Sarah Schmitt and her Naperville North teammates left Detweiller Park the first Saturday in November in much greater spirits than the final day of the girls cross country season a year ago.
“One-hundred percent different this year,” Schmitt said after running a sixth-place 16:52 — 20 seconds slower than Glenbard West freshman champion Katelynne Hart — to lead Naperville North to the Class 3A state championship.
In one of the toughest team state finals in recent memory, the Huskies turned back Yorkville 111-130 to win their seventh team title in program history. Hannah Ricci and Alex Morris complemented Schmitt with All-State performances.
Last season, Naperville North had its bid for defense of its title stymied by Minooka.
“We were definitely the favorites,” Naperville North coach Dan Iverson said of last year.
This time, the Indians had to settle for third place with 134 points.
“There were so many teams that could have trophied,” said Schmitt, the West Chicago Regional and West Aurora Sectional champion. “We were all working together for the same target.”
Ricci, a transplant from Pennsylvania, and Morris finished in back-to-back slots to further bolster the Huskies.
“I never knew what to expect coming from a new school,” Ricci said. “The girls were all very welcoming.”
Ricci placed No. 18 in the field. It was the sixth state title for Iverson.
Morris’ 19th-place position further solidified the Huskies.
“We wanted to execute our race plan,” Morris said. “There were so many teams that were so good.”
Yorkville was attempting an unprecedented sixth consecutive state title in its first year in the largest class after winning five 2A titles in a row beginning in 2011.
But both the Foxes and Minooka could not close the gap on Naperville North and its storied tradition. The Huskies were making their 26th straight state appearance. The state title is one of 16 career top-three finishes since 1991.
The turning point for the program this fall was the prestigious Neuqua Valley Invitational, staged on a lighted course, according to Iverson.
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“Certainly when we won the Twilight, yeah, the possibility (of winning state) was there,” Iverson said.
Claire Hill and Kayla Glowacki were the other members of the Huskies’ starting lineup.
Neuqua Valley and Metea Valley were both in the 25-team field as well.
Neuqua used another solid performance from senior standout Caitlin Horn to finish sixth with 266 points.
“It was hard,” said Horn, who finished five seconds off the pace for 25th and the final All-State berth. “But overall we had a really year. This is our second-best finish ever.”
Metea (271 points) was edged by Geneva by a point for seventh place.
The senior duo of Nicky Cast and Leana Goldman led the Mustangs as usual with their respective places of Nos. 36 and 40.
Kevin McGavin is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.