By Michael Newman

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Here are the awards for the most improved Girls runners in each classification for the 2016 Cross Country season in Illinois. Congratulations to all the winners and to the student/athletes that were considered for each award.

3A Girls

This was the toughest of all three classifications to figure out. All of the student/athletes that we considered were all very deserving.

Olivia Niziolek (Maine South HS, Park Ridge) had a great season finishing 12^th in the IHSA 3A State Meet race after finishing 69^th a year ago. The same can be said about Emily Henkel (Lyons Township HS, LaGrange). As a freshman in 2015, she finished 73^rd at state. Henkel earned all-state honors finishing 16^th in November at Detweiller Park. Sarah May (York HS, Elmhurst) was also considered for this award. She finished 135^th at state in 2015 running an injured ankle. Her improvement during the track season showed this fall as she finished 21^st in the 3A State Finals.

Danya Lloyd (Palatine HS) did not compete on Palatine’s Girls Cross Country team her first three years of school choosing to concentrate on Volleyball, Basketball, and Soccer during that time. She did come out for track last spring achieving personal bests in the open 800 (2:27.28) and the 1600 (5:37.54). Coach Joe Parks knew that Lloyd would help the team in the fall. No one knew how much she would.

Lloyd’s first big meet this fall was at the Richard Spring Invitational where she ran 18:13 to finish 15^th overall. She came on strong during the state series as the Lady Pirates’ top runner finishing 4^th at the Mid Suburban League Championships, 2^nd at the 3A Grant Regional, and 4^th at the 3A Waukegan Sectional. She left Detweiller Park the following week improving her time on the course by 56 seconds to run 17:18 to finish 22^nd to earn all-state honors. Considering she was not on the team or running during the fall the previous seasons, she was our choice for this award.

Congratulations to Danya Lloyd of Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois as the DyeStat Illinois 2016 3A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.

2A Girls

The 2A Classification came down to two teammates that helped their team finish in the top five in one of the toughest and closest 2A team races that we have seen. If you score 124 points at Detweiller Park, the team would be in the running for a trophy. In the case of Crystal Lake Central, the Lady Tigers ended up finishing fourth. Seniors Janine Orvis and Kelly Doerr were two of the reasons why Central was in that position.

Janine Orvis stepped up as the team’s top runner the majority of the season concluding with a 10^th place finish at the 2A State Meet. Doerr was a consistent second runner throughout the season also earning all-state honors as she finished 17^th overall. There were two runners that we also considered. Kari Lalumander (Metamora HS) was all-state this fall (16^th) after finishing 38^th in 2015. Rachel Hickey (LaSalle-Peru HS) used a strong track season in which she was the 2A State Champion in the 800 Meter Run as a springboard to this fall. She was all-state finishing 20^th after finishing 46^th place a year ago.

It came down to the two Crystal Lake Central runners. Orvis had the edge finishing ahead of her teammate most of the season. She improved on her finish at in 2016 to this year by 30 places. Doerr finished 17^th this year after finishing 54^th in 2015 with an improvement of 37 places. When it came down to time, but runners improved by 45 seconds at state from their junior season to this fall. Even though Orvis finished 9 seconds in front at Detweiller last November, both were pretty equal in our eyes when it came down to improvement.

Congratulations to Janine Orvis and Kelly Doerr of Crystal Lake Central High School in Crystal Lake, Illinois as the DyeStat Illinois 2A Girls Co-Most Improved Runners of the Year.

1A Girls

It was three student/athletes that we looked at for this award. Madison Franseen (Rockford Christian HS) earned all-state honors as a freshman finishing 21^st in the 1A State Finals. She improved 20 seconds in the last year to finish 13^th again earning all-state honors this fall. Emma Argo (Eureka HS) was another runner that we looked at. The sophomore finished 8^th this fall in the 1A State finals after finishing 40^th as a freshman. She improved by 55 seconds in that period of time.

Megan Adams (Unity HS, Mendon) was not in the spotlight most of the season as she did not compete in any of the Detweiller Park races. In 2015, she just qualified to state but finished 55^th overall in the 1A State Finals. Her improvement was dramatic this season as she dropped her time by 71 seconds down to 17:59 to earn all-state honors by finishing 16^th.

Congratulations to Megan Adams of Unity HS in Mendon, Illinois as the DyeStat Illinois 2016 1A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.