above 100 points, and really good teams are in the low 100's or even under 100. Minooka and Yorkville met each other last week in the Yorkville Sectional. The Yorkville girls came out on top in that race by a score of 33-45. At State, however, Minooka came out on top in the closest race ever in IESA Class 3A. Minooka took home a 111-113 victory with only one All-State runner. Minooka's seventh runner finished in 39th place, however, so their strong pack led to their narrow victory. Yorkville's second-place finish was the best finish ever for a Yorkville Middle School cross country team, and the girls met their initial goal of earning a trophy at State.
The boys had a goal of winning the State championship from the outset of the season, and although they didn't meet that goal the season was still an unqualified success as they came away with the first State trophy in Yorkville Middle School cross country history.
Ivan Westcott wanted to be in the running to win an individual championship at the State meet, and with 400 meters to go he was in third place and within striking distance of the leaders. While he couldn't hold on to third place, he did finish with the fastest time (10:41) and highest place (sixth) for a Yorkville Middle School boy at the State meet. Cade Grimaldi continued his incredible season and finished in eighth place with a time of 10:47. Austin Popplewell ran 10 seconds faster for his second mile to make up over two dozen places and finish as an All-State runner in 25th place with a time of 10:58. This was the first time in school history Yorkville had more than one All-State runner of the boys side. Danny Harker finished was the fourth for the team in 57th place with a time of 11:27, and Matthew Angerame finished the team's scoring with a time of 11:34 in 76th place. Jack Brucher wasn't far behind in 83rd place with a time of 11:36, and Colin Kachlic was the team's seventh runner, finishing in 201st place with a time of 12:20.
The boys knew they had their hands full with a tough Chatham Glenwood team, and Chatham ran away with the State championship with a score of 70 points. The Yorkville boys barely eclipsed Minooka with a score of 151 to Minooka's 152 to take the runner-up position. The boys have finished in the top seven at State every year since the competition was expanded to three classes in 2012, but this was the first year they came away with a State trophy.
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