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On to State
October 8, 2017
Congrats to our boys and girls for qualifying for the IESA State Cross Country Championships! This is the seventh time out of eight years that the girls have qualified for State, and the sixth year in a row that the boys have qualified. The girls will be running at 12:30pm this coming Saturday at Maxwell Park and the boys will be running at 1:15pm. We will have free tickets available at Awards Night this Wednesday for any runners (or parents) who want to ride our fan bus to State on Saturday morning.
The Girls Race
Saturday at Grace Bible Church in Minooka was not a day for P.R.'s. With wind gusts over 20mph and the longest straightaway on the course heading directly into the wind, strategy would win the day at one of the more competitive Sectionals in the state. Even Minooka's pack was broken up by the wind, but they still cruised to a nearly 30-point victory. Alex Stewart and Sydney Peterson made sure they stayed with the front pack for the entire race and they held on to strong positions in the top ten to earn All-Sectional honors. Alex hung with eighth graders Joslyn Prosek of Troy and Alyssa Hrusosky of Minooka as they broke away from the main pack during the second lap. Alex ended up passing Minooka's runner at a strategic turn on the course and never looked back. She was within two seconds of becoming Yorkville's only seventh grade Sectional champion, but couldn't outkick Troy's runner. Alex's second place finish in a time of 12:44 is the best Sectional finish ever by a seventh grader, boy or girl, in YMS cross country history. Sydney stuck with the rest of the front pack after Alex's group broke away. Two Minooka runners and a runner from Martino fell off the pace which left Sydney alone with Meadow Zomparelli of Minooka and Nancy Flais of Martino. Minooka's runner broke away towards the end of the race to finish fourth, and Sydney just barely got outkicked by Martino's runner. Sydney finished in sixth place with a time of 13:02 to earn All-Sectional honors.
Behind Alex and Sydney was a strong pack led by Anna Hunter. Anna ran a consistent race staying mainly in the top 15 to continue her streak of great races. Anna ultimately finished in 15th place with a time of 13:34. Alexis Wasserberg and Katlyn Schraeder fell behind Anna on the second lap, but ran the entire second half of the race together. Alexis ultimately clipped Katlyn to finish in 18th place to Katlyn's 19th place, but both had an official time of 13:42. Alexis and Katlyn, along with Alex, are going to form a strong core for our girls team when they return next year as eighth graders.
Ava Glenn started in the pack with Anna, but fell into the pack behind Alexis and Katlyn. Ava was key to the team's second-place finish. Ava finished in 22nd place with a time of 13:53 and was our team's sixth runner. The team tied Martino with a team score of 60, but Ava beat Martino's sixth runner who finished in 26th place. That gave the Yorkville girls second place and pushed Martino to third. Brooke O'Carroll was the girl's seventh runner and finished in 36th place with a time of 14:24.
The Boys Race
The girls had a strong race, but the boys had to fight to move on to State. The boys finished third to Troy and Martino and only seven points ahead of Minooka. The boys beat Troy and Martino earlier in the season at the Parkside Invite as well as a few weeks ago at the Troy Invite. They are two teams the boys need to beat at State if they want to come home with a trophy.
Jack Stillmunkes and Brody Ferko again led the way for the team and started out near the top ten. They never moved up during the race, though, and Jack ultimately finished in the last All-Sectional spot in tenth with a time of 12:08. Brody finished in 12th with a time of 12:10. The star of the day was Nicholas Clever, who was filling in for Jaydon Harvey. Nicholas ran one of his best races of the year when the team was down and ended up nearly catching Jack and Brody. Nicholas was the team's third runner and finished in 13th place with a time of 12:14. Without Nicholas' fantastic fill-in performance, it's likely the boys would not be running at State next weekend.
Nick Sinopoli and Josiah Gulbro were the team's fourth and fifth runners and finished the scoring for the team. Nick finished in 22nd place with a time of 12:30 and Josiah finished 24th with a time of 12:37. Owen Lindstrand and Nathan Summers rounded out the team in 33rd place and 37th place with times of 12:56 and 13:02, respectively.
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