Batavia’s Marygrace Golden was all set for an encore performance last fall.
Isabelle Christiansen entered her junior season this year at Oswego with an element of uncertainty shrouding her repeat bid for an all-state effort.
Both Golden and Christiansen, however, passed major hurdles Saturday at the Stuart Sports Complex in Montgomery.
Aided by sophomore teammate Mia Gianfrancesco, Golden was the class of the field at the Class 3A West Aurora Regional with a winning time of 17 minutes, 37.39 seconds.
Christiansen, meanwhile, combined wtih Grace Pagone to give the Panthers with a 1-2 punch. Christiansen completed a third-place finish in 17:50.1, while Pagone placed fourth in 17:52.85.
Two years ago, Golden was instrumental in the Bulldogs’ first state trophy in program history. But after returning six starters last fall from its third-place finisher, Batavia was derailed by a series of critical injuries.
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“Last year was definitely rough,” Golden said. “It was weird. There were a lot of things that we had to adapt to. We’re all feeling a lot better. It’s a great team to be a part of.”
With Jenna Schifferer (sixth), Erin O’Brien (eighth) and Alexa Andrews (12th) playing complementary roles, Golden and runner-up Gianfrancesco (17:38.03) enabled Batavia to dominate the eight-team field with a 29 points.
Oswego (77), Oswego East (82), Metea Valley (103), Neuqua Valley (103) and Waubonsie Valley (114) also qualified as teams for the Waubonsie Valley Sectional.
Alyssa Mayhew placed 29th headlined four at-large qualifiers for West Aurora in 19:08.37.
Christiansen, ninth last year in the state finals, has had to overcome a nagging left-foot injury.
“I was having trouble walking,” Christiansen said after competing in the prestigious Peoria Notre Dame Invitational in September.
But Christiansen was determined to return with a vengeance.
“I will just keep going through the championship series,” Christiansen said. “You go in (the sectional) a little bit underprepared. You know the other girls have had their whole season of racing.”
Pagone was thrilled to see Christiansen return to the fold.
“I am so glad (Christiansen) is back,” Pagone said. “Now that the state series is here, she will be back, rocking and rolling.”
On the boys side, Neuqua Valley was led once again by Zach Kinne and Ryan Kennedy.
Kinne, who won the DuPage Valley Conference title earlier in the week, made an unusual announcement after he paced defending state champion Neuqua to a one-sided win over Marmion in the regional with 27 points. Marmion had 80.
Kinne, who toured the three-mile layout in 14:43.9 to anchor the win, will skip the sectional at Waubonsie Valley.
“We did the same thing last year,” Kinne said. “Coming off some hard weeks of training, we would like that last week of rest. We were coming off a large-mileage week (after the conference meet was rescheduled).”
Kennedy (14:55.98) was the only other runner to break the 15-minute barrier in placing as the runner-up.
“You just go out and try and run as hard as you can,” Kennedy said of his approach.
Danny Winek and Michael Madiol also forged back-to-back placements in seventh and eighth, respectively, to further the Wildcats’ cause.
Marmion senior Michael Ronzone took third in 15:08.95.
Oswego East (106), Oswego (110), Waubonsie Valley (112) and Metea Valley (145) also qualified for the sectional.
“We were a low-key and relaxed group,” Ronzone said. “I think we proved ourselves as a team, finishing second.”
Kevin McGavin is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.