By Michael Newman

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Three of the top five times ever in the IHSA Girls State Cross Country Championships were run in the 2018 3A race won by Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart. Her third 3A state title in a row makes it an easy choice for the 3A XC runner of the year for the third straight season.

Hart’s time of 15:59.9 won the state race. She became the second Illinois Girls runner ever on the Detweiller Park course to gu under 16 minutes.

Seven races. Seven wins. Hart has won every regular season Illinois high school race with the exception of finishing third in her first high school race her freshman season. That’s a pretty good record.

The only time that the junior was pushed was in that state race. Batavia’s Katrina Schlenker ran the fourth fastest time ever (16:07) in finishing second while Alex Morris of Naperville North recorded the fifth fastest time ever in finishing third (16:10). The 2A Girls race may have been one of the best races ever at state. The 3A Girls race was the fastest ever. One of the reasons why was Hart up front with Schlenker and Morris pushing her.

For the third year in a row, we congratulate Katelynne Hart of Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn as the 2018 ILXCTF.com 3A Girls XC Runner of the Year.