Tiger Girl Harriers Take 3rd at State in 'True Team Race'

PEORIA—Wheaton Warrenville South's girls cross country team proudly held up its team trophy on the award ceremony's main stage after taking third place in Class 3A at the state cross country meet here Saturday.

Could the Tigers be hoisting the state championship trophy at Detweiller Park this time next fall? Well, with all seven of the Tigers' top runners returning in 2011, Wheaton South certainly has to be considered the odds-on favorite to do just that.

However, Tigers coach Rob Harvey wasn't looking ahead to next season. He and the team were celebrating their latest accomplishment. Wheaton South totaled 124 points—just three points behind second-place Palatine (121). Schaumburg secured the team championship with 112.

It's the second consecutive year Wheaton South has placed third at state.

"It's a great group; it's a great team," Harvey said. "They really are a wonderful team with a great attitude and a great outlook. We've got a great group, a great team, great parents—I mean look at this."

Harvey glanced over at the team tent, and pointed out the large contingent of parents and students who had made the trip to Peoria to see the Tigers once again take home some state hardware.

"Every one of our kids ran the fastest times they've ever run in a race," Harvey noted. "You do the best you've ever done and it ends up being third, you can't be disappointed with that."

Those personal bests included all-state finishes by sophomore McKenna Kiple and junior Lauren Mordini. Kiple turned in a time of 17:04 (on a 3-mile course) for 11th overall, while Mordini earned 18th place with a time of 17:06.

Both also earned all-state honors for the Tigers in 2009. Kiple made a dramatic jump from her performance last fall, in which she placed 22nd.

"I wasn't expecting anything at all," said Kiple of her expectations individually going into the race. "I was just going to do the best I could and see where that led to. I'm really happy."

Meanwhile, sophomore Mikayla Kightlinger just missed achieving all-state status, as she placed 27th while completing the course in 17:27. (The top 25 individuals earn all-state status.)

Another sophomore, Hope Schmelzle, cracked the top 50 by placing 43rd in 17:41. Juniors Clare Kelly (72nd, 18:00) and Hana Lobsinger (117th, 18:28) also contributed to the Tigers' third-place finish.

"Everyone is really happy with our placing and how we raced," Kiple said. "We really don't have a strategy; it's really go out and do the best you can. Run your race. (Coach) Harvey always says no one knows how to run your race better than you. So we just go out and run the best we can."

"It was a true team race," Harvey added. "We were third last year and scored almost 40 points less this year than we did last year. Twelve points out of first; you can't complain. The kids ran their hearts out."

St. Francis girls and boys

Senior Kelly McShea and the Spartans—who qualified as a team after finishing fourth at their sectional—saw history unfold before their eyes in the girls Class 2A race.

Kayla Beattie, a senior from Woodstock, shattered the girls all-time state record over 3 miles with a blistering 16:22, beating the old mark established in 2007 by 15 seconds. Beattie easily outdistance second-place Molly Dahlquist of 2010 2A state champion Peoria Notre Dame and the rest of the field by 41 seconds.

But McShea followed coach Scott Nelson's pre-race strategy to the T and motored to fifth place in 17:23 for all-state honors—the second straight year McShea has been all-state (she was 12th overall in 2009).

"She was tremendous," Nelson said. "She did it perfectly actually. (I told her to) stay in contact (with the leaders) and everything else will take care of itself. And it did. She came out of the triangle in ninth and ended up fifth. Wow!"

"It feels good," McShea said afterward. "The course was hard and fast, but I'm glad it was fast-paced. I tried getting out pretty fast right off the top girl and maintaining (through) the second mile."

McShea's efforts helped the Spartans finish seventh as a team with 184 points. Notre Dame was followed by second-place Yorkville (130) and Springfield (139).

The Spartan's next best finisher was sophomore Kate Roback with a time of 18:20 for 42nd place. Roback's classmate, Janne DeValerio, finished 62nd (18:37). Junior Ann Kolker (18:49) and senior Bridget Reczek (18:57) were 74th and 83rd, respectively.

"Everyone equaled or ran better than their PRs," Nelson said. "You can't do more than that. Kelly went from 10th or 12th to fifth (place) in the last 400 meters. That's how we've been working all year.

"Last Saturday (at sectionals), we ran OK. We didn't run great, to be honest with you. And I told the girls, 'You know, I don't want you to be upset; I want you to be mad. Because we know we're a better team than that.' Today they proved that. Whatever place we got, we earned it."

Meanwhile, St. Francis senior Joe Giamberdino closed his Spartan career by racing to a top-10 finish in the boys Class 2A meet. Giamberdino clocked in at 14:56 to earn an all-state medal. His time at state is 1:16 better his sectional clocking of 16:12.

Giamberdino's performance at state caps a fine season. He missed qualifying for state last fall, but his 17th-place finish at the always tough Belvidere sectional securely put him at Detweiller Park this time around.

Wheaton North boys

A few members of coach Nate Roe's squad were under the weather leading up to—and continuing into—the state Class 3A race. The Falcons ended up 22nd out of 25 teams with 554 points.

York, which has captured 27 state championships overall, grabbed its first title since 2006 by edging Lake Zurich. Neuqua Valley, last year's 3A champ, was third.

"We had some sick kids and kids that I think just didn't get the most out of themselves today," Roe said. "But our four returners for next year ran really pretty solid races."

Juniors Aiden Askew and Sam Hoffman both recorded personal-best times of 15:12 and 15:13, respectively. Sophomores Wyatt Didier and Paul Steeno each had times of 16:04. Seniors Zack Johnson (16:09) and Caleb Philbrick (17:35) finished their Falcon careers at state.

Nonetheless, Roe said, "It was a very successful season. We've just got to figure out next year how to get down here again and get back to figuring out how to get the kids as ready as they can to get their best performances. But you can't plan for someone being sick. They've been great all year."