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IHSA Sectional
Championships Recap
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Photos
Results
The Sectional Meet is the second of three meets in
the State Series each year, culminating with the State
Meet in Peoria. There are six Sectionals in the state
and the top five teams qualify out of each, along with
the top seven individuals not a part of those five
teams. Our Sectional, as has been the case for the past
three years, is by far the toughest girls Sectional in
the state and this year featured 11 of the top 22 ranked
teams in the state. The meet was run at Dellwood Park in
Lockport, generally considered to be the most rugged and
challenging high school cross country course in the
state. Add to all of that this year’s conditions, which
featured plenty of mud, standing water and slow and
slippery footing, and it was certainly a great cross
country experience. Times were meaningless on a day like
this. It was sunny, in the upper 40’s and very windy. It
was true cross country at its best!
The Lady Devils scored 89 points to win the Sectional
Championship for the first time in school history. This
is the fifth year in a row we have qualified for the
State Meet, including a fourth place finish last year.
Naperville North finished 2nd (101), followed by Mother
McAuley (109), Lockport (116) and Benet (121). Ranked
teams that did not advance included Neuqua Valley,
Sandburg, Stagg, Andrew, Downers South and Lincoln Way
East. It was another great example of a team race for
the Red Devils. Roey Hines led the way in 8th place,
followed by Gina Kapusta in 12th and Emily Cleary in
16th. All three girls ran outstanding races and Roey
took home the plaque as the Athlete of the Meet. Elaine
Kuckertz, running probably at only about 75% after being
sick last week, turned in a key performance in finishing
26th. Lauren Zumbach struggled with allergies but did a
great job in hanging tough to finish 30th. That problem
has been solved and Lauren is good to go for next week.
Jenny Laser ran her first Varsity invitational of the
year and ran strongly in 47th place and Heather Stevens
finished it off for the Devils in 49th place. As has
been the case all year, the girls stepped up for each
other and the result was another good performance.
Everything is coming together for the girls at the right
time and we are excited about what lies ahead.
The State Meet is this Saturday in Peoria. We love the
course at Detweiler Park and consider it our “home away
from home”. We pride ourselves on always running well in
big meets and the Sectional Meet was another example of
that. Our goal, as always, is to “dream big dreams” and
to be “the best we can be”.
Directions to the meet are
listed elsewhere on this site. The AA Girls Race goes
off at 12:15 and the Boys at 1:15. Awards are at the
park at 2:45. There is a $10 per car fee for parking. We
will have a fan bus for students that will go down on
Saturday morning and the signup for that begins Monday
afternoon in the Athletic Office. Every year the
Illinois State Meet is as good of a high school cross
country meet as you will find in the entire country and
this year will be no exception. Be there for us in body
or in spirit! Come out and support the Lady Devils!
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