A WSC-Silver sweep in the ShaZam Division III Girls Meet

Josephine Welin proves she is the best in state with dominating win; York no surprise in close team win over Naperville North

By Michael Newman

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Full Meet Results

West Suburban Conference-Silver Division athletes held their heads high in the final day of the ShaZam XC Club Championships at Chillicothe’s Three Sisters Park. Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest took the lead early in winning the Girls DIII Championship Race. York derailed perennial power Naperville North of winning with tight pack running is scoring 58 points for the team victory. Naperville North finished second with 71 points. Yorkville was a distant third with 159 points just ahead of Oak Park-River Forest (172 points) and Batavia (194 points).

The question before the individual race was if anyone would chase after Welin and when she would move away from this talented field. The Oak Park junior waisted no time in establishing her authority in the front. She passed the first mile in 5:25 opening up a 13 second lead on the pack led by Ali Ince of Normal Community and that also included Katrina Schlenker of Batavia, Aly Negovetich of Grant Community, Samantha Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South, and Maggie Gamboa of Naperville North.

Welin continued the momentum in the second mile. What was a 13 second lead grew to a massive 30 seconds as she passed 2-miles in 11:07. The pack narrowed down with Gamboa, Schlenker, and Negovetich.

The margin grew in the final mile. Welin passed 3-miles in16:54 on her way to the win setting a new course record of 17:25 on this new course. Ava Parekh of Latin School had run 17:44 the day before in the DII race.

Schlenker held on for second place (18:00) 35 seconds behind Welin. Gamboa was third (18:02) as Negovetich finished fourth overall (18:11). York freshman Michaela Quinn ran fifth in this race (18:17), and sixth overall behind teammate Brooke Berger who won the Flight 3 race.

Girls Division III Team Recap / Analysis

#2 York had high hopes entering this meet. They had convincing races in winning the WSC-Silver Championships as well as wins in their regional and sectional races. They have improved in their final three races. #1 Naperville North is not used to losing in their final race of the season against Illinois schools. The Lady Huskies have won state titles at Detweiller Park the past three years. Just as York, Naperville North showed again that they were again peaking at the right time.

Both teams were unmovable forces in this race a stride ahead of the rest of the field. Neither team would budge on Sunday. It was just York was a little bit better on this race day.

It was a close team race through each of the four flight races. When the four races were merged, it was York that had the advantage 58-71 ahead of Naperville North. Brooke Berger ran her best race of her high school career winning Flight 3 and running 18:12 to finish fifth overall. Michaela Quinn ran 18:17 to finish sixth overall. Bria Bennis (17), Katelyn Winton (20th), and Katherine Klimek (24th) were the next three runners separated by only 13 seconds. Their top five split was 49 seconds. Maggie Owens (55th) and Erin Powers (99th) were the team’s sixth and seventh runners.

Naperville North top seven all ran good races but just ran against a better team on this day. The Lady Huskies placed four runners in the first 16 with all seven runners in the top 47. Gamboa was the top runner finishing third. Audrey Mendrys (10th), Campbell Petersen (13th), and Lucy Westlake (16th) were only separated by 17 seconds. They had a strong fifth through seven pack consisting of Kate Donaldson (44th), Logan Brennan (46th), and Sophie Golobitsch (47th). That trio only had three seconds separating them. The key the gap between Westlake and Donaldson. In this meet, that was way too much at 42 seconds.

Naperville North had the race won through four runners 36 to 39. North had four runners in before York’s third. It was that pack of Bennis, Winton, and Klimek that shut the door. The difference of places between each team’s fifth runners was 20 points. The raw team scores before individuals were taking out was 72 to 86 in favor of York.

#3 Yorkville had solid races in this meet from their top seven in scoring 159 points to finish third. The team ran a 56 second split on their top five runners led by the 21st place finish from Helena Kleronomos and Hailey Simmons finishing 26th. Yorkville’s depth was on display as they had two runners that were in Flight 1 (6/7 runners) in the top five. Alex Stewart won Flight 1 and finished 36th overall. Anna Hunter (52nd) and another Flight 1 runner Makenna Edwards placed 65th.

#4 Oak Park-River Forest finished fourth (172 points) behind Welin’s win and freshman Avery Minnis finishing 29th. #8 Batavia came on strong at the end of the year finished second last week at Lyons Township and fifth-place on Sunday (194 points. Batavia had 3 runners in the first 31 led by Schlenker in second, and then Jenna Schifferer and Lauren Hunecke finishing together in 30th and 31st.

Other Race Highlights

Alex Stewart of Yorkville made the Flight 1 race hers running 6:01 for the first mile and opening up a four second lead. The lead grew to six seconds in the second mile ahead of Naperville North’s Kate Donaldson. The lead grew in the final mile as Stewart won the race (19:14) ahead of Donaldson (19:30) and her teammate Logan Brennan who ran 19:33.

Katelyn Winton of York and Lucy Westlake of Naperville North broke the Flight 2 race open in the first mile. Westlake opened up a six second lead in the second mile and went on to win this race in 18:48. Winton ran 18:58 to finish second with her teammate Katherine Klimek just three seconds back in third. It was the turning point in the meet.

Brooke Berger of York led a pack at 5:48 for the opening mile in Flight 3. Naperville North’s Audrey Mendrys and Yorkville’s Helena Kleronomos were close to Berger’s side. The York sophomore began to push the pace the second mile as she picked up four seconds on Mendrys as she passed 2-miles in 11:49. It was the third mile that was the difference maker as she closed in 5:47 and crossed the line in 18:12 for the race win. Mendrys was 19 seconds back in second-place running 18:31. Campbell Petersen of Naperville North, who was in fifth-place entering the final mile, ran 18:36 to finish third.