Grace Fagan was one of the New Trier girls cross country team’s most improved runners last season.
Now a junior and in her second varsity season, she’s one of the team’s best.
Fagan proved that on a cool and rainy day on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Lake Park’s East Campus course to lead the Trevians to the Class 3A sectional title. Fagan was New Trier’s top finisher, placing sixth in 17 minutes, 54.72 seconds, as the Trevians totaled 50 points for their five runners.
“I was inexperienced last year, and I went in blindly to each race not really knowing anything,” Fagan said. “This year, I am more aware of things and more focused.”
New Trier coach John Burnside said Fagan made a statement by winning the Central Suburban South’s meet on Saturday, Oct. 17. She then took seventh at the Niles West Regional, which the Trevians won.
“She’s been such a strong and consistent runner for us all year,” Burnside said. “We knew of her as an eighth-grader, but she’s really worked hard to get to where she is today.”
Fagan comes from a family of runners. Both of her parents run, and her twin sister, Helen Fagan, is a varsity runner. Helen Fagan didn’t run at the sectional.
“She’s my biggest fan,” Grace Fagan said of her sister.
The Class 3A state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7.
Loyola
The Ramblers did not have their best day at Lake Park, according to Loyola coach ChrisJon Simon.
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Loyola finished sixth as a team with 208 points, missing the state cut for teams by one spot. York finished fifth with 200 points.
Senior Kathryn House was the team’s lone state qualifier after she took eighth in 18:06.8. The top seven runners not on qualifying teams advanced to the state meet.
Maine East
Rosie Perez wasn’t one of the three Blue Demons to run at the Class 3A Lake Park Sectional, but the senior still received high marks from her coach.
Perez was the team’s only senior on varsity and Maine East’s top runner for most of the season until an issue with the IT band in her left leg kept Perez from surviving the regional cut at Niles West.
“She’s been our leader by showing her competitiveness and toughness all season,” Maine East coach Scott Schultes said. “She tried her best [at the regional], but the [Central Suburban North] meet did her in.”
For the three who ran at Lake Park, Schultes said it was good preparation for the future. Freshman Kayla Gregario was 103rd (20:21.46), junior Kajal Modi placed 116th (20:52.90) and junior Hannah Flood finished 129th (21:44.66).
“The sectional will set us up well for next season,” Schultes said.
Maine South
Maddie Dingle has been a model runner for the Hawks this season, Maine South coach Jeff Downing said.
“She never runs a bad race,” he said of the junior. “Just always solid. She’s exactly what we want.”
Dingle led Maine South’s tight pack at Lake Park by placing 17th in 18:26.54 and helped the Hawks qualify for the state meet as a team for the second time in three years. Maine South’s five scoring runners were separated by less than 11 seconds and the Hawks finished fourth with 115 points.
“I’m most proud of my consistency,” Dingle said. “[Downing] tells us to worry about our own race.”
Following Dingle were sophomore Olivia Niziolek (20th, 18:28.66), senior Casey Bomrad (21st, 18:28.78), senior Kalina Gardiner (29th, 18:36.80) and junior Olivia Holmes (30th, 18:37.18).
“That is what we do,” Downing said. “It was one of our best races, if not our best race of the year. I’m ecstatic.”
Added Dingle, “We didn’t relax out there. It was all go. Nobody had a bad day.”
Evanston
Emma Dzwierzynski continues to raise the bar for herself.
After not running competitively before she got to high school, the junior qualified for her second consecutive Class 3A state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
“This is very meaningful for Emma,” Evanston coach Rosette Ochoa said. “It’s not easy to do what she did.”
Dzwierzynski earned her spot at state by finishing 14th in 18:19.30 on Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Class 3A Lake Park Sectional. She was the fourth individual out of seven to earn an at-large berth.
“I put it all out there,” said Dzwierzynski, who took 79th (18:04) at the 2014 state meet. “I am a lot more positive and confident than I was last year. I knew I could make [the state meet] this year.”
Dzwierzynski was the lone Wildkit to make the sectional cut. Evanston finished 11th with 270 points.
But Evanston had only one senior — Hannah Hayat (75th, 19:32.22) — who scored at Lake Park. Sophomores Enyaeva Michelin (47th, 18:56.42) and Sophie Levine (56th, 19:10.32) and freshman Grace Naquin (91st, 19:59.79) were the other three.
“Emma has led by example this year,” Ochoa said. “She wanted to get to [the state meet], but she wanted the team to get there, too.”
Glenbrook South
At the start of the season, Glenbrook South coach Fred Kocian thought the Titans could qualify for state as a team for the first time since 1981.
But the Titans couldn’t navigate the challenging Class 3A Schaumburg Sectional on Saturday, Oct. 31. They finished ninth with 235 points and failed to advance any individuals to the state meet.
“There were high hopes,” Kocian said. “But the girls did a nice job against the competition.”
The first strike came when sophomore Kayleigh Pitterman — the team’s No. 2 runner — was lost for the season with a stress fracture after the Central Suburban South meet.
The good news is the Titans had only two seniors in their scoring five at the sectional at Busse Woods, and the top two runners were sophomores Emily Noone (29th, 19:21.81) and Lizzy Shaw (43rd, 19:40.84).
Senior Rose O’Grady was third on the team, finishing in 51st (19:50.46), while the other senior, Anne Brennan, took 75th (20:12.23). Freshman Claire Williams rounded out the top five by finishing 57th (19:52.95).
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“It was hard for the girls,” Kocian said of not advancing to Peoria. “But we have five of our top seven coming back and three others who were close. That’s good. We hope to improve some more and take it to teams, no matter what sectional we are in.”
Niles North
The Vikings two runners at the sectional meet ended their season at Lake Park.
Junior Teresa Knudson finished 130th (21:49.73) and senior Talia Neuhaus was 134th (22:04.76).
Niles West
Senior Nicole Camburn was the only Wolves runner who qualified for the Class 3A state meet. She placed 19th in 18:28.3 at the Lake Park Sectional and was the fifth individual to earn an at-large berth.
Niles West took 14th in the 18-team field with 393 points.
North Shore Country Day
Raiders junior Katie Glew qualified for the Class 1A state meet as an individual. She finished second in 19:55 at the Lisle Sectional.
Regina
Sophomore Helena Walo advanced to the Class 2A state meet. She took 22nd (20:28) at the U-High Sectional.
Twitter: @harnesspreps