2020 ILXCTF.com XC Season Awards - Girls Most Improved XC Runner of the Year

By Michael Newman

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2020 was a season unlike any other that we have seen. No track season leading into the fall campaign. There was no state meet at Detweiller Park to finish the season for these runners.

This is the one category that I take the most time to figure out. It is always interesting to see who made the biggest step from one season to the next season. It is also interesting to see who did the work during a spring of no track to get to the end of the season.

Class 3A

I narrowed it down to three runners to spotlight in this category.

Brooke Berger of York went through a tough end of the season in 2019 as iron deficiencies zapped her first finishing 34th at the Lake Park Sectional and then 67th at the state meet the following week. She was the team’s top runner most of that season.

The sophomore was one of the reason’s why the York team was so good this fall and it showed in her final three races. After a down race at the WSC-Silver meet where she was the team’s eighth runner, she rebounded to finish fourth at the Proviso West Regional, sixth at the Lyons Township Sectional, and then fifth at the ShaZam XC Club Championships. Berger is realizing at this point how good she could be.

Gabrielle Kics of Minooka finished 102nd in the 2019 Class 3A State race. Her sophomore season was a memorable one starting with her winning the Southwest Prairie Conference Championship. Kics followed that up the following weeks finishing fourth in both the Minooka Regional and then the Normal Community Sectional. She followed that up by finishing 19th at the ShaZam Meet.

Kayla Shea of Lockport Township ran in the 2019 Class 3A State Meet as a freshman finishing 59th at Detweiller Park. Her sophomore year was even better scorching a 17:31 time to win at the Southwest Suburban Conference Meet. She then won the Minooka Regional before finishing seventh at the Normal Community Sectional. Her final race of the season resulted in a 22nd place finish at the ShaZam Meet.

Berger ran under 18:10 twice during the 2019 season for 3-miles and was the team’s top runner most of that season. Her fifth-place finish to end her season was memorable in November to help her York team win their final meet of the season.

Kics made the step up this fall as her team’s top runner and made the huge jump to some of the elite runners in the Class 3A group. Berger showed she belonged among the elite runners in Class 3A and should be one of the top runners in the state in 2021. Kics’ improvement showed the potential she has after a good freshman season. She had a better sophomore season.

Congratulations to Gabriele Kics of Minooka High School as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 3A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.

Class 2A

Olivia Syftestad of Chicago Latin School has been a staple of her school’s top seven for all four years of her attendance in the school including running in state meets from 2017-2019. Syftestad took a step up in 2020 finishing third in both the St. Ignatius Regional and Latin School Sectional. She also finished third after the IHSA Season at the ShaZam Meet. Syftestad finished 72nd the year before at Detweiller Park.

A huge jump in improvement was made by Chatham-Glenwood’s Reagan Weichold during this 2020 season. She finished 82nd in 2018 and 117th in 2019 at the Class 2A State Meets at Detweiller Park. Weichold was among the team’s top five runners all season. One of the reason’s why the Titans won the D2 title at the ShaZam Meet was because of her 24th place finish in that race.

Benet Academy was looking to defend their 2019 state title this fall before the IHSA eliminated that chance. At the Latin Sectional which pitted the two top teams in that classification with host Latin School and Benet, Louisa Diamond helped her team win as the Redwings top runner finishing fourth overall. Diamond was Benet’s top runner most of the season. She finished 14th at the ShaZam Meet.

Syftestad made the big leap for her team this year finishing third at ShaZam. Diamond and Weichold’s improvements helped their teams to season ending win.  Syftestad gets the edge here especially with how she finished her season as one of the top runners in Class 2A.

Congratulations to Olivia Syftestad of The Latin School in Chicago as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 2A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.

Class 1A

The one runner that caught my eye during the 2020 season was Estella Miller of Monticello. Her freshman season in 2019 concluded by finishing 43rd in her sectional meet then 110th at the Class 1A State Meet at Detweiller Park.

Miller emerged this fall as one of her team’s top three runners during the season. She showed her improvement at the end of the 2020 campaign finishing sixth and tenth in the regional and sectional meets at Decatur St. Teresa. Miller finished 12th to end her season at the ShaZam Meet.

Congratulations to Estella Miller of Monticello High School as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 1A Girls Most Improved Runner of the Year.