The Sectional Meet is the second step on the road to State each year. There are six sectionals in the state and the top five teams and top seven individuals not on those teams qualify to run in Peoria the following weekend. Our Sectional, hosted by Bremen High School at Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve, was by far the most competitive in the state, featuring six of the top nine ranked teams in the state and nine of the top twenty.
We ran a great team race on Saturday, finishing 4th in the 20 team field with 117 points behind Naperville North (63), Sandburg (106) and Lockport (112) and ahead of Lincoln-Way East (154). At least 3 more teams that deserve to be at State (Benet, Neuqua Valley and Andrew) closely followed Lincoln-Way East. This is the 4th year in a row the girls have qualified for State, the 5th in the last 6 years, and the 7th in school history. One of our goals this year is to come back from Peoria as the best team in school history, surpassing the 7th place finishes of the 2004 and 2000 squads.
Roey Hines and Lauren Zumbach led the way for the Lady Devils, placing 6th and 9th respectively in outstanding times of 17:52 and 17:55 on the 3.03 mile course. Their finishes qualified them for recognition as All-Sectional athletes. Ashley Soltwisch came through big once again in 21st place in 18:22, giving us a tremendous Top 3 placings. Heather Stevens ran a great race in her second Varsity race, finishing in 42nd place in 18:55 and Jenny Laser continued to come on with her 48th place run in 19:05. Megan Gleason and Kristina Truedson were our 6th and 7th finishers. Megan finished 71st in the 160 runner field in 19:41 and Kristina ran 20:32. Roey, Lauren, Ashley, Heather and Jenny all ran yearly PR’s for their 3 mile equivalent times on a beautiful day on a challenging and fun course. While we were happy with our races on Saturday, we know that there is more fuel in the tank and that our best races lie ahead of us on Saturday. We pride ourselves on always running well in big meets and especially on the State Meet course at Detweiler Park. We’re all excited for State and are ready to be “the best we can be”.
The State Meet is on Saturday. Click here for directions. The Class A Girls and Boys go off at 9:30 and 10:30. Our race is at 12:15 and the AA Boys are at 1:30. AA awards are at 2:45. Come down to Peoria and support the Lady Devils! The State Meet is always a great spectacle and this year will be a special one. Hope to see you there!
