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IHSA State Finals Recap
Saturday, November 4, 2006
Photos
Results
The State Championships were held on Saturday,
November 4, 2006 at Detweiler Park in Peoria. Like last
year, conditions for the race were close to ideal, with
race temperatures in the upper 40’s and very light
winds. A bit of drizzle fell during the earlier races
but nothing substantial. The course itself was in great
shape. The damp and soft surfaces we had encountered all
season were gone. While the ground was not as hard and
dry as in 2005, course conditions were close to perfect.
All four races featured top performances and fast times.
As usual, the Illinois State Championships proved to be
one of the fastest, deepest and most competitive State
Meets in the nation.
It was a history making race for the Lady Devils as we
placed first overall in the meet with 123 points, ahead
of Barrington (203), Benet (218), Mother McAuley (219)
and Lake Park (227). It was our first State Championship
and our first top-three trophy. Last years’ 4th place
finish, just eight points out of 3rd, was the program’s
previous best. As usual, our strong schedule throughout
the season prepared us well for the State Meet. In terms
of both the depth of team and individual finishers, the
West Suburban Silver Conference was tops in the State,
finishing 1, 7, 12, 14 in the team standings and placing
10 individuals in the top 48 individually. In addition,
the five teams from our Sectional placed 1, 3, 4, 6, and
9 at State.
We headed into the meet in our usual frame of mind, with
each of the girls hoping to achieve their goal of being
the best she could be on that day. If we ran our race,
we knew that good things would happen. As was the case
all season, each of the girls ran well, with a couple in
particular stepping up “extra big” on the day. Top
finisher for the Devils in an All-State 9th place finish
was Elaine Kuckertz in an outstanding time of 17:19.
Elaine recovered from the illness that affected her at
Regionals and Sectionals in a big way! Her last mile of
5:41 was the fastest in the meet. Elaine was followed by
a tight pack of Lauren Zumbach, Roey Hines and Gina
Kapusta in times of 17:45, 17:47 and 17:50,
respectively. Lauren was 29th overall, Roey 30th and
Gina finished 34th. All three ran outstanding races and
times in the fastest State Meet in Girls State Meet
history. Emily Cleary, while not completely satisfied
with her race, was still our key 5th scorer in 86th
place and ran 18:21. Emily came back in a big way this
year and is ready to take another big step forward this
spring. Close behind in 89th place was Heather Stevens
in a huge lifetime PR of 18:22. Jenny Laser was our 7th
finisher in 168th place, running 19:10. Jenny is the
first girl in school history to run in the State Meet
all four years. Emily Kane was our first alternate at
State and raced as part of the State Meet team at the
Regional meet. Our top 5 finishers averaged 17:49, the
second best top 5 average ever at State behind only
Barrington’s 17:48 in 2003. Our top 6 averaged 17:54,
the best ever in the history of the Girls State Meet
since the distance moved to 3 miles. The 80 point margin
of victory was the 3rd largest since the State Meet
began in 1979. All of the girls on our team are very
proud of being the first in school history to bring home
the Cross Country State Championship!
Each of the girls on our team, whether they ran at the
State Meet or not, is a big part of the success of the
team. So are our alumni, our parents and everyone else
who has supported us in so many ways all year long. “At
the moment of commitment, the whole world conspires to
ensure your success”. The girls will compete at the Nike
Team Nationals in Portland on December 2nd. While we are
happy with all that we have accomplished this season, we
are already looking forward to next year and setting new
and higher goals for ourselves. Last year our team theme
was “Believe In Your Dreams”. This season it was “Dream
Big Dreams”. Next year we will be looking to take the
program to still higher levels. It is amazing what can
be accomplished when a group of young women work hard,
set high goals for themselves, believe in each other and
commit to being the very best they can be. Dream Big
Dreams!! |
