Mahal Schroeder was fairly stunned as she stared at a list of Class 3A cross country state qualifiers taped to a hallway wall inside Lake Park’s East Campus on Saturday, Oct. 31.
The Oak Park-River Forest junior snatched the seventh and final downstate spot for individual qualifiers at Lake Park’s 3A sectional. Seeing her name on the list was heady stuff for Schroeder.
“I started running in eighth grade and I was definitely not an athlete at all,” Schroeder said. “My freshman year, I ran all my races without spikes until regionals. I honestly didn’t think I’d make it this far and next week I’ll just do my best. I’m shaking right now. I don’t think it has hit me yet.”
Next week will take Schroeder to Detweiller Park in Peoria, the site of the cross country state finals. Schroeder will spend the week training with her team as the school’s lone downstate representative.
“I saw real potential in Mahal in her freshman year,” Oak Park coach Tom Tarrant said. “She believes in what we do, does every workout hard, and it should be a fun weekend for her downstate. I think she’ll do well down there. We’ll hopefully take eight or nine girls down there with her and they’ll put their arms around her to support her.”
York advances downstate
Joining Schroeder from Saturday’s sectional at Lake Park will be York’s entire lineup. The Dukes placed fifth, eight points ahead of sixth-place Loyola.
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York was led by Lizzie Hagstrom, who finished third with a time of 17 minutes, 51 seconds on a cold and wet day.
“It’s miserable outside, but I knew what I needed to do,” Hagstrom said. “I knew I needed to be behind certain girls today and key off of them. In weather like this, times aren’t going to be great so you have to run for place, and that’s what I did.”
Glenbard West’s Lindsey Payne finished first and Wheaton Warrenville South’s Sara Atkins placed second, 11 seconds ahead of Hagstrom.
York coach Annette Schulte was tickled with her senior’s performance.
“Lizzie ran rock-solid; she looked a lot stronger in this race,” Schulte said. “She had more self-discipline, she finished strong and that’s how she does well.”
Hagstrom ran well at the regional and sectional meets last year, but wasn’t happy with her performance downstate. This year, she feels like a different person.
“How much I know now has helped me to prepare myself better. I know what I need to do and how to prepare,” she said.
Emily Siegenthaler and Sarah May were York’s next two finishers and crossed just three seconds apart. May has been the Dukes’ No. 2 runner behind Hagstrom for most of the season.
“Sarah rolled an ankle two weeks ago and she’s just trying hard to finish out the season,” Schulte said. “Emily is rock-solid, only a sophomore but a very intelligent competitor. You can talk to her about strategy, she listens, and she executes.”
Jessica Zellinger, Julie Biggins, Erin Davies, Bridget Berger will round out York’s downstate contingency.
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.