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Hornet/Red Devil Invitational Recap
Saturday, September 2, 2006
Photos
Full
Results
The first meet of the year is one we always look
forward to with great anticipation and our own
Hornet/Red Devil Invite is a great way to start the
season. For many of the girls who have been running all
summer long, they have been training for 12 weeks and
are eager to get a “starting point” for their season.
When the cross country season begins in August, it is
really already half over! Consistent summer training
produces champions and our summer commitment this year
was again outstanding. As is often the case for this
meet, the weather was a bit warm but otherwise ideal.
Temperatures started out in the 60’s and rose into the
lower 70’s by the end of the meet, with bright sun and
calm conditions. The course itself at Katherine Legge
Memorial Park (KLM) was dry, not as hard as the past two
years and generally in excellent shape.
The Varsity girls ran an outstanding race to start the
season. We won the 19 team race with just 30 points,
ahead of Palatine (83 points, and ranked #5 in the state
in the pre-season coaches poll), Stagg, Neuqua Valley
and Wheaton Warrenville South (WWS). It was the first
time in the 25 year history of the meet that the girls
have won the varsity race.
 Lauren Zumbach
(pictured) was the
overall winner in 18:27, the third fastest time run at
this meet since the girls distance moved to 3.0 miles.
Emily Cleary was 4th, just seconds out of 2nd place,
running a lifetime best at KLM. Grace Hucek and Elaine
Kuckertz were close behind in 7th and 8th place, both
running under 19 minutes in their first varsity cross
country races. Gina Kapusta followed in 10th place with
another excellent season-opening performance to give us
5 runners in the Top 10 and Heather Stevens was 18th to
round out our finishers. Six runners in the first 18
finishers is our best finish ever at this meet. Emily
Cleary took the plaque home for the weekend as the
Athlete of the Meet.
The Frosh/Soph girls placed 2nd in the 19 team field
with 58 points, behind WWS and ahead of New Trier,
Naperville Central and Neuqua Valley. Freshman Katie
Kummerer was the overall winner, finishing in 20:17 in
her first high school race. Other top finishers for the
Lady Devils were Holly Larsen, Jane Chapman, Victoria
Glatz, Hailey Krzyston, Catherine Bruns and Niamh
McCarthy in 10, 13, 16, 18, 19 and 21st place
respectively out of 164 finishers. Katie K. was the
Athlete of the Meet. It was a good start for the F/S
girls on what promises to be another successful season.
The 2 mile Open Race featured another huge field of 404
runners. We placed 2nd with 63 points, behind Palatine
and ahead of WWS, Evanston and New Trier. Emily Kane was
our top finisher, finishing 2nd overall in an excellent
first race with a time of 13:08. Following Emily across
the line for the Lady Devils were Grace Pedersen,
Margaret Cavenagh, Allie Emery, Olivia Trilla, Michelle
Fasano and Jessica Payne, placing 8, 13, 18, 22, 26 and
44th respectively. Jessica was the Athlete of the Meet
in her first high school race.
One thing we take great pride in at HC is the strength
of our overall program. We strive for excellence at all
levels. Every girl contributes and every girl matters.
Our goal is simply that each of us works our hardest to
be the best we can be. As long as that happens, the
results will take care of themselves. Each meet is a
stepping stone to being at our best when it counts most
at the end of the season.
Each weekend we compete, we go to the most competitive
meet in the state for girls cross country on that
particular weekend. To be the best, we know we must
compete against the best. This coming Saturday on Sept.
9 we go to the Lake Park Invitational at the Lake Park
East campus. In addition to the Red Devils, other top
teams include Naperville North, York, Lake Park and
Wheeling. The first girl’s race is the Varsity race at
9:00am. Directions are posted elsewhere on this site.
Make sure to also check out all of the other information
available elsewhere on the site and check back often for
updated recaps and results. The 2006 Girls Cross Country
season is off and running! Go, Lady Red Devils!!!
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