2021 ILXCTF.com XC Season Awards - Girls XC Runners of the Year (By Classification)

By Michael Newman [email protected]

The following runners were chosen as the 2021 ILXCTF.com Girls Cross-Country Runners of the Year. Three runners were chosen one each by classification. Only performances during the regular season were considered.

Class 3A

Congratulations to Josephine Welin of Oak Park-River Forest as the 2021 ILXCTF.com Class 3A Girls XC Runner of the Year. Welin got off to a slow start this fall after missing most of summer recovering from a stress fracture.

The 2020 recipient of ROY in Class 3A finished second in both the Richard Spring Invitational and the Palatine Meet of Champions. Welin, who will attend the University of Washington next fall, came on strong when it counted the most. The senior won her final four races of the regular season including running 16:26 to claim her first IHSA State XC Championship and her second IHSA State title overall.

Aly Negovetich of Grant Community and Brooke Johnston of Lake Zurich were strongly considered in this category. Johnston jumped into the spotlight at the end of September finishing ahead of Welin at Palatine. Negovetich finished fifth at the Richard Spring Invitational but came on strong at the end of the year. The two runners traded off wins in the state series races with Negovetich winning at the Libertyville Regional and Johnston claiming the win at the Hoffman Estates Sectional. Negovetich finished second in 16:29 three seconds behind Welin to finish second at Detweiller Park. Johnston ran 16:35 to finish third.

Grace Schager of Glenbard North was challenged by injuries during the middle part of the season. She finished her season strong by winning the Lake Park Sectional and then finishing fourth in the 3A State Meet.

Class 2A

Congratulations to Ava Parekh of Latin School in Chicago as the 2021 ILXCTF.com 2A XC Runner of the Year. Parekh also received this honor in 2020. The decision fr Parekh was pretty simple similar to that of 2020. Parekh was undefeated in the seven races she competed at in Illinois.

Parekh also finished second in the Gold race at the Roy Griak Invitational at the end of September. The Stanford University signee ran under 17-minutes on a cross country course for 3-miles four times this season. Her best was when she ran 16:23.9 in winning the IHSA Class 2A State title at Detweiller Park.

Mary Grace Hegberg of St. Viator was the closest to Parekh running 16:38 to finish second in that state race. She also finished second at the Naperville Twilight Invitational running 16:59. Hegberg finished third behind Elia Ton-That of Northside Prep and Hadley Ferrero of Crystal Lake Central at the Woodstock North Sectional. Ton-That finished fifth at state. She also won the Chicago Public League Championship and the 2A race at the First to the Finish Invitational at the beginning of the season.

Class 1A

Congratulations to Lianna Surtz of Rosary High School in Aurora as the 2021 ILXCTF.com 1A XC  Runner of the Year. This is the second time that Surtz has received this honor. She was named 1A Girls Runner of the Year in 2019 as a sophomore when she won the 1A title at Detweiller Park.

Surtz ran mostly against runners that were in Class 2A and 3A last fall. When she ran against runners in Class 1A, Surtz went undefeated. The University of Toledo signee won a high stakes race at the Amboy Invitational that started her drive to a second state championship. She won her final four races which included her win at Detweiller Park. Surtz led from the start on her way to running 17:21 for the win.

Kate Ahmari of Urbana University is also acknowledged in this category. The junior won six invitational races this fall and will be the runner to watch in Class 1A in 2022. Ahmari finished eight seconds behind Surtz finishing in second in the 1A state race. Louisa Wilson of Williamsville will be one of Ahmari’s chief competition after finishing third at state five seconds behind Ahmari.