Defending state champs look solid again

August 30, 2007
* COACH: Mark McCabe (6th season)

* 2006 RESULTS: Won West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet and overall title; won Hinsdale Central Regional; won Lockport Sectional; won Class AA state meet (123 points)

* RETURNING 2006 STATE COMPETITORS: Juniors Elaine Kuckertz (all-state 9th place), Lauren Zumbach (29th) and Roey Hines (30th), senior Emily Cleary (86th) and junior Heather Stevens (89th)

* OTHER VARSITY RETURNEES: Seniors Margaret Cavenagh, Danielle D'Agostino and Allie Emery; junior Catherine Bruns; and sophomores Grace Hucek and Katie Kummerer

* VARSITY NEWCOMERS: Juniors Victoria Glatz, Niamh McCarthy and Maddie Metcalf; and sophomores Kelsey Chetosky and Hailey Krzyston

* OUTLOOK: The Red Devils' motto of working to be their best produced their first state championship impressively last season, defeating second-place Barrington by 80 points.

With five returnees from the state lineup, including four of the eight all-staters the program has ever produced, the Red Devils are favored to win the Class 3A title in this year's expanded three-class state format. But their priorities haven't changed.

"We really don't talk about (state titles) and focus on that stuff at all because we know the only thing we can control is us," McCabe said.

"Things haven't really changed at all (in practice). We've been, for the last couple of years, redefining our goals, what we consider success and what we're going to be satisfied with and what we have to do to reach those goals. The more successful the girls are, the higher they set their goals. We certainly are poised to accomplish bigger and better things."

The season begins with the Hornet-Red Devil Invitational -- which the Red Devils won for the first time last year -- Saturday, Sept. 1, at Katherine Legge Memorial Park. The varsity girls race is at 10:15 a.m.

In her first state meet, Kuckertz finished ninth -- the second-highest individual finish by a Hinsdale Central runner at state -- and was the Red Devils' No. 1 finisher in a race for the first time all of last season. Zumbach, Hines, Cleary and Stevens were the team's No. 2, 3, 5 and 6 finishers in their second state appearances.

They and several of the 73 Red Devils on this season's largest roster ever enter the season with a strong base of summer training.

"All of (the varsity returnees) are ahead of where they were in workouts a year ago, and all of them have had an uninterrupted summer of training in terms of injuries and illness," McCabe said. "They're very fit right now and very excited to see not only what each of them can do but, more importantly, what the team can do."

Zumbach (20th) and Hines (24th) were all-staters in 2005 by finishing among the top 25, and Stevens was 111th. Cleary was an all-state 17th for the seventh-place 2004 team but a stress fracture in her hip sidelined her from state as a sophomore. Zumbach (4th), Kuckertz (6th), Hines (8th) and Cleary (14th) also were all-conference last season with top-16 finishes at the Silver Meet.

The momentum continued this past track season as Cleary, Hines and Kuckertz were on the all-state 3,200-meter relay team that tied for second, and Zumbach was an all-state eighth in the 3,200.

Team captains Cleary, Hines, Cavenagh, D'Agostino and Emery will help to overcome the loss of a senior class that included emotional leader Gina Kapusta (34th at state) and Jenny Laser (168th), the only four-time state runner in program history.

A healthy Hucek also will help after qualifying for state track in the 3,200 (17th). Hucek was seventh in the 2006 varsity Hornet-Red Devil Invite but missed the rest of the season with a stress fracture in her shin.

Emery, Bruns and Kummerer were 2006 state cross country alternates. Kummerer (4th), Bruns (12th) and Krzyston (14th) were all-conference for last year's co-Silver champion sophomore team, and Emery (14th) was all-conference for the junior varsity. Chetosky, a strong runner for the sophomore track team, is trying high school cross country for the first time.

In the Silver, the Red Devils seek their fourth consecutive overall title after tying York for first at the Silver Meet but winning on a sixth-runner tiebreaker the past two years. A tough invitational schedule once again includes Lake Park, Peoria Notre Dame and the Culver (Ind.) Academies Invite, where the Red Devils will face the top two teams from Indiana.

* KEY TO SUCCESS: "The only key is to keep doing what we're doing," McCabe said. "We've said 2006 was great, but that's in the past. It's a brand new year. Each year has its own unique personality. We talked about that in July when we made our team trip to Wisconsin. Even though we have a lot of returning runners, it's a different team and everybody's starting from scratch."

-- by Bill Stone

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/clarendonhills/sports/533381,ch-centralgirlscctry-083007-s1.article

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