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West Suburban Silver
Conference Championships Recap
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Photos
We take great pride in being a member
of the West Suburban Silver Conference, as good of a
conference for Girls Cross Country as there is in the
state of Illinois. This is the case year in and year out
and the strength of our conference is a major reason for
the success of the WSC Silver teams at the State Meet
every year. While our primary focus each year at the
Varsity level is the State Meet, the Conference is our
second most important competitive goal. At the F/S and
JV levels, the WSC meet is our major end-of-season meet.
One thing we take great pride in is being competitive at
all levels in our program and the Conference Meet is a
great indicator of overall team strength. If every one
of us is working our hardest to be the best we can be,
everyone wins!
The WSC Meet was hosted by York High School this year at
East End Park and conditions were virtually ideal. York
did an excellent job of meet management. The course is a
multiple loop layout of 2.85 miles. It is flat and fast
(almost like a track meet on the grass), although with
many sharp turns. Temperatures were between 55 and 60
degrees, with cloudy skies and no wind. The course was
dry, hard and fast. For a distance runner, race
conditions could not have been better.
We placed 1st in the Varsity race with 37 points ahead
of LT (44) and York (60). This enabled us to win our 6th
consecutive Varsity championship (the first six in
school history). We had five All-Conference runners (Top
16), led by Elaine Kuckertz, who was the overall
champion in a time of 16:29 in an exciting battle to the
line with Katherine Rack of Oak Park. Elaine was
followed by Roey Hines, who finished 4th in an
outstanding time of 16:46 for her third straight
All-Conference finish. Heather Stevens had a
breakthrough race, probably the best race of her career
thus far, finishing 9th in 17:08. Lauren Zumbach and
Emily Cleary finished close behind in 10th and 13th in
times of 17:10 and 17:17. These were the third
All-Conference races for both Lauren and Emily as well.
Katie Kummerer wrapped things up for the Lady Devils,
finishing 28th overall in 18:00. Our Top 5 team split of
48 seconds was our best of the season thus far and the 3
mile equivalent times for the Top 5 (ranging from
17:23-18:12) were outstanding.
In the F/S competition, we came in tied with Downers
North after the dual meet season and needing to finish
first the race in order to win the outright Conference
title. The F/S Lady Devils came through again when it
counted, topping DGN (47) and LT (67) with our total of
37 points. Hailey Krzyston continued her breakthrough
season and won the Conference Championship, running
17:36.5 to just edge out her teammate Grace Hucek, who
was right behind in 17:36.7. Colleen Leahy also earned a
spot on the podium, finishing 4th in 18:12. Lauren Roush
continued her rapid improvement and was our final
All-Conference runner, finishing 12th in 18:27. Rita
Kuckertz (running a courageous race after battling a
calf injury for the past two weeks), Nicole Lang, Kayla
Schwarz and Lauren Emery followed closely for the Lady
Devils. The F/S won the Conference title for the fifth
time in the last six years.
At the JV level, we also took home the Conference title,
scoring 40 points to outdistance DGN (53) and LT (57).
Niamh McCarthy was our third individual champion of the
day, leading the way in 17:41. Niamh led four other
All-Conference runners across the line, including
Danielle D’Agostino (6th in 18:32), Victoria Glatz (8th
in 18:43), Catherine Bruns (12th in 18:54) and Allie
Emery (13th in 18:55). It was a true team effort and a
satisfying finish to a “JV Domination” goal that the
girls set for themselves last summer. Maddie Metcalf,
Lizzy Lusk and Corine Samaras finished out the scoring
for the Lady Devils. The JV won the Conference title for
the third time in the last four years.
Coming in to the Conference meet, we had two team goals.
One was for each of us to be the best we could be and
walk away feeling that we had each given our very best
effort. The other was to represent Hinsdale Central in
the best way possible, as young women of good character.
I think that we all left East End Park on Saturday
feeling that we had accomplished both of our primary
goals.
This Saturday we begin the State Series at the Regional
Meet, hosted by Proviso West High School on their course
on the school grounds. The Girls Race goes off at
1:30pm, followed by the Boys Race at 2:15pm. The Top 5
teams, as well as the Top 5 individuals not a part of
those teams, will advance to the Sectional Meet the
following Saturday at Busse Woods, hosted by Schaumburg
High School. Come out and support the Lady Devils as we
begin post-season action. If you can’t be there in
person, keep those positive Red Devil Vibes coming! All
For One!!
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