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2008 Hornet/Red Devil
Invitational Recap
RESULTS
Photos
After a week that started with 94
degree temperatures and continued with heavy rains on
Thursday, race day at the 28th annual Hornet/Red Devil
Invitational (HRD) turned out to be a good day for
racing. Of course, any day is a good day for running and
racing; some are just better than others J Although the
temperatures were warm by the final races and the ground
soft, conditions were much better than expected. We
chose to compete in only the Varsity and Open divisions
this year, meaning that, with the exception of the
varsity runners in the 3 mile race, all of the other
girls opened their season with a 2 mile race in the Open
division.
The Varsity race featured 5 of the top 15 teams in the
state as ranked in the ICCCP pre-season coaches poll.
The Lady Devils placed 1st in a competitive race with
Palatine, 42-51. Palatine was followed by
Wheaton-Warrenville South, Neuqua Valley, Naperville
Central and Stagg. Elaine Kuckertz led the Devils,
finishing 2nd in a time of 18:11, outstanding for the
conditions. Heather Stevens, Katie Kummerer and Hailey
Krzyston all had breakthrough early season performances,
finishing 4th, 7th and 10th respectively. All three are
representative of so many of the girls who have worked
so hard to be the very best that they can be. Lauren
Zumbach and Grace Hucek also were top 20 finishers in
19th and 20th to help secure the team victory. Roey
Hines was forced to stop after the first mile (while
running in the top 3) due to a foot problem but will be
back in action soon.
The Lady Devils dominated the 20 team field in the Open
race, placing first overall with 17 points. Palatine was
next with 48 points, followed by Wheaton-Warrenville
South, Naperville Central and Neuqua Valley. We placed
1-2-3-4-7-8-15 to secure the win. Niamh McCarthy
defended her Open title from 2007 and set a new meet
record of 12:23. She was followed across the line by
Grace Klein (in her high school debut), Colleen Leahy,
Nicole Lang, Victoria Glatz, Kelsey Chetosky and Allison
Sulouff. Athletes of the Meet were Hailey Krzyston in
the Varsity race, Grace Klein as the top F/S runner and
Niamh McCarthy in the JV/Open.
We had great performances up and down the line in this
2008 HRD Invitational. It was a great start to the
season and lets us know that the lofty goals we have set
for ourselves are well within our reach. Each of the
girls on the team is setting individual goals and our
goal, as always is for each of us to be the best we can
be. Next week we head to the Peoria Woodruff
Invitational, where we get a chance to run on the State
Meet course and to test ourselves in the most
competitive girls invitational of the regular season.
Come down and support the Lady Devils!
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