Minooka tops defending champ Naperville North for 3A title

By Michael Newman

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Peoria, Ill – It was almost 10 minutes after Judy Pendergast had crossed the finish line and stepped into immortality. She had won the 3A state championship and broken Madeline Perez’s state record of 16:02 running almost 9 seconds faster in 15:53.8.

“Indescribable,” Pendergast exclaimed. “I can’t come up with a word to describe this.”

The Naperville North senior was the big favorite heading into this meet. She had close to going under 16 minutes when she ran 16:05 to win the DuPage Valley Conference Meet at a fast Lake Park course on October 16. The course tends to run up to 8 seconds slower than that of Detweiller Park. That race was a test for what she was about to attempt. She went all out in that race for the first two miles achieving a personal best of 10:34. That race was to see how fast it would feel. So when she stepped to the line Saturday afternoon, she knew how that would feel.

“I thought 16 minutes was a possibility (after Lake Park),” said Pendergast. “I just wanted to go out and run my best. It could have been crappy weather today. You just don’t know when you get the chance. The weather was amazing today and I just decided to go for it.”

Pendergast did not try to pick up quickly at the beginning of the race like some had done before her on this day. She went through the 800 in a controlled 2:32 with Audrey Ernst (St. Charles North HS) and Caitlin Shepard (Lake Zurich HS) close by her side. There was no real “pack” behind these three. Pendergast taking the lead had strung out the group that was led by Isabelle Sparreo (Stevenson HS, Lincolnshire).

By the mile, Pendergast was on her own. She was running an even pace as she passed the blue mats at the mile mark in an amazing 5:04. The rest of the pack was back at 5:20. It was a fast pace for all but not in the same league as Pendergast. Lindsey Payne (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn) had moved up to join Shepard, Ernst, and Brooke Wilson (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect) in the front group.

It was 10:26 at 2 miles. 10:26.

It was eight seconds faster than she had run at her conference race. It was a personal best for her at the distance. She still had one mile to go and just had to 5:36 or faster to break the record. The determination in her eyes and the easiness of her stride showed that there was no collapse in her future.

Payne had broken away from the pack as she passed by the 2 mile in 11:05. Wilson was another 3 seconds back followed by Ashley Tutt (Minooka HS) who was close behind.

The pace let up a little in the final mile but that is natural. She made her way up the final 200 meters to finish with the crowd noise getting louder with each step. The time was getting closer to 16 minutes but Pendergast would beat that. Boy would she beat that.

Her official time was 15:53.8. There was nothing else to say after that. She made the statement that she wanted to on this day. She went for it and she got it. The first female athlete to run under 16 minutes at this fabled park. Nobody could take that accomplishment from her. Records are meant to be broken. Being the first to do something can never be taken away.

Let’s not take away the fact of the great races of the runners behind her. Lindsey Payne ran the fifth fastest time ever in state meet history as she ran a 12 second personal best of 16:16. There was an 18 second gap before Brooke Wilson came in (16:34). Ashley Tutt was next at 16:36. The fast times kept coming in. 19 runners were under 17 minutes making this one of the fastest state meet races ever.

“My main goal was to run my race no matter what happened. At Naperville North, I tried to stay with Judy. I came in exhausted and was not happy with my race,” Payne said afterwards. “I could not feel more proud of myself. I felt comfortable. I felt I was in my own skin. My goal was just to give everything that I had in the last mile. This feels great for me.”

While the individual race belonged to Pendergast, the team race belonged to Minooka as they ran their best race of the season to win the 3A state championship. The problem that the team faced all season was their overall split on five runners was too big. It showed when they last raced at Detweiller Park in September when they finished sixth in the race behind of Yorkville, Batavia, and Naperville North when that gap was close to 2 minutes. The team had worked on that during the season. The only way that the Indians could beat top ranked Naperville North was to have that gap under 80 seconds. They accomplished that.

There was never a problem with Minooka’s presence in the front of the race. They showed that on Saturday as they had 3 all-state runners. Emily Shelton (19^th) and Mackenzie Callahan (20^th) followed Tutt as the team’s #2 and #3 runners. Callahan’s finish was significant as she passed Naperville North’s #2 runner Sara Schmitt in the final 10 meters to capture that spot. It also gave Minooka the edge in the team race.

Morgan Crouch (60^th) ran a personal best of 17:47 as Minooka’s 4^th runner. Four seconds later came in freshman Vivian Van Eck (66^th) as the team’s 5^th runner. The split on five was a season’s best of 75 seconds. It was more than good enough to give Minooka the state championship 132 – 148 ahead of Naperville North.

“We’ve been talking all year about our 4, 5, and 6 getting it done. They did today. They came out of the triangle and we knew we were in a good position,” said Minooka Coach Kevin Gummerson. “Our team talked last night about how much this sport meant to them and how much their teammates meant to them. I knew that was on their minds as they were out on the course today. It was one of those days that you never will forget.”

The defending champion Huskies did not run a bad race but they did not run their best race of the season. Sara Schmitt (21^st) was also all-state and was the team’s #2 runner behind Pendergast. Emory Griffin (50^th), Kate Shannon (53^rd), and Clare Hamilton (65^th) only had eight seconds separating them as the team’s 3 through 5 runners. It just was not enough to overtake Minooka.

“Judy’s race was kind of special. It just did not click for the team like we hoped today,” Naperville North Coach Dan Iverson said. “I know we will learn from that. I can’t pick out one particular thing that went particularly wrong. I think Minooka ran great.”

It was originally thought that through unofficial scoring that New Trier had placed third. A missed runner from Batavia was found during the video review and was inserted giving Batavia third place overall with 175 points. New Trier was fourth with 192 points. The Bulldogs were led by Emma Stephens 13^th place all-state finish.