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2020 ILXCTF.com XC Season Awards - Girls XC Runners of the Year (By Classification)

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ILXCTF - Mike Newman   Dec 22nd 2020, 2:18pm
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2020 ILXCTF.com XC Season Awards - Girls XC Runners of the Year (By Classification)

 

 

By Michael Newman

[email protected]

 

 

Here are the Girls Cross Country Runners of the Year in Illinois by classification.

 

 

Class 3A

 

The big question in this classification who would step into the top spot since 4-time state champion Katelynne Hart had graduated. The answer came from a runner that was also in the tough West Suburban Conference Silver Division.

 

The focus at the start of the season per usual was in the West Suburban area outside of Chicago. There were great races that were going on between DuKane Conference rivals Samantha Poglitsch of Wheaton-Warrenville South and Katrina Schlenker of Batavia. Poglitsch won two of the first three races that the two runners competed in before Schlenker won the final four races including the Naperville Twilight Meet, the DuKane Conference Meet and then the Proviso West Regional and the Lyons Township Sectional.

 

Maggie Gamboa of Naperville North had a strong senior season winning her first four races of the season. She finished fourth at the DuPage Valley Meet, won the Oswego East Regional, and finished second at the Whitney Young Sectional. Gamboa finished third in November at the ShaZam Championships.

 

Aly Negovetich of Grant Community had a sensational junior season. She ran in 13 races in the IHSA season. She won all 13 including the NLCC Conference Meet, the Grant Regional, and the Hoffman Estates Sectional. Negovetich also had a successful post season finishing fourth in the ShaZam Meet and then 14th at the USA Meet of Champions in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 15.

 

Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest finished 16th at last season’s Class 3A State Meet in Peoria. What got fans noticing her was when she ran 10:25 for 3200-meters at the Meet of Champions at the end of July in Chicago. She had one set back during the season when she finished second behind Audrey Altman of Glenbard West at a dual meet at Camera Park on October 1.

 

She was back on the same course 16 days later for the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet. In winds gusting over 40 mph, Welin easily won the race running five seconds faster in worse conditions than the prior meet.

 

She took off from there easily winning the regional and sectional meets at Chicago’s Lincoln Park. She won the D3 race at the ShaZam Championships by 35 seconds ahead of Schlenker and Gamboa.

 

Welin was an easy decision in this category.

 

Congratulations to Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest High School in Oak Park as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 3A Girls XC Runner of the Year.

 

 

Class 2A

 

There was no doubt on who would be chosen in this category.

 

Latin School’s Ava Parekh was untouchable in the four races that she competed in during the IHSA regular season. She the started the season by running 16:43 for 2.98 miles at Humboldt Park on September 19. Parekh rolled from there easily winning her regional and sectional races on the way to winning the ShaZam Championships D2 race by 22 seconds ahead of Brooke Stromsland of Lakes Community.

 

Stromsland had a near perfect season except for finishing second behind Aly Negovetich of Grant at the Lakes Sunset Series Meet and the NLCC Championship. She went on to win her regional and sectional races before finishing second at ShaZam.

 

Congratulations to Ava Parekh of The Latin School in Chicago as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 2A Girls XC Runner of the Year.

 

 

Class 1A

 

The ILXCTF.com Most Improved Runner for Class 1A in 2019 was Anna Perry of Eureka. The junior took it one step further during this 2020 season. She lost one race during the season finishing second in a quad meet to Normal Community’s Ali Ince at the end of September.

 

Perry was untouchable after that race running 17:08 at Detweiller Park in her conference race and then winning both the Olympia Regional and then the Elmwood Sectional. She ran 16:59 for the win in that sectional race.

 

Mabry Bruhn of Monticello was nearly untouchable during the regular season including running 17:17 to win at the Olympia Invitational on October 3. She won the St. Teresa Regional race by just three seconds ahead or Urbana U-High’s Kate Ahmari. A week later at the St. Teresa Sectional, the two sophomores faced each other again. Ahmari had the advantage in that race winning by three seconds ahead of Bruhn.

 

Lianna Surtz of Rosary won the Class 1A State race in Peoria in 2019. The junior had a good season winning all her regular season meets except for finishing second behind Maggie Gamboa of Naperville North at a quad meet on September 25. She won both the Harvest Christian Academy Regional and Sectional Meets.

 

The ShaZam D1 race helped decide in the category between the three runners. Perry had the advantage in that race (18:11) six seconds ahead of Surtz and another four seconds ahead of Bruhn.

 

Congratulations to Anna Perry of Eureka High School as the 2020 ILXCTF.com Illinois Class 1A Girls XC Runner of the Year.

 

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