Lindsay Graham puts the hammer down in winning individual championship

By Michael Newman

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Peoria, Ill – At the end of the finish area after the 3A Girls race at the IHSA State Cross Country Meet Saturday afternoon, hugs and tears were flowing within the group of Naperville North runners who had just finished the race. There was a little disbelief in the air within the group. “I think we might of have won this,” Dan Iverson said.

It was thought that this could be the best Girls team race in IHSA state history. Four teams that were pretty much equal were set to test each other to see who would come out on top. When great teams run against each other, the race is usually something to remember. Such was the case when the gun went off at 1PM.

Naperville North’s pack of Judy Pendergast, Elly DeTurris, and Clare Hamilton were at 5:34 at the mile 10 seconds behind the race leaders. It was a position that they were used to being in. Every race this season, Naperville North has run diminutive splits as a practice for the one race of the season that they wanted the most. By the time they passed the two mile, Naperville North’s trio has positioned themselves in the top ten. Their next two runners, Sara Schmitt and Emily Hamilton, were positioned near 40^th place and moving up. The five runners maintained their position the final mile. A 26 second split separated Pendergast in 9^th to Emily Hamilton in 31^st. The outcome was 73 points and a state championship.

“All season we have been working for this moment actually,” DeTurris said. “We’ve been pushing each other. Each person on this team matters. Honestly, I am so proud of this team and thankful for the amazing coaches that I have. We put everything out there today and it paid off.”

“We were obviously pretty excited with our performance. We ran tremendously as a team, and it was further gratifying that it really appeared that Palatine and Glenbard West in particular also ran very well,” Iverson added. “I was very excited with how we developed from conference all the way to yesterday. We will look to take another step next week at NXR, too, but for now, we are very happy with where we are at.”

It was a shame there could not be four 1^st place team finishers in the team race. In any other year, anyone of the teams that were behind Naperville North would have won the team championship. It just happened to be that this was the strongest year ever for Girls teams.

Palatine’s performance is one of those examples. Their seven runners ran great Saturday. All seven runners ran 18:00 or faster. That is the first time since the Girls race was moved to the 3 mile distance in 2002 that this had happened. The Lady Pirates scored 91 points to finish second. Kelly O’Brien led her team with a third place all-state performance running 16:55. Teammate Amy Kieliszewski also earned all-state honors placing 22^nd. The team’s overall split was 42 seconds. Their split on their second through fifth runners was only 19 seconds.

“Our girls ran phenomenal. We couldn't have done much more. Naperville North ran great,” said Palatine Coach Joe Parks.  “Our girls executed exactly the way we hoped they could.  To have all seven under 18:00 (first in state history) and to have a 1:00 1-7 split off O'Brien who was 3rd is tremendous. This group came together so well this season, running as a unit and really trusting in one another.  It was so great to see them put together a great race on the right day.”

Defending state champion Glenbard West also ran a great race but finished third only three points behind Palatine. The race of Lindsay Graham in winning the individual state championship was expected by those who had watched her race during the year. Each race was a different strategy. In this race, she was content to stay with the lead pack through the first mile. Audrey Ernst (North HS, St. Charles) charged out to the lead at the half in 2:34. Graham, Lauren Van Vlierbergen (Jacobs HS, Algonquin), and Alexa Haff (Central HS, Hinsdale) were close behind. The trio passed Ernst as they turned along Route 29. The three went through the mile in 5:24. Graham looked easy just waiting for the right moment to make her move.

That happened as she entered the triangle. By the time she left the triangle, Graham had opened up a five second lead on VanVlierbergen. It was up to ten seconds as Graham passed the 2 mile in 10:55. With a graceful stride, she was on her way to a state championship. Her time of 16:23 is the fifth fastest time ever run at the IHSA State Meet.

“I just wanted to run a strong race overall being even and consistent. I knew I was going to win it would be that I was aerobically strong. I did not feel really great in the race. I knew when I made separation in the triangle, I had to keep building off of that,” Graham said. “This seems like something so good like it would never happen. With 300 meters left, I was thinking that I was ready to make it happen. I’m just so happy.”

Lauren Van Vlierbergen finished a great season running 16:48 and placing second. Her time was the fourth fastest of the day. O’Brien finished third ahead of Alexa Haff and Lindsay Payne (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn). How high that Haff and Payne finished is simply amazing considering what they went through. “Alexa has a hip flexor issue and has done very little to no running since mid-week of Conference, largely cross training,” said Hinsdale Central Coach Mark McCabe. “It was an amazing effort by her to mentally do what she did. We had uncertainty all week as to whether she would even be able to start. It was a very courageous performance.”

Payne lost her shoe just before the mile. She stopped to put it back on losing places. The freshman fought her way back to the front to place fifth. It was truly an inspiring performance.

Glenbard West also had Lisa Luczak in the top 25 finishing 23^rd. It was an amazing effort since she has hardly done any actual running in the last month. Even with Glenbard’s three all-state runners, Naperville North and Palatine just ran better on this day.

“I think we performed well overall despite getting off to a slow start. Simply put, we moved extremely well after being in the back of the pack on the inside at the start and walking around the first turn. Five of our seven girls ran PRs so we are proud of their performance and how they battled up to nearly capture 2nd place.  Our 4-6 pack was just too far back to challenge Naperville North,” said Glenbard West Coach Paul Hass. “Nevertheless, when you put 5 runners in the top 48 (6 runners in the top 51) with all six 17:48 or under, score 5 points on your top two kids with one being a state champion and score only 94 points, most years you have to like your chances.  The fact that we finished third is a testament to the talent and coaching in Illinois as a whole and, specifically, the performances of Naperville North and Palatine. We offer our heartfelt congratulations to those teams on a superb race.”

Hinsdale Central was ranked second most of the season scored 137 points. In most years, that would be enough to get a trophy. Not on this day. Freshman Grace McCabe was all-state along with Haff placing 20^th. “While we hate to be just outside the podium, we knew coming in that there were four lights out top teams in the state and on Saturday, the other three were simply better. I think it’s one of those lessons in life that you can be really good and do well and still not “win”.  I told the girls all year if we have five girls under 18:00 that we would be hard to beat,” McCabe added. “Well we did (Sara Folliard ran 17:57 and was awesome…brings tears to my eyes just thinking about how she stepped up on the big stage when it mattered the most), our sixth (Camila Horowicz, best race ever in 18:10) and we still were 4^th. In my opinion, this was the best team year in girls IHSA history. Our hats are off to NN, PHS and GW, great races by all.”