Her 16:12 is the second fastest time ever at state meet; Yorkville wins 4^th straight state championship

By Michael Newman

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Peoria, Ill – The atmosphere around Detweiller Park felt like it was the IHSA State Cross Country Meet. When Maryjeanne Gilbert (Notre Dame HS, Peoria) went by the half mile with already an eight second lead, it felt like a time trial in which she would have to do all the work.

It was one of the most impressive performances for the state meet on this Detweiller Park layout. She crossed the line with second fastest time ever for a Girls athlete in 16:12. Her margin of victory was a remarkable one minute ahead of her nearest competition.

In her Richard Spring Invitational race, she ran even 5:30 splits for each mile to get to the 16:30 finish that she ran. You could see that she was going for Madeline Perez’s 16:02 time when she flew by the first mile in 5:17. She had a 17 second lead ahead of Jenna Lutzow (North HS, Belvidere), Caitlyn Allen (Marengo HS), Abigail Nadler (Latin School, Chicago), and Karina Liz (Aurora Central Catholic HS).

Her pace slowed down in the second mile but lead continued to grow. When Perez set the course record in 2012, she went by the 2 mile in 10:36. Gilbert was at 10:44 but only 4 seconds off of 16:00 pace. Her lead had grown to 49 seconds ahead of a pack led by Nadler and Alexis Grandys (Yorkville HS). The Notre Dame junior was not racing her competition. She was racing against the clock and challenging herself.

She picked up the pace coming up the final straightaway almost passing the lead media truck. The pain of the race showed by the straining she showed in her pace storming to cross the finish line to capture the state championship.

“Running the 16:30 at Richard Spring gave me the confidence to run this today. Beating that time was the goal,” Gilbert said after the race. “I kind of took a risk today pushing that first and second mile. I knew I gave it my all. I was really happy with my time. It gives me something to work for next year.”

“I had told her I thought she was in shape to run 16:20 or better, but that she would need good conditions and hopefully someone pushing her for at least 1 mile or 1.5 miles. The important thing was to go after her first CC State Title. Records can always be broken, but State Champions are forever State Champions,” said Peoria Notre Dame Coach Dan Gray. “The gun went off, and she went after it right away, going through the first 800 and already building a 3-second lead. She covered the mile in 5:17, disappeared into the Triangle and made her pushes, coming out with a large lead around 38 seconds at the halfway mark, going 5:27 for the second mile. At that point I could tell she was reaching, over striding as she pushed to go for that record. There were too many people for me to get close enough to cue her to that face, so I sprinted over to the corner just before the final downhill along Galena Road, and yelled "close up your stride! You're over striding!" She responded almost immediately, got it back together, and ended up with a 5:29 final mile. She was still battling all the way up the hill to the line. I am just so proud of her and the work she has done to get her into that position.”

Grandys, in her first year of cross country for Yorkville, placed second in 17:12 three seconds ahead of Lutzow. Allen finished fourth just ahead of Yorkville’s Skyler Bollinger.

Two runners for Yorkville along with having all 7 runners in the first 61 was more than enough for the Foxes to win their fourth state title with 79 points.

“Every time I want to puke. To be honest with you, its nerve racking. I try to act like it is fun. I am completely nerve shot at this point,” Yorkville Coach Chris Muth said talking about winning the team title for the fourth straight time after the race. “We wanted to run a very strong first mile. We did not do that last weekend letting the race get away from us. We wanted to be in striking distance of what we could do. We were able to establish that the second mile and hang on. We gave it everything we had the last 400 meters. It worked quite perfectly. They ran outstanding as a team. I could not be happier.”

Lake Forest was not even thought of as a 2A top team. They ran great this year culminating in a second place finish with 165 points. The Scouts had three all-state runners Saturday. Freshman Emma Milburn led the team finishing 14^th. Fellow freshman Brett Chody was five seconds back in 17^th place. Junior Katie Condon finished 25^th to capture the final all-state position.

“We had 6 all-time PRs at the state meet race. That's about as good as any coach could ever hope for on the biggest stage,” said Lake Forest Coach Steve Clegg. “We were hopeful that a strong group performance could result in a team trophy, and could not have been more excited the way things worked out.  The final score really shows what a great team that Yorkville has. We had our collective best possible race and didn't come close to matching them.”

It was a tight battle for third place as only 8 points separated the next four places. Dunlap has been towards the front most of the season with the influx of freshman they had in the top seven. They stepped up to place third with 187 points. The Eagles had two all-state runners in Abby Jockisch (15^th) and freshman Frannie Verville (24^th). “It was an absolutely incredible day, race, and outcome. The first state trophy for the girls in cross country in our school’s history. It was the first time we have had two all-state runners in the same year,” said Dunlap Coach Chris Friedman. “We lined up next to Belvidere North so I told the girls to key off of them somewhat, but North rocketed out from the start and we did not. We played catch up most of the race, but the girls never seemed to panic. We said all week it’s possible but you have to go out and take it from teams, they won’t give it to you. They did just that. I could not be prouder of a team than I am of this one and the way they raced yesterday.”

Lemont missed a trophy by four points placing fourth. The performance by this up and coming program did not have Coach Tim Plotke upset. “I was asked a number of times if I was disappointed that we missed a trophy by only 4 points, I said to them all not one bit. We ran with heart and just kept pushing until we crossed the finish line and knew we ran our best and could be proud of where we finished no matter what place we ended up,” said Plotke. “We knew it was going to be a close race. I told the girls run just like they have all season and good things will happen. They left everything they had out on the course and have no regrets.”

Belvidere North was three points back in fifth place (194 points). After finished third in 1A last season, Latin School made a successful jump to 2A with a sixth place finish only 1 point behind Belvidere North.